Blog Archives

If the school safety presenter at your conference is paid for by a security vendor, will their message be truly independent? School leaders in the audience need to look behind the curtains to learn about the potential wizards in the wings

Posted by on April 9, 2024

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” That famous saying came from Wizard of Oz movie. It refers to the Wizard of Oz being exposed as a “normal” man behind the curtain pulling the strings to create the perception of something much different than what it really was in real life. Today the […]

“Dancing with the Devil”: How some education associations and school safety conference organizers are selling their souls and conference agendas to security vendors — and potentially increasing school safety and liability risks for superintendents and school boards

Posted by on February 18, 2024

“Unfortunately, we increasingly have to dance with the devil.” More than a decade ago, these words were said to me by a now long-retired head of a national association for school leaders. He was explaining to me why he had to fill a few annual convention speaking slots with vendor-affiliated speakers rather than more experienced […]