Open Letter to Lawmakers Appearing in Sunday's Washington Post

The horrific school shooting in Parkland, Florida, has led students, teachers, and school leaders to speak out forcefully against gun violence. Students - children - who have experienced this trauma and loss first-hand are showing the way. As adults and as educators, it is our time to lead. With those student activists and with their grieving families, we too say, “Never Again!”

 

For years now, citizens of the United States have endured mass shootings, in public venues, neighborhoods and communities, houses of worship, colleges and universities, and our schools. Children, our most vulnerable citizens and our hope for the future, are dying from gun violence, again and again.

 

Statistics from countries around the globe show that it is possible to minimize gun deaths through common-sense legislation. Here in the United States, we see that easy access to weapons, particularly those of military-style design, results in significantly higher levels of gun violence.

 

We urge our President, our Congress, and our state leaders to enact specific, vigorous measures to reduce gun violence in our society, particularly in our schools. We need a robust system of registration and background checks, with a particular eye toward weapons capable of rapidly firing a vast number of deadly shots. We need stronger mental health services and more effective communication among agencies responsible for the well-being of children, adults, and families. What we do not need is to arm our teachers with guns, which is dangerous and antithetical to our profession as educators.

 

As school leaders, we call upon everyone who cares about the education and the welfare of children to urge our government to act. We need our teachers to be able to teach. We need our students to be able to learn. And we need everyone in every school around the country to feel safe.

 

Our school communities represent multiple political parties and occupy different positions on the spectrum from liberal to conservative. Our schools are secular and religious, small and large, urban, rural, and suburban. We serve a range of children, from nursery through grade twelve. Our calling is to serve and to educate children, to ensure their safety and well-being, and to help them grow into thoughtful and responsible citizens. Please let us do our work. Please act now with vigor, determination, and urgency, on behalf of our nation’s children.

 

Respectfully,
(signatories)