NEA Launches Safe Schools Now Network

The NEA's first national broadcast of a groundbreaking 10-part television series designed to help keep the nation's public schools safe premieres Friday (January 20, 2000) at 1 p.m.

The NEA Safe Schools Now Network is the first of its kind in the nation and was inspired by increasing concern about school safety following the fatal shootings of 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School in April 1999.

The NEA Safe Schools Now Network features a bold new partnership:

• Original television programming produced by the NEA that highlights the best research-based strategies and user-friendly information on how to achieve school safety.
• The donation of 1,000 free satellite television dishes and air time to school districts nationwide by EchoStar Communications Corporation, a private company based in Littleton, Colorado, near Columbine High School, and its D.C.-based partner, FutureView.
• Support in publicizing and distributing the broadcasts to more than 6,000 sites through the U.S.

"The NEA is committed to promoting a culture in which our children never again hear gunshots ringing in their schools," said Bob Chase, president of the 2.5 million member National Education Association. "We know that the most effective way to protect our children is to empower local schools and communities to take action by sharing the best safety techniques, the earliest warning signs of potential trouble, and the most effective programs. Through the NEA Safe Schools Now Network, we will bring this critically needed school safety information to every school district in the country."

Fittingly, the first hour-long show, Reasons for Hope, examines the aftermath of the tragedy at Columbine as seen through the eyes of local educators and community leaders, followed by a report on EARLY ALLIANCE, an innovative program in use in Columbia, South Carolina, that helps to develop appropriate social behavior and positive communications skills among 1st and 2nd graders.

The program will be broadcast to more than 6,000 school districts around the country, either through videotape, the EchoStar system or other satellite vehicles.

"As a Littleton-based company, EchoStar is proud to take an active role in the promotion of preventive measures against violence in America's schools," said Charlie Ergen, CEO and chairman of EchoStar. "By donating 1,000 satellite TV systems and air time, we hope to make it possible to beam educational programming concerning school safety directly to schools across America."

To inaugurate the new series, press conferences and screenings of the first Safe Schools Now Network episode will be held January 20 in Denver by the Colorado Education Association and in Columbia, South Carolina by the South Carolina Education Association and South Carolina Educational Television Network.

SNEA is working with a number of organizations to design and distribute the shows. The U.S. Department of Education is among them.

"This series makes an important contribution to school safety by presenting examples of innovative violence-prevention programs, experts on school safety, and the voices of the young people we're trying to protect," said U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley.

Future episodes in the NEA Safe Schools Now Network will include:

• Building a Safe and Responsible School Climate, February 24, 2000, 1 p.m. - Focuses on the components needed for a nurturing and safe school climate.
• Early Signals of Distress, March 23, 2000, 1 p.m. - Highlights early signals of troubled young people.
• Forging Community Alliances, April 27, 2000, 1 p.m. - Looks at effective school-community collaborations for school safety.

Starting in February, a partnership with Apple Computer, Inc., will extend the reach of the series to tens of thousands of additional educators nationwide through a cybercast on its Web site: www.apple.com/ali.

Additional programs will air in the fall of 2000 and the spring of 2001. Anger management, policymaking for safe schools, the role of discrimination and harassment in school violence, peer mediation and the influence of the media on young people are just some of the other issues NEA will address in upcoming shows.

The TV broadcasts are being provided free. School districts interested in applying for a free EchoStar satellite dish and anyone wishing to download a discussion guide and list of resource materials that will be available for each broadcast, can log onto the NEA Web site at: www.safeschoolsnow.org.

Posted January 14, 2000