Why Meadow Died: The People and Policies That Created The Parkland Shooter and Endanger America's Students

The Parkland School Massacre did not have to happen. And the policies which made it inevitable are being forced into public schools across America. “After my sister Meadow was murdered on Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the media obsessed for months about the style of rifle that the killer used. All clickbait and politics. No answers or justice. That wasn’t good enough for me or my dad. My dad is a real tough guy, but Meadow had him wrapped around her little finger. He’d do anything she wanted, and she’d want him to find every answer so that this never happens again. So, my dad teamed up with one of America’s leading education experts to launch his own investigation. We’ve found the answers to the questions no one cared to ask, but you need to know them because they matter for your children. If one single adult in the Broward County School District made one responsible decision about the Parkland shooter, then my sister would be alive. But every bad decision they made makes total sense once you understand the awful policies, which started here in Broward and have spread to your school.” —Hunter Pollack, “Foreword”

About the Author :
Andrew Pollack was an entrepreneur and businessman with experience in scrap metal, real estate, and property management. Everything changed when his daughter Meadow was murdered. He now dedicates his life to making school safe again, founding a non-profit Americans for Children’s Lives and School Safety (CLASS) and making sure that the families of victims get answers and justice.  Max Eden is an education expert at an NYC-based think tank. He was formerly program manager of the education policy studies department at the American Enterprise Institute. Eden has a BA in History from Yale University. 

Review :
“An ancient Talmudic adage warned: ‘Those who are kind to the cruel will be cruel to the kind.’ This law of life explains why fourteen high school students and three adults were murdered on Valentine’s Day 2018 in Broward County, Florida. Max Eden and Andy Pollack, the father of one of the murdered students, have written one of the most important books on American life published in the last few years. Why Meadow Died is shocking, illuminating, and ultimately angering. If the media ignore this book, it will prove they put ideology above truth.” “This book could be titled: Andrew Pollack vs. Broward County. Mr. Pollack is the bold, striking colossus of Parkland politics. He deals justice with an iron fist and will likely be portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger when the movie version of this book is inevitably made.” "Why Meadow Died is the untold, almost unbelievable story of how the moral corruption wrought by politically correct policies and willful blindness made the most avoidable school shooting in history somehow inevitable. If the public faces the truths this book reveals it should insist on a searching examination of the ethos of our public schools." "Why Meadow Died is a Shakespearean tragedy set in a public school system. The dark truths about our society and ourselves that shine through may be painful, but parents can't afford not to confront them. Moms: read this book like your child's life depends on it. It just might." "Every teacher in America should read Why Meadow Died, because as Pollack and Eden show, the policies responsible for the Parkland tragedy have spread across America. School administrators across the country are rewarded for not enforcing the rules, which leads to a thousand tragedies a day that go unrecorded. Public education is headed down a dark path, and this book should be a wakeup call to teachers and parents across the country." "After the Parkland shooting, the media devoted far more attention to the model of gun the killer used than to the role the school and its policies may have played in enabling the tragedy possible. Max Eden and Andrew Pollack refused to leave it at that, calling out the troubling failures of the Broward County School District, which seems to have, at times, been more intent on buffing its public image than on giving the community answers and keeping children safe. Given that Broward's disciplinary practices were hailed as a national model by many in public education, Why Meadow Died is a timely and bracing contribution."