NAACP Ask Legislators to vote down Safe Schools Act

SALISBURY, Md. -Laura Brittingham is just one of the many parents we spoke with that think the Maryland State Conference NAACP  is out of line with asking legislators to vote down The Safe Schools Maryland Act of 2019. A bill that in part would allow for anonymous reporting on things like violence or the threat of violence to help prevent school shootings.

“We’re at a place right now where you have to have a sheriff at every school. When did we get to this point. The fact that, that has to happen for us to feel safe. We need more measures,” Brittingham said.

Friday the NAACP sent a 3 page letter to the House Ways and Means committee asking them not to vote for the legislation.
Saying quote “Basically, this bill will turn students, parents and the community into protected “snitches” and “informants” who can destroy the life of any child, without any transparency or accountability to the accuracy of the information. Such an anonymous reporting scheme would grossly affect students of color who are already grossly over-disciplined in Maryland Schools.”

But some lawmakers in Annapolis feel the NAACP is missing the point.

“This whole piece of legislation is just to shore up some existing practices dealing with reporting suspicious activity generally from people who don’t belong in the school,” said Del. Carl Anderton Junior (R).

Anderton also said the NAACP did bring up valid points but said this is the first time he and his colleagues are hearing about them. He also pointed out the anonymous tip line that is already operational in the state has already helped stop some potentially violent crimes before they even started.