GPS Solutions

GPS Solutions Denounces Hate Crimes and Violence

It is with heavy heart that I write to you in the wake of shameful, disturbing violence in our country, yet again. It bears repeating, and will continue to be repeated, that violence in all its forms is denounced, not acceptable, and must never be tolerated. The Gun Violence Archive reports that “mass shootings” in the United States are climbing to a staggering new number https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/query/0484b316-f676-44bc-97ed-ecefeabae077

Not to diminish the sheer sobering and unacceptable numbers, it must also be called out when these acts of violence are hate crimes. My heart breaks for our GPS Solutions and partner school brothers and sisters who are people of color. It must be acknowledged that were the shoe on the other foot, and people of color were driving across state and city lines to conduct mass assassinations of white people, the response would be swift and the message would be unapologetic. We would see sweeping reforms, suppression efforts, and gun restrictions that simply would not allow black on white killings to occur and continue. This type of violence against people of color in our communities and country simply cannot continue and will never be acceptable.

Please note that GPS Solutions will not stand for hatred or violence in its many forms. We will continue to train students and adults to be inclusive and empathetic, to be accepting, to be tolerant, to be restorative, and to be non-violent. To be sure, it will be our young people today who we must prepare and count on to end the violence of tomorrow. We must also acknowledge, as a society, that education is the field that will have the most direct impact in this regard.

With urgency,

Dr. Chris Plum

CEO

Christopher Plum, Ph.D.

Dr. Plum is co-owner of GPS Solutions and has served as an elementary, middle school, high school and university educator as well as an assistant principal, principal, chief academic officer, and superintendent. Dr. Plum holds a Ph.D. in K-12 Educational Leadership and an M.A. in Educational Psychology. He has served as both a teacher and an administrator in charter, traditional public, and private schools for nearly 30 years. As a building and district-level leader, Dr. Plum was responsible for creating a district- wide vision of readiness for all students, directing support services programming, leading school improvement, creating curricula, leading NCA accreditation, launching a district-wide K-12 Mandarin Language Program, creating innovative staffing programs, and successfully launching and staffing a high school in Detroit which graduated nearly 100% of its students and sent over 90% of graduates to 2-4 year colleges and universities. He is most proud of his on-going work aimed at restoring and growing learners of ages, building community in and outside of school walls, and positively impacting the field of education.