And she has good reason to be furious.

who take MILLIONS from the gun lobby, work in a super safe environment. Well protected, no fear of a crazed gunman running in to mow multiple people down in a hail of gunfire. When will citizens wake up and admit the gop is only for themselves and their bank accounts, not to represent constituents? This teacher is correct, she signed up to teach, not to act as a security guard.

or dad, they were both teachers.

My brother and I sacrificed time with our parents; time when they were grading papers, time when they stayed late at school to accommodate parents schedules for conferences, time that they couldn't accommodate us and our schedules because of other people's children, etc., etc. They knew that when they chose that career and also knew when they had children of their own our time with them would be sacrificed. What they didn't sign up for, was to give their lives, for other people's children. Although I'm quite certain, had a situation occurred where they needed to, they would have. And that would have been the ultimate sacrifice for an entire family.

They are both deceased. I miss them both tremendously. However, with tears in my eyes, I can honestly say, I'm glad they aren't teaching in these times. They're "safe"....now I just worry each and every day, if my 2 grandchildren will be "safe" when they are in an environment where they deserve to be safe from harm.

Thank you for posting this, babylonsister.....it sure hit home for me!

They all love teaching and their children, but expecting them to shield their students is beyond the pale. The politicians or the school board members wouldn't be so brave. They wouldn't have anything invested in the students like love, hope for a better future and successful careers. They just want to keep the status quo since banning guns would be too difficult and they wouldn't want to hurt the feelings of the NRA power body. So, it's easier to turn their backs on the children and teachers. They don't have to look them in the eye. Cowards.

Sad, pathetic and it pisses me off that there even needs to be a "discussion". This should be a no brainer!

You must be proud of your daughter and granddaughters for choosing to teach our future....so am I....

their jobs. My daughter has 5 years to go before retirement. I just hope she makes it without guns in the picture.

Because the GOP hates public education

the school a block from me was on lockdown a couple of weeks ago...7 year old grandchild locked inside. armed gunman on the loose....took 3 days to find him

this is a very boring, quiet, neighborhood so this crazy gun behavior seems widespread

and Congress collectively snores.

I will share it with others.

Those who will NEVER consider ANY steps to contain this scourge are, IMO the MOST SELFISH people in the world and deserving of nothing but contempt.

As a culture, we have been pretending that the mostly imaginary "right" of people to bear arms was more important than the rights of students and churchgoers and concert audiences to live. It's time to clarify the Constitution and control the sale of firearms tightly, so that we can all live, learn, and pursue happiness. We need some graphic footage of the scenes of carnage we have produced in this country to be shown to all state and federal legislators at the moment appropriate gun control bills are brought to a vote.

Four members of my family are teachers.

My daughter and her husband, my youngest son and his wife.
Every day I wonder about them.

My daughter and hubby have given us two amazing grand kids my son and his chosen have awarded us a beautiful grandson.

If anything ever .... I just can’t think about it.

Yet when you hear the news that another shooting took place .... you stop breathing...you stop everything to listen to the location.

Then you feel a creeping guilt, a kinda shame, when you feel that relief...it’s not them.

I absolutely hate that feeling.

And I expected people to shoot at me, or at least try to bomb me and destroy the ship I was on. It came with the job.

But teachers are not members of the military or the police. Getting shot at should Not come with the job of public school teacher.

had to have "routine" active shooter drills with her 1st graders the after Sandy Hook and we returned from Winter Break. My principal did NOT know that the classroom doors only lock from the OUTSIDE and open out (can't barricade) it. This was the 2nd principal I had that didn't know this. We never signed up for this when we got our degrees. Getting sick half the time was no fun but gun safety issues never would have occurred to me when I decided to change careers and teach.
Yesterday I heard from two former students' mom whose son and later her daughter were in my class. She saw my name on a list that I signed to help with the National School Walkout on March 14th. I haven't seen her since 2005. She wanted to thank me for her children. Her son is 23 and daughter is 19 now. I remember her very well...she was one of those fantastic parents that stand out for being A+++++. She's going to be at the School District Headquarters with me and other educators, parents, students, community members and local govt officials. #ENOUGH
Here is info on where there are events, maps, etc in March and April as well as info about contacting lawmakers, scripts, and even a list of how much $ each GOP rep in the House and Senate received from the NRA.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10112196

I am going to every protest around here that I can.

Meanwhile, I heard on the news this morning that three schools in NJ are hiring security to be at the doors and be there all day.

So instead of reallocating the school district dollars as this teacher recommends toward the end of her letter, if NJ is any indicator, we'll just get more guards.

Now think about this: decades ago I did a project in the Newark Public School system. In just one school, they had to have four guards, one at every corner of every floor of the school. Figuring $25k per guard per year, that's $100k per floor, and the school was four floors. So $400,000 per year just for guards.

