Taking Action on Gun Violence

Transcript

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Natieka : Hello and welcome to School Me, the National Education Association's podcast dedicated to helping educators thrive at every stage of their careers. I'm your host, Natieka Samuels.

Gun violence has become a disturbing reality for school communities across the nation, and we have to talk about it more often if we want to end this epidemic of violence. Today, our two guests will discuss our nation's current reality and how educators can organize alongside parents, students, and community members [00:00:30] to demand gun safety legislation and comprehensive school safety policies.

First up, we have Zach Martin, a survivor of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting and current teacher at Columbine. Thank you so much for joining us today, Zach.

Zach : Great to be here.

Natieka : Let's talk a little bit about you. Where are you currently teaching and what do you teach?

Zach : I'm teaching at Columbine High School. This is my 13th year teaching, and this year I'm teaching essentially all the psychology [00:01:00] courses. So I've turned into the psychology department. But I teach social studies. So kind of the whole gambit of history courses as well as within kind of my repertoire of what I could teach and predominantly world history. So that's a lot of juniors and seniors.

Natieka : And what made you want to become a teacher?

Zach : I think it has a lot to do with my upbringing. My mom is a teacher, so there was always this value of education and it seemed like it was emphasized as a noble calling. I [00:01:30] was a freshman here during the shooting, and I think the educators and teachers who remained through the course of my high school career after the shooting had a huge emphasis on who I was becoming and my values. And so I think when I was reflecting on where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, I really kind came back to those people that influenced my values and beliefs and kept coming back to my teachers, my coaches, my parents. And so I think that [00:02:00] really was the motivator to jump into that career and try to play that role for others, kind of that reflective piece of what they gave to me. And if I could play that role for others, I thought that would be a rewarding and valuable way to dedicate my life.

Natieka : So you've alluded to it, and as Millennials and older, I feel like the word Columbine has a lot of cultural weights because in 1999, there was one of the most infamous [00:02:30] school shootings for my generation, I feel, and one of the first that I ever heard of happening. So can you talk to me a little bit about your experience attending Columbine High School at that time and what it was like to live through that time of your life?

Zach : You kind of think about it kind of like pre-shooting and then post-shooting is kind of an odd way to define your teen years, but that was unfortunately our experience. And I would say leading up before the shooting, I would have [00:03:00] described Columbine as any other average suburban, large high school in America with all the pros and all the cons that come with that. I always have positive attitudes and memories and thoughts about Columbine. And then you kind of have this tragedy that occurs out of nowhere, at least that's how it felt at that time. And then after the shooting, it was a very different experience because it just fundamentally alters and changes your experience and how you see the world and how you relate to your [00:03:30] school and all of those shifts that occur.

And so I think post-shooting, from my perspective, Columbine became kind of the center of my community in the sense that oddly enough, it became the most stable and comforting place for me to return predominantly because everybody that was going to school at that time, we all went through it together and there was this kind of a shared understanding [00:04:00] of the experience. And it was... I think as a student body we were just trying to have a normal experience of high school and return to something that felt normal.

And in the chaos of the tragedy, with the media, which was everywhere, and all the different explanations and theories as to why it was happening and all the attention that was kind of cast onto Columbine at that time, just coming to school and walking through the doors and then being with our friends for a lot of us felt like [00:04:30] the most stable, secure aspect of our life. We weren't being asked, "Are you okay?" And even though that's wonderful, there is a time where you just don't want to be asked that anymore and you just want to try to live a normal 15, 16-year-old life.

And so when I look back on those three years, there's a lot of chaos swirling around the community outside of the school and it was inside the school during the school day where you could just kind of go back to being [00:05:00] something normal, a friend, an athlete, a student, and focus on those things. And so it kind of became that space for me. I don't think that was true for everyone, and I can't speak for everyone, but for myself, that was my high school experience was this became that pillar that I leaned upon after Columbine. I think that's a credit to the principal and the teachers at that time.

Natieka : And you touched a bit on this, but can you talk a bit about how the broader community, so there was sort the inside of the school community, [00:05:30] of course there's the parents, the teachers, but then there's also the neighborhoods around. So how did that day affect the broader community?

Zach : I think it's had a deep and lasting impact. It really at that time became a unifying event and I think the community saw the need to surround the students and the school and for lack of a better word, embrace or kind of just circle around the school [00:06:00] and the community. And so there was tons of support and a lot of community support and comfort that was brought in. And I think that's kind of a lasting legacy to this point. I still feel the school is kind of a beloved center of this community and that people that are connected to Columbine still have very strong connection and feel a sense of pride and protection to the school.

