Remember the "PROMISE Program"? That was the initiative adopted by the Department of Education under Obama to basically keep teenage criminals out of jail and back in classrooms.
The rationale was that if we counsel teenagers instead of arresting them for committing small crimes, those teens could avoid developing a criminal record at such an early age. That way they'd have more of a fighting chance to escape the life of crime that society, and especially Republicans, want to pigeonhole minority students into.
Broward County school district says the program "…focuses on the situation as being the problem rather than the individual being the problem."
Classic progressivism – it's never your fault if you make a bad choice.
After the high school shooting in Parkland, there were many questions about the shooter and the dozens of warning signs that authorities apparently missed. People wondered how police could be called to the shooter's home as many as 45 times over the years and yet, he was still be able to access firearms.
Some, like Senator Marco Rubio, even dared to ask whether the shooter had been part of the PROMISE Program. In the days after the tragedy, Broward County school district superintendent Robert Runcie repeatedly insisted the shooter had "no connection" to the PROMISE Program.
If they're not held accountable, it will just reinforce the key flaw in the PROMISE Program – absolving individuals from any responsibility for their own actions.
Well, over the weekend, the school district meekly admitted that the shooter was in fact referred to the PROMISE Program for vandalizing his middle school in 2013.
Oops.
It remains unclear whether he ever actually attended the program, but regardless, it represents yet another way that his behavior and criminal activity were swept under the rug, preventing him from showing up on any criminal background check.
Superintendent Robert Runcie was either incompetent or he was lying about the shooter's connection to the PROMISE Program. Either way, he was likely covering his backside because the PROMISE Program is his baby. He developed the program in 2013, which then caught the eye of the Obama Education Department.
Superintendent Robert Runcie, and Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel need to be held accountable for their lack of candor about the PROMISE Program when it comes to the Parkland shooter. If they're not held accountable, it will just reinforce the key flaw in the PROMISE Program – absolving individuals from any responsibility for their own actions.