Parkland Shooting: ‘Why Meadow Died’ Explains Failures of Broward County Officials

The post-Parkland debate was all about gun control. It should have focused at least as much on school safety and discipline.

In their new book Why Meadow Died, Andrew Pollack — whose daughter Meadow perished in the shooting — and education-policy expert Max Eden explain in detail the many warning signs the shooter had given off since his childhood. They leave no doubt that if the county had had sensible policies in place and even minimally competent employees, the shooting would not have happened. They further demonstrate that Broward County’s lax discipline has, perversely, been treated as a model for the rest of the nation because it reduces suspensions, expulsions, and arrests and thereby allegedly slows down the “school-to-prison pipeline.”

About the Author

Robert VerBruggen

Robert VerBruggen is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

The post-Parkland debate was all about gun control. It should have focused at least as much on school safety and discipline.

In their new book Why Meadow Died, Andrew Pollack — whose daughter Meadow perished in the shooting — and education-policy expert Max Eden explain in detail the many warning signs the shooter had given off since his childhood. They leave no doubt that if the county had had sensible policies in place and even minimally competent employees, the shooting would not have happened. They further demonstrate that Broward County’s lax discipline has, perversely, been treated as a model for the rest of the nation because it reduces suspensions, expulsions, and arrests and thereby allegedly slows down the “school-to-prison pipeline.”