I think that's a little bit different than maybe communities today that experience a [00:06:30] school shooting because in 1999 the school shooting at that time felt like a unpredictable, random, spark in the pan, like a natural disaster that was unpreventable and unforeseeable. And so we were left very confused and I do think there was anger involved, but I think we channeled that to kind of come together. And we didn't know how else to respond to that, so we just kind of huddled in and just supported each other. [00:07:00] Whereas I think today if I was a student or a community member where a school shooting took place, there would be a different feeling in the sense of this wasn't a random once in a generation type of event and they are becoming more and more prevalent.

Natieka : How has the history of that day affected what it's like to go to school today? None of the students of course there today, some of them wouldn't even have been alive at that time. All of them actually wouldn't have even alive [00:07:30] at that time. So knowing that an entire generation has turned over for the school, does that history still have an effect on the school today?

Zach : Yeah, very much so. I mean, it's still a part of our legacy, still very much ingrained into who we are. And for about the first 20 years, we had the 20th just a day off, and then on the 20th anniversary we turned it into a day of service. And so that time period is where we really talk about the [00:08:00] legacy and the event. And we really kind of then take that opportunity to talk about those characteristics or the best of humanity and showing our strength and solidarity and giving back to the community that supported us through that.

And the kids have done an amazing job embracing that. We have over a thousand kids participate that day in some sort of volunteer opportunity. The state has declared it a day of service. And we have international schools doing projects on [00:08:30] that day. And so we have kind of really embraced turning that day into something that's reflective of the strength and resilience of the community and the human spirit and celebrating that and having something kind of beautiful blossom out of that day.

Natieka : And as a person who lived through that day and now teaches in the exact same school, how has that context affected the way that you approach teaching?

Zach : I think I have the double whammy. It's always strange to go back [00:09:00] to your high school that you went to and teach there, let alone go back to the high school that you went to and experienced a school shooting at. And so I think it's shaped wanting to come back here. I think having the opportunity to come back to Columbine and play that role for other students definitely shapes how I teach. And so I would say I'm really focused on relationship building with my students as my number one priority is making them feel welcome and safe [00:09:30] because I think that's probably shaped out of my personal experience.

And so I think that has shaped my philosophy of teaching is that it's about relationships and to get students to feel motivated and to learn. You need to build a safe, welcoming environment where they feel seen and heard and welcome and safe and the importance of that because when that's stripped or taken or not present, it's very difficult to expect learning to occur. And so I think that has really influenced my teaching philosophy.

Natieka : [00:10:00] And aside from perhaps your classroom, how does Columbine approach school safety today given that history but also the reality of today?

Zach : It's a big priority. I know we have more security precautions than just about probably any other school just because of our notoriety and anytime there's a school shooting, Columbine is always brought up. And so we have multiple resource officers staffed in the school. [00:10:30] We have numerous campus security personnel that are stationed at each entrance. We have lots of cameras and those types of security measures as well. I think they do a good job of balancing security with still feeling like a school and not like a prison.

And so I really respect them for being able to find that balance and accomplish that because I don't think that's an easy feat to make kids feel welcome while [00:11:00] also securing the building without it feeling like you're checking into a prison. It still has this warm and welcoming feeling. And I know that's a goal of theirs and really kind of their ultimate purpose. And so I appreciate that. But at the same time, I know they do a wonderful job in keeping the campus secure. And so I think we have more of a presence than maybe you would see or experience at another school. But that goes with the territory, I guess.

Natieka : And I know that you have school-aged children now, so [00:11:30] I'm sure that that gives you a different context, a different feeling about this issue or in the crisis. So how has that changed the way that you look at all of this?

Zach : I think before kids, there was an apathy and a sense of powerlessness that had kicked in and the thought process of what can I do or people have tried and nothing's changed. And so I think for much of my post-Columbine life, there wasn't much activism or speaking out [00:12:00] or that motivation. But then I think having kids and then sending them off to school on that first day and then that reality of seeing the lockdown drill instructions on the wall, kind of hitting home that this is the reality that kids are still going to school with this not almost as a if, but a when type of mentality that kids are thinking about how they'd respond and what they would do in this situation. And I think that really [00:12:30] hit home and just, again, brought that reality that we're 20-plus years out from Columbine and what seemed like a once in a generation event is now a multiple year tragedy across the nation and that very little change has taken place to prevent that, at least in my eyes.

