To enhance the preparedness of US schools to acts of terrorism and mass violence, the landscape of threats against schools must first be understood. This includes exploring the global trends of acts of terrorism against schools, as well as looking specifically at the history of terrorism and acts of mass violence against schools domestically. This paper conducts a review of two databases in order to look at the trends in acts of terrorism and mass violence carried out against schools, and provides recommendations for domestic school preparedness based on this information.
National investment, leadership needed for school preparedness
Recently the GAO released a report examining the state of emergency preparedness in k-12 schools. The conclusions in this report are alarming, as it uncovers a lack of strategic coordination among federal agencies for preparing schools for emergencies. It also finds a lack of clear leadership at the federal level for coordinating these activities, and schools are left having to choose between preparedness and core educational activities.