Stoneman Douglas teacher taught about special interest groups like the NRA on day of shooting

Brett T. | 4:42 PM on February 27, 2018

A story in The Splinter Tuesday managed to elicit a “Wow” from CNN’s Brian Stelter:

Wow. On the day of the #MSD shooting, students in AP Government were learning about special interest groups like the NRA. "The students learned how the NRA goes to work as soon news reporters and the public move on to the next story…" https://t.co/oPQy4TxDWL

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 27, 2018

Per Splinter's @thisisjorge, AP Gov teacher Jeff Foster "had taught this particular special interest lesson four times by the time the gunman started shooting…" https://t.co/oPQy4TxDWL

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 27, 2018

If so, it would explain how newly minted gun control activist and shooting survivor Emma González was able to deliver an 11-minute speech at a vigil just days after the shooting. “I know this looks like a lot, but these are my AP Gov notes,” González said.

Jorge Rivas writes:

On the day of the shooting, [Jeff] Foster taught the AP Gov students about special interest groups, like the NAACP, American Medical Association, and the National Rifle Association. His lesson plan that day included a discussion about the Columbine and Sandy Hook school shootings, with emphasis on how every politician comes out afterward a tragedy to say the right thing about changing gun regulation. The students learned how the NRA goes to work as soon news reporters and the public move on to the next story.

“That’s not the NRA’s fault, that’s our fault,” Foster says. “We lose attention and that’s why interest groups run the country. If it’s not the NRA then it’s another group.”

…

The following day the students were scheduled to have a test on the special interest chapter. The exam was supposed to include a free response question asking students what techniques the NRA used to be successful. The students were supposed to discuss how the NRA used mass mobilization, campaign contributions, and litigation to push their agenda forward.