And so I think having kids really put that in perspective and to a certain degree made me feel somewhat ashamed that I hadn't done more over the years and left [00:13:00] it to younger generations like the Parkland students to kind of carry the torch from their experience. And so I think that was a big shift in my life.

Natieka : And in all of this talk about gun violence in schools, I feel like there's two issues that people discuss. So it's, of course, gun control and who has access to guns and the types of guns that are easily accessible by children or adults. And then there's also the mental health side of things. So how has your school or [00:13:30] you approached the mental health side of things because that seems like the thing that schools can really get a grip on more so than the policies of gun ownership and purchasing.

Zach : It's a super complex issue, and mental health definitely is involved. And like you said, schools can play a role in identifying and supporting kids and students who are struggling with mental health issues. Here at Columbine, we have a wonderful counseling team. We have trainings each year as [00:14:00] teachers to look for signs and become kind of that first line of identifiers. We have a mental health expert on campus who then will work with students who are struggling and make sure that they are getting the help that they need.

And so I think having mental health resources on campus in every school is a huge step in the right direction to try to be upstream prevention in the sense of identifying students [00:14:30] before the crisis moment comes and identifying those patterns of behavior that might prevent some sort of tragedy years down the road because they got the support and help that they needed earlier. And so I do think that funding for mental health supports and emphasizing that is a huge thing that schools and education can play a role in.

Natieka : There's the need for resources and support to hopefully prevent that from happening. And then there's survivors. [00:15:00] So unfortunately, there's been too many school shootings to name in the last year, five years, 10 years. And so that means that there's a growing community of survivors, unfortunately. Can you talk a little bit about your experience as I guess a survivor first and how you felt like there was or was not appropriate support?

Zach : When I look back, I think the mental health support that we received was very solid and present in the immediate aftermath. There were counselors, [00:15:30] there were therapists, there were constantly people checking in with you. And there were lots of available options, at least in my memory, in the immediate aftermath. And I would say within the first year or so, that is still pretty true of my experience and I would assume fairly true today. And so I think in that kind of short term, as I would define it, after the trauma, I think there is still this awareness and emphasis of mental health supports.

[00:16:00] I think in my experience, what I have found most surprising is that I think, and I would throw myself kind of into that category, is that it was really 10, 15, 20 years past the shooting that kind of had the biggest psychological and emotional struggles with it. The most difficult time that I had since the actual shooting and the immediate aftermath was when we sent our kids to school. And that reality and [00:16:30] that struggle I think hit pretty hard. And I know of people, multiple people who at that moment really needed to seek out support and help.

And so I think that's often either overlooked or not really thought about is the long-term impact of it in that the trauma of it occurs differently for everybody and people who might feel like they have healed or processed find out 10, 15 years [00:17:00] later that there really still are issues. And so providing that support for survivors long-term.

I mean, it's heartbreaking when you think about Sandy Hook survivors. It seems like in many people's minds it happened a while ago, but they're just entering college. They're freshmen, they're sophomores. It's been however many years, but there's still going to be issues, the needs for support. And so I think making that more available and thinking about [00:17:30] how do we plan not only to provide options in the immediate aftermath but also in the long term and redefine long term to decades or whatever we need to do the same way we kind of think about for veterans is something that I think is needed for the survivor community.

Natieka : What's one of the most frustrating things for you to hear or grapple with when you think or talk about the gun violence crisis, particularly in schools today?

Zach : I think, [00:18:00] and I just want to kind of throw it out there just to make sure, I kind of speak to the gun violence crisis of mass shootings, but I also just want to take a moment to recognize the greater impact of the gun violence that takes place in schools that don't get the headlines and are taking place in typically underserved communities and schools and that oftentimes the mass shootings get attention and that's where the headlines are drawn, but we really also need to be addressing and thinking about gun violence and [00:18:30] all of its impacts. And that's also on that individual level. And obviously my voice can't speak to that, but I also just wanted to acknowledge that aspect of it and just make sure that that's also in the thought process as we're having the conversation about gun safety.

Natieka : So how has your union supported you through this? Both we can talk about it on a school building level and also in connecting you to opportunities to make your voice heard and ensure that we're on the road to change.

Zach : [00:19:00] The union has done a nice job recently of prioritizing gun safety as an important issue and reflecting the voice of teachers who are asking for change and support in making their workplace in this environment as safe for teachers and more importantly for their students. And so I've seen the union really prioritize that and make that a goal and a mission.