The NRA and the craze for guns in this country has so totally altered the landscape that this is what it has come to. As a teacher, there are no bounds to my disgust.

There is a ton of it in two areas...
1. Congress, NRA, voting
2. Community and School Walkouts

I feel every one of those words!

I hope someone will hear her persuasive words. I fear they will fall on deaf ears.

That a teacher has to endure these stresses is totally wrong.

Guns do not enhance freedom.

As a teacher, a happily married wife, and, especially, the mother of young children, I felt exactly the same. Years later, my children now adults, and my marriage ended in divorce, I had a different perspective on the possibility of a school shooting, and would have been more protective of my students. After Columbine, when I ran into a former, now adult, student, they'd invariably ask, " Aren't you afraid to be in the classroom these days?"

-Puzzler

with tears in my eyes and rage in my heart.

we might just see sensible gun legislation passed in a hurry.

Understand that I am absolutely NOT advocating violence against our elected officials. However, I would be willing to bet that just the thought of some angry male with a semi-automatic weapon strolling into the spectator gallery would be enough to energive Congress to pass a bi-partisan bill quickly.

But Congress has passed bills specifically to prevent that from happening, including paying for tight security with out tax dollars, while Betsy DeVos is gutting tax dollars to public schools.

...we might just see sensible gun legislation passed in a hurry." One would hope, but I wonder.

Getting shot and beng grievously wounded, and spending weeks in the hospital did not budge gun-humper Congressman Steve Scalise one nanometer. I don't get it.

This is a powerful read.

OK, then let's talk about the Sandy Hook victims.


How many tragedies can we endure? How many must there be before the idiotic gun nuts in this country finally face facts? There can be no military-style assault weapons in the hands of private citizens. NONE! Even if everyone is completely sane, a picture of perfect mental health. There are no reasons for ANY human being to own or use a military weapon of ANY kind.

Every other country in the world GETS IT. What is our problem?
(Don't bother answering, I already know what our problem is.)

The BS is so deep around RWers it's a wonder they can still draw breath.

For these gun-humpers and NRA apologists/whores, it's NEVER the time to talk about this.

And no fill-in-the-blank-here alleged "law" would have prevented this latest tragedy.

And thoughtsandprayersandthoughtsandprayersandthoughtsandprayersandthoughtsandprayersandthoughtsandprayersand...

I just don't bother with this shit anymore. It won't change my mind, or make me shut up, or stop me from - YES, gun-goons, doing EVERYTHING I can to take your damn guns away! NO civilian needs an AR15! NONE. The only reason for some civilian to own one of those massacre machines is that they fancy the idea of being able to kill the maximum number of people in the minimum amount of time. THAT, to me, is the very essence of a NOGOODNIK. A textbook definition of a NOGOODNIK. And a nogoodnik has NO business getting ANY kind of gun, much less a professional, military-style massacre machine.

They can ship out to the war front in Afghanistan if they want that badly to be Johnny Shoot-em-up.

I learned as a mother that you don't reward or reinforce bad behavior. And if the kids can't play nicely and peaceably with their toys, you take their toys AWAY.


And let's just remember this: They call it an ASSAULT rifle. The AR15 is an ASSAULT weapon, NOT a defense weapon or defensive weapon/rifle/gun. It's an ASSAULT rifle. That's an active word, not a passive word. "Assault" is an active word. When you assault someone, You. Are. On. The. Attack. And ACTIVELY so. There's nothing passive about it. And you're not "defending" SQUAT.

our teachers????


One of my best friends has a daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters teaching in OK. I know she worries for them each and every day.

FUCK the goddamned gun culture.

VIRAL!

My thoughts exactly. All many difficult tasks eacher has to do in the course of a day and now they are expected to shoot their own guns and shield children with their bodies to protect their classrooms? That mass shooting in Florida lasted 6 minutes with the gunman on the move the entire time. Should the teachers leave their classrooms and chase after him, shooting their own weapons down the hall?
It us hard to believe we have come to this....

if I were forced to learn to use a gun and be armed while teaching. This is what many of the gun humpers want in order to further their perverted fantasies of a world where everyone is armed at all times and there are constant shoot outs like the imagined old West.

Even if you could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that guns would never again be needed for protection, they would insist on having them anyway. It's a sick fetish.

If that doesn't move you to tears, you have no heart.

Arm all of the teachers. I had heard that was the solution. Was it last year that a teacher in Utah with a concealed carry permit accidentally shot her self when her gun discharged in her purse while she was using the restroom. Pure madness.

Great letter!

And I thank you for this letter. I can tell you without a doubt that this is the sentiment every teacher I work with in our high school felt last week. Thank you.

I should die so they can keep taking money from the NRA???

She's right

We are dying as a nation, we are dying....

Teachers are there to teach not to be bodyguards or snipers...