Joint Statement from Virginia Education Association, NEA on Shooting at the University of Virginia
November 14, 2022
November 14, 2022
VEA President Dr. James J. Fedderman and NEA President Becky Pringle issued the following joint statement in the wake of last night’s tragic school shooting at the University of Virginia:
“While we are still learning all the details, we are devastated by reports of the horrific school shooting at the University of Virginia, where three people have been killed and at least two were injured. Murder in any place of learning is unthinkable, and yet their deaths are now an agonizing reality for families and friends whose lives will never again be the same.
“Classrooms and campuses should be safe havens where young people feel welcomed and where learning is celebrated. We are brokenhearted about the lost lives and the trauma for the students and educators who survived this terrible event and will continue to feel its effects for years to come.
“We are also angry. The gun violence at the University of Virginia comes just days after another shooting at Ingraham High School in Seattle. We can best honor the victims of this shooting — and Uvalde, Oxford, Parkland, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, and far too many other schools — by demanding a stop to this madness. To abide by the senseless deaths of students means abandoning hope for tomorrow.
“Our thoughts and prayers are not enough. They do not capture the heartache, grief, or anger we should feel. And it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted someplace else in America — tomorrow, next week, or a couple of months from now.
“We stand in sorrowful solidarity with the victims of this crime and all those who mourn them. And we challenge every politician who plans to offer thoughts and prayers instead to provide effective leadership that makes it harder for murderers to obtain and carry the weapons used in these acts of violence. We challenge elected leaders at every level across the country to no longer side with the gun lobby and instead speak up for the students and communities who are caught up in the preventable epidemic of gun violence. The time is now — before this happens again.
“Our students and their families, as well as our colleagues and our communities, deserve safe schools. We all deserve leaders who value our lives over their campaign contributions.”
According to the Economic Policy Institute, teachers in Virginia earn 67 cents on the dollar compared to other (non-teacher) college-educated workers. Virginia’s teacher wage penalty is the worst in the nation.
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