And so I think the power of the [00:19:30] teacher union being the largest union in the country, that gives a lot of leverage and power to kind of show political leaders that gun safety is a priority issue that people expect leaders to address and take action on and no longer be able to kind of dodge and pivot away and that there's enough growing momentum that will hold people accountable. And so that's been nice to see both locally, state, and nationally.

And so I've worked [00:20:00] with NEA at the national level reviewing the crisis guide and kind of talking through the response, the prevention and response to gun violence from a union standpoint. And so again, kind of putting in action the priority of gun safety I think has been a really, again, kind motivating and hopeful experience that there are now gears in motion that are taking tangible action and making this a priority and following through with that. And I see that through the union's actions.

Natieka : What is giving you hope right [00:20:30] now?

Zach : I get to go to a job that every day fills me with hope. I get to work with young people and just seeing their enthusiasm and their optimism and their vision for the future and how excited they are and just see the power and intelligence and how capable they are makes me hopeful for the future.

Whenever I get that existential crisis of where are we going and what's happening, I get to return to I feel confident [00:21:00] that these students coming up have the skills, the passion, and the knowledge to make positive change. I see my students and see what they're capable of and that gives me constant assurance.

Natieka : Well, thank you so much Zach for sharing your experience, and I hope that all the educators listening feel your sense of hope about things and are moved to help us stop this crisis.

Zach : Thanks for having me. And I appreciate you doing the work you're doing. I think it's obviously important.

Natieka : Thanks for listening to School Me [00:21:30] and a quick thank you to all of the NEA members listening. If you're not an NEA member yet, visit nea.org/whyjoin to learn more about member benefits.

Next, Mary Kusler, senior director of NEA's Center for Advocacy, is here to give us an update on what our elected officials are doing to help end the epidemic of gun violence in schools. Thank you so much for joining us today, Mary.

Mary : I am delighted to be here with you, Natieka. Thank you so much for having me.

Natieka : So can you briefly introduce yourself and talk a bit about [00:22:00] your role at NEA?

Mary : My name is Mary Kusler. I am the senior director for the Center for Advocacy and Political Action. I have the honor of working on behalf of the three million educators and public employees of the National Education Association at the nexus of where their advocacy happens at the federal, state, and local level.

Natieka : Unfortunately, we're here to talk a bit about gun violence and the crisis that we're in as a country. Can you talk a bit about [00:22:30] the current state of school safety in the country, which I think involves more than gun violence, but this is a hot topic now?

Mary : When I talk about the issue of gun violence and safety on school campuses, I have to address it not only in my official role here at NEA, but also as a mom of two boys, one who is a sophomore in high school and one who is in sixth grade. It is impossible to separate the feelings of an educator and the feelings of a parent [00:23:00] when talking about these issues because they are front and center.

What we know is every single day our children are in danger in school campuses because we cannot figure out a way to protect them. I would love to say here just shortly after the anniversary of the horrific Sandy Hook shootings, that we would be much further in this fight and that kids would not be scared to go to school and parents would not look twice at their children before they send them off at school. But what we know now all [00:23:30] these years later is there's continued to be countless acts of violence on school campuses, higher ed campuses, and in our communities. And these acts of violence have put all of us on edge in a way that as we continue to poll the public about the issues that are most important for them in public education, gun violence and safety on school campuses continues to rise to the top.

So what we are seeing right now [00:24:00] is there have been steps taken, but we know that ultimately we need to do better. Our kids deserve better. Our communities deserve better.

Natieka : What are the main challenges and obstacles that schools are facing when they are trying to implement safety measures on a grand scale?

Mary : So I think we have to talk about this in several different buckets. We always have to worry about that the answer to all of this is heartening school campuses. [00:24:30] What we know more than anything is we need our school campuses to be places to spark children's imaginations, to spark their love of learning, and we have to balance putting security measures in on school campuses with creating that learning environment that all of our students deserve.

The second thing is, and we have seen a lot of discussion about this is there's a larger conversation [00:25:00] going on here about mental health supports. We know that our students are not okay coming out of the pandemic. We know they weren't necessarily okay before then. We know that the stress and anxiety that is felt by our students, that's felt by our educators, that's felt by me as a mom is not going away.

