Author: Carolyn Inmon

With America awash in guns and gun violence, the shocking fact is that school shootings have become the “new normal.”

In 2018 and 2019, the country suffered through a combined, record-breaking total of nearly 200 school shooting incidents.

When teachers and the community stand shoulder-to-shoulder, marching in support of school kids, good things usually happen.

This story is worth re-telling, because it is a powerful lesson all of us should remember: Citizen activism works! When the City proposed a 20 percent cut in City support for our schools, teachers, and students, the Irvine community responded, and leaders listened.

Important Update: Citizen engagement in Irvine has stopped a proposed 20 percent cut in annual City funding for our schools, teachers and students.

Each weekday morning, Monday through Friday, there is a crush of traffic: teachers and staff driving to school; teenage high school drivers; and parents driving to school to drop off their own kids, while dodging young pedestrians and bicyclists.