SAFE SCHOOLS FOR ALL
Help put an end to gun violence in our schools
Thousands of people gathered in towns and cities across Illinois for student-led March for our Lives events on March 24. Now, those same students and others are moving on to another project and organizing town hall meetings for residents in Illinois to meet with their congressional representatives across the state. Go to Town Hall Project to find out if a town hall meeting has been scheduled in your area, or how you can schedule one.
NEA Director and IEA Board member Karl Goeke encouraged the IEA Board of Directors at the Feb. 16-17 meeting to organize a day of action against gun violence in schools. Read Karl’s powerful account of what happened in his school.
Resources
Between 2013 and 2015, an average of two school shootings each month took place at K-12 schools nationwide, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. School violence happens so frequently that some are calling this generation of students the “Mass Shooting Generation.”
In the Parkland community and across the nation, students and educators are at the forefront of demanding that elected officials make changes to keep them safe.
In media interviews, at rallies, and in meetings with legislators, students are asking for a range of solutions, including more resources for mental health and a ban on assault weapons like the one used at Stoneman Douglas.
This is not the first time students have been leaders for change. They braved fire hoses and fierce dogs throughout the South to champion civil rights in the 1960s. Young people also took the lead in 1968, after NEA organized the Project 18 drive to lower the voting age from 21 to 18. Some people wrote their movement off as “another children’s crusade,” but ultimately, Congress approved the 26th Amendment in 1971.
Email Congress through the NEA Legislative Action Center to pressure representatives to pass common-sense gun laws and listen to the voices of educators and students.
Resources are available for helping school communities cope with this latest mass shooting and to assist educators in talking with students about school shootings and other traumatic events.
Send condolences or make a donation to the Stoneman Douglas community.
Ask your school board to oppose arming educators, using this a sample resolution.
How can we collaborate with others to create safe schools for all?
The issue of safe schools is one that most stakeholders are expecting educators to lead on. There are many ways we can lead on this issue – as educators, parents, community members, taxpayers, and some of us can even weigh in as elected officials. This is a powerful moment for us.
Host an Illinois Educators Action Network Strategy Team meeting
At the strategy team meeting, put the questions you would like to see the group respond to on flip chart paper around the room. Ask the attendees to write their responses to these questions on post-it notes. You may want to ask them to write their names on the back of the post it notes.
Download Template for Strategy Team Meetings
After all of the responses are submitted, break out into groups to summarize, categorize, analyze, and expand upon the responses. What actions might you take based on the responses?
Recommended questions for Safe Schools Strategy Team meetings
- Why am I here?
- What talents and skills can I offer others?
- What makes a school safe?
- What can we do to make schools safer?
- Who are the stakeholders?
- What do the stakeholders care about?
- How do we reach them?
- How do we educate them?
- How can we take action together to make our schools safer?
For more information contact Karen Moore.