And so how are we setting up our schools in a way that are not only going to meet the academic needs but are going to meet the social, emotional [00:25:30] needs of our kids? And that means we not only need school counselors, school psychologists, we need school social workers. We need a mental health support system in this country that not only supports our students in their school settings but also supports them when they leave high school and go out into the community.

This takes two things. This is going to take a lot of structural changes in the school setting and in the public [00:26:00] setting. But man, we are going to need to do a good job of recruiting people to take these positions. There's a lot of money and a lot of interest right now out there in staffing up in this area, but the pipeline doesn't exist. And so we're really going to have to invest in that pipeline and make sure that we are enticing our best and our brightest not only into the field of education, but into these fields that are so important for the wraparound social, emotional services that are in schools.

And finally, [00:26:30] they're continue to be a lot of discussion around school resource officers. And we know there's a lot of incredible school resource officers out there who are part of the school community. They are a strong member of our education support professionals and they are tied into the school, know who the kids are, know who their families are, are making sure they're checking in on folks and is another trusted, caring adult in the building. We also know places where that is [00:27:00] not the case, where it really is about getting armed police and armed security into the schools.

And what we have seen in a world where we have to work and we have lots of conflicting and merging crisis for our students, we really have to watch what that does on the school-to-prison pipeline. And we cannot let the issues of race, background come away from the central push in this conversation. We need to make sure that [00:27:30] we're not setting up security systems in our schools that are just indiscriminately sending our black and brown students into higher levels of discipline, escalating that up, taking them out of school and suspensions when really there's a lot more going on and this is nothing more than our institutional racism at play.

Natieka : So I've also been talking to Zach Martin. He was a survivor of the Columbine shooting, which as we talked about with him, at the time that was a really shocking event. [00:28:00] It felt, as he said, like it was a once in a generation, once in a lifetime type of event. At the time, it just seemed unbelievable that this would happen. And now, unfortunately, it's become extremely commonplace. Can you actually give us some numbers on how big this problem is and how different it is from 1999 right now?

Mary : It is scary to think about. There have been over 392 school shootings [00:28:30] in America since Columbine. And we also have to remember that that only takes account for the school shootings. What we miss in that number are the thousands of children that are killed in everyday acts of gun violence just getting to and from school. We know that there's been a lot of emphasis on safe passageways for students. So while we talk about school shootings, that is just one piece of that puzzle. Those 392 [00:29:00] school shootings that have happened are based on a certain number of students having to die. Well, one student being injured is one student too much, and that's a much bigger number when we think about it.

The numbers failed to capture the interconnectivity of some of these events with each other, but also the holistic world that our students grow up with gun violence as just a normalized part of their lives. My boys both [00:29:30] have to do active shooter drills in their schools. This is part of their view of what school was when we used to do earthquake drills or fire drills. They've just added active shooter drills to them, and that's a terrifying aspect in a world where we fail to actually do as much as we should do about controlling the weapons that are killing way too many children across this country.

Natieka : What legislative changes [00:30:00] do you think could contribute to safer school environments?

Mary : Well, first of all, it's important to note that a little over a year ago, the United States Congress passed for the first time in 30 years, in 30 years gun violence prevention legislation led by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The United States Congress approved and the Biden-Harris administration has put into action the bipartisan [00:30:30] Safer Communities Act.

And while we've seen and have already raised some of the mental health supports funding and focus on that pipeline we talked about, what we really saw was the first changes in federal law around gun violence and gun rules in over 30 years. Things like making sure we had strong background checks for those between the ages of 18 to 21, to take [00:31:00] steps to close the gun show loophole, that in some cases with private dealings of gun transfers, those background checks are not taken care of. But we know this is just the tip of the iceberg. We know that more needs to be done.

We know there is a direct correlation with fewer mass shootings and the banning of assault weapons. That is a correlated research-based outcome that we saw [00:31:30] during the years that the United States had assault weapons banned. That ban was lifted, and since that ban was lifted, we have seen an increase in the number of school shootings, community shootings, mass murders perpetrated by assault weapons. It makes us question as educators why weapons of war should be readily accessible in our communities, and we too join with so many others in pushing for that assault weapons [00:32:00] ban.

At the end of the day, we need to see more leadership, more focus on what can be done to preserve the rights of those who legally have and responsibly own guns in this country. But right now, the system is not working.

