Dear Secretary Jennings — You have a problem…

…and I'd like to help you with it.

I am presently in Washington DC speaking to a number of groups about the problems in education and how to fix them.  When I knew I was coming "to town," I sent a meeting request to Assistant Deputy Secretary Kevin Jennings' office. For those of you who don't know who Kevin Jennings is, he heads up the Safe and Drug Free Schools office as well as the Character Education groups in the Department of Education.

I received no response to the letter meeting request.  Nor did we receive any acknowledgement or response to multiple follow-up phone calls that were may by my office, my representatives or other folks who knew of my visit and had connections to Mr. Jennings' office.

I know Mr. Jennings is terribly busy…and I can understand why.

After all, there have been at least TWENTY-SEVEN deaths due to bullying/bullying suicides in just the last five weeks.  And those are only the ones that have been documented. Clearly, he has a lot to deal with.

I'm hoping that at some point, I'll be able to make a connection with him because I think what I could share with him would be of interest.  How about stopping bullying at the same time we increase test scores — and with an approach that is self-funding and can be done within current time constraints? What if it had strong community support? What if low-income and minority kids could be some of the strongest beneficiaries?

What if, instead of Waiting for Superman, Mr. Jennings could be a hero NOW?

All within reality…I'm just waiting for that callback Mr. Secretary and I'd be happy to share what is not only possible, but proven.  For your convenience, you can reach me at 425.485.4089.  We will call you back, too…we promise.

Please call before 27 bullying deaths turn into 30/50/100 or more. It's only a matter of time at this rate.

Filed under: Bullying and School Violence, Current Events Tagged: bullying suicides, Kevin Jennings, Safe and Drug Free Schools, Waiting for Superman