Kenneth Trump Quotations

Even if the government had actual real-time data, it's two to three years old, ... School administrators need to know what is happening today and what to anticipate tomorrow, not outdated numbers from yesteryear.

Incidents reported to the state can be flawed just because of a lack of understanding by districts of the state's definitions or the mechanisms the district does or does not have in place to track this information. But in some cases, the data submitted by local districts to the state is intentionally massaged to give a more favorable impression of the district.

Why on Earth are Congress and the federal bureaucrats cutting school emergency planning and safety money, while spending millions on ad campaigns and Web sites?

We've had 18 school associated violent deaths this year (and) over 50 non-fatal shootings across the country.

The reality is that the behavior is inappropriate, especially for a school climate. Just as if we go in an airport, it's inappropriate to joke about bombs and weapons.

A lot of times we'll see fences around playground areas but for some reason they tend to be about half that size and if somebody wanted to snatch a kid, they could easily drive up here and reach over and drop in and out real quickly.

We have to teach kids to report, and teach adults to do something, when they hear about it. A matter of hours or days, depending on the facts of the case, can make a difference between life and death.

The real test of any governmental agency's priorities is reflected in what it budgets to address a particular issue, not rhetoric.

The only thing that is more dangerous than a gang member with a weapon is a parent or an educator in denial. There's no excuse for parental ignorance. Turning their head and looking the other way can lead the kids into gangs in the first place.

Schools don't create gangs or promote them, but it is their problem. It's important that they don't try to negate their responsibility to manage the safety issues of their campus and to try to educate kids about the dangers of gangs.