My 15-year-old is getting ready to get his license and to do everything he needs to do in order to prove that he is a safe driver. There are a number of hoops he's got to jump [00:32:30] through, tests, supervision by an adult. All of this needs to be done before he is allowed to acquire a driver's license in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Around the country, we see states that are absolutely eliminating any sort of prerequisites to gun ownership, and instead maybe they have a background check, but there's no licensing requirements. That is not okay. It should not be easier to [00:33:00] own and operate a gun than it is to own and operate a car.

So there's a lot that we need Congress to continue to act upon in this area. We think about the important role that the late Representative John Lewis played in bringing attention to this because it truly is a civil rights issues as we look at the indiscriminate killing of youth in this country with very little accountability.

Natieka : What are [00:33:30] some of the proactive measures or policies that have been effective in preventing gun violence in schools or at least mitigating some of the effects that we've seen? Because it's hard to say it just didn't happen here, so that means that it's solved, right? We don't know what's in the future. But what are some things, if anything, some success stories that you've heard from members and how they're starting to tackle this?

Mary : So first of all, I think there's about what role can the NEA play in helping [00:34:00] our affiliates at the state and local level and our members should the unspeakable happen. And we are currently well underway working to revise the NEA Crisis Guide to allow us to incorporate the lessons learned from the way too many examples we have of school shootings, to make sure that if the unthinkable happens, our members are not left without the support to help them navigate those critical first few days, weeks, months.

[00:34:30] Second, as part of NEA member benefits, all NEA members have access to a mental health app that they can download on their phone that allows them to access real-time supports, a community, as well as meditation and others. This isn't the catchall, but what is really the positive effect of this moment is we as a society are more open to discuss the mental health issues that are going on. [00:35:00] No one should feel ashamed or alone if you are confronted in a mental health crisis right now. The real key is to accessing the supports that you need and to accessing those around you to make sure that the help you need is there.

10 years ago, we couldn't have a conversation about social, emotional learning. We couldn't have a conversation about mental health supports in our school settings. Everything was focused on the test score and the test score was [00:35:30] the be all and end all. At the end of the day, we know that testing is still too prevalent in our schools, but a silver lining of all of this is that we can have these important conversations around mental health.

The last thing I would say is a really exciting development is the youth stepping up and speaking out for their schools. After the tragic Parkland shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a group of students [00:36:00] came together to form March for Our Lives. They actually worked closely with their educators. They connected with the Florida Education Association in those early days and with us here at the National Education Association. Well over five years later, that is a strong and vibrant organization led by America's youth. I have had the honor and privilege of watching students age out of that movement and bring in a new level of student voice into that. It's [00:36:30] the first time in my almost 30 years of advocacy that I have seen the youth stand up for the America that they want. They have been forceful, they have been effective, and they're showing no signs of slowing down.

And so I get real hope every time I get to connect with the youth who are getting up each and every day on top of school, on top of college, on top of early career jobs to create [00:37:00] change in society, to leave it better than it was for them. That is truly inspirational.

Natieka : What are some of the initial steps or maybe even the number one step that you feel like educators who are listening right now can take in order to help end this crisis and epidemic of gun violence in schools and in our communities?

Mary : There's probably three steps I would recommend at this juncture. First of all, if you are not currently a member of the National Education Association, please become [00:37:30] a member of the National Education Association. The more educators we represent, the more valid our voice is, not only in the halls of Congress and at the White House, but in the state legislatures as well as we push to ensure our school campuses are safe and open for the imagination of learning that we all hope and desire.

Second, if you go to nea.org/action, you can see ways to write and make sure that your member [00:38:00] of Congress is aware of what is going on in the legislation that we are seeking at this point. And so you cannot only send that email that refers to banning assault weapons, but you can tell your story, which is also important as we work towards getting to a final resolution here and making more progress. Those stories matter. Your voice matters.

And then last, we have to remember that the only way we're really going to create change in this country [00:38:30] is to elect leaders who support that change. And so if you are an NEA member or family member, we urge you to give money to the NEA Fund for Children in Public Education so we can work during this upcoming incredible year of 2024 where there are so many consequential elections. We can use those resources to make sure we are supporting and standing by those elected leaders who are ready to stand by, [00:39:00] support, and ensure the safety of our students and their educators.

Natieka : Just want to thank you Mary for coming on to the show today and talking about all these important issues. Thank you.

Mary : Thank you so much Natieka for having me here and for raising this up into this podcast because it's an important issue that we don't often spend the time talking about.

Natieka : You can read more about how educators and their unions are working to end the legacy of inaction on gun violence in the January issue of NEA Today. I'll also leave a link to the story in our show notes.

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