WASHINGTON - Texas State Teachers Association President Noel Candelaria and National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García provided the following joint statement in reaction to today’s shooting at Santa Fe High School in Harris County, Texas:
“Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of the victims in today’s shooting at Santa Fe High School. The members and staff of the Texas State Teachers Association and the National Education Association stand ready to assist the Santa Fe community in any way that we can.
“Once again, we are mourning more senseless shooting deaths. But even as we mourn, we redouble our efforts to convince our elected representatives in Washington and Austin to take every necessary step to keep our schools, students, and educators safe from gun violence.
“We don’t know why this attack occurred. But every child has the right to feel safe and be safe at school, and every parent has the right to know their neighborhood schools are safe places to send their children.”
NEA maintains a crisis resource page for students, educators, parents, and communities at nea.org/safeschools. On our Safe Schools page, you can find advice for talking to students about violent tragedies, as well as tips for preventing school violence. You may also download NEA’s School Crisis Guide, which NEA assembled to foster the creation of crisis teams with the ideas, tips, tools, and resources that spur effective leadership and crisis management. Knowing what to do in a crisis can be the difference between stability and upheaval. This step-by-step resource created by educators for educators can make it easier for union leaders, school district administrators, and principals to keep schools safe—before, during, and after a crisis. The NEA School Crisis Guide can be found here.
