Why Did We March?

I was so proud to march with my family, my friends, and my students this past weekend at the March For Our Lives here in Asheville.

Why did we march?

The week following the tragedy at Parkland, my students were scared to be at school.  One student politely asked me to keep our door closed while in class.  Another asked to be escorted to the bathroom.  Over a third of my students simply did not come to school.  It was a surreal day, and was also ridiculous.  My kids should not be afraid to attend a public school.  We can do so much better.

I have been a public school teacher for 18 years.  This is the first time I have witnessed this level of anxiety from my students, concerning the security of our school.  Many elected officials are claiming that we should give people like me a firearm (and training) to better secure our students.  I do not want to carry a gun to my job, and in no way do I believe that this is a reasonable solution to school safety.

On the contrary, I believe that arming teachers is our government giving up, and admitting that it does not have the ability to solve this problem of school safety. What I want to see happen is for our government officials to fund our public schools adequately.

So we marched to draw attention to the following demands:

1. The federal government should immediately restrict access to assault weapons and hand guns, using age, mandatory background checks, and waiting periods.  
2.  The state government should fund more school counselors, and school psychologists.
3.  Fund more armed law enforcement officers.
4.  Invest in better school security systems.
5.  Hire more school nurses.
6.  Improve access to healthcare, and provide mental health equity.

This is a start.

I hope that this movement is just beginning, and we can help bring about meaningful change to school safety for our kids.