The horrific mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, which claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers, have left us devastated. As a community of educators, we are heartbroken for the school community at Robb Elementary, especially the families of the victims who are navigating unimaginable pain and grief.

This senseless, preventable act of violence is appalling and sadly all too familiar. Firearms are now the leading cause of death for children in the United States. There have been almost 950 school shootings in the last decade in the United States.

Enough is enough. With the acute threat from unrestrained firearms access, there is a nearly insurmountable barrier to teachers and students feeling that they are in safe learning environments. We cannot expect students to meet high learning expectations, nor teachers to guide them to reach those expectations if they do not feel safe.

More than ever, we need to be intentional about nurturing teaching and learning environments where everyone—students and teachers alike—feel safe.

NSTA supports policy decisions that are based on scientific evidence. We encourage our policy leaders to guide their decisions about gun safety by what is known and could be learned to reduce gun violence. We must end gun violence in our schools so that teachers and students are able to focus on learning.

# # #

Contact:
Kate Falk, NSTA
(703) 312-9211
kfalk@nsta.org