Texas schools 2 years after Uvalde ‣ Texas AFT

Two years have passed since the horrific shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, where 19 children and two teachers were tragically killed by a lone 18-year-old gunman with an AR-15 while hundreds of law enforcement officers waited nearby.

As we mark this sad anniversary, it is disheartening that gun violence remains a major problem in Texas schools. The recent shootings in North Texas serve as a stark reminder of the urgent need for meaningful action.

According to the Texas AFT's 2024 membership survey, a staggering 82% of K-12 educators are concerned about the possibility of gun violence on their campuses, making it their top priority among 11 community and social justice issues. This fear is rooted in a grim reality, as Everytown for Gun Safety found that there have been over 500 shootings on school campuses nationwide in the past three years.

In discussing the anniversary, Texas AFT President Zeph Capo emphasized the fundamental responsibility of schools to provide a safe learning environment for students and teachers, the central role of the Texas Legislature in supporting that goal, and how we are currently failing to ensure that safe environment.

“Texans entrust their children to our schools every day,” Capo said. “They are expected to learn, grow and reach their potential. Instead, they are faced with the trauma of school shooting drills and the very real fear of becoming the next victim of a school shooting. It's time for our politicians to stop playing blame and put the safety of our children and teachers above politics.”

Despite the lockdown of school campuses in the wake of the Uvalde attack, gun violence continues to rock school communities across Texas. In the Dallas area, shootings in recent weeks at Wilmer-Hutchins High School and James Bowie High School in Arlington have shaken students and parents. Danielle Curtis, a Dallas mother whose daughter was present at the Wilmer-Hutchins High School shooting, described her family's experience with gun violence to the Dallas Morning News: “It's a paralyzing fear.”

While Texas has taken some incremental steps to improve school safety, such as requiring armed personnel on all school campuses and increasing funding for school security, these measures are far from sufficient to achieve the comprehensive reforms needed.

For example, the additional funding provided by the legislature for school safety under House Bill 3 is completely inadequate.

“If lawmakers think they checked the box on school safety last session, we should be appalled at how low the bar is set,” noted Nicole Hill, communications director for the Texas AFT, in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. “They put an extra 28 cents per student into school safety funding and then mandated underfunded districts hire armed security guards on every campus – an expense that those extra cents don't even come close to covering.”

Meanwhile, Texas lawmakers have avoided addressing the state's permissive gun laws. Gov. Greg Abbott falsely claimed that raising the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic rifles would be unconstitutional, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has never addressed the issue. Several federal courts have ruled otherwise and in favor of such measures. Had Texas required a minimum age of 21 to purchase assault rifles, as Florida did after the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, the Uvalde shooter may not have been able to acquire such deadly firepower. State legislation to “raise the age” failed in 2023 despite strong advocacy from the families of the Uvalde victims.

As the 89th Legislature approaches, it is imperative that our elected officials take bold and decisive action to combat the scourge of gun violence in our schools. This multi-pronged approach must include evidence-based measures such as safe firearm storage laws, “red flag” extreme danger laws, universal background checks, and significant investments in mental health services and support staff in our public schools. In addition, our elected officials here in Texas must stop impeding progress toward lawful policy change at the national level.

We can no longer tolerate the unacceptable. Our children and teachers deserve to feel safe in their classrooms and not live in constant fear of the next tragedy. On this second anniversary of the Uvalde shooting, let us honor the memory of the victims by demanding that our leaders have the courage to make the changes our communities so desperately need. Thoughts and prayers are not enough; it is time to act.