FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 6, 2021
CONTACT: Rob D’Amico, , rdamico@k5ka.net
Texas AFT President Zeph Capo commented today on the school shooting at Timberview High School in Mansfield ISD.
What’s heartbreaking about this shooting is that we are again left with the reality that our schools will be targets for gun violence that takes the lives of our students and teachers.
We are faced with our ongoing anger over the fact that this shouldn’t have happened, that we are headed in the wrong direction in Texas, one that will continue to have tragic consequences. The only response from Texas state leadership to an epidemic of school shootings has been to allow almost anyone to carry a gun openly, with no need for a license or permit.
The ideologues who fuel the culture wars around guns and refuse to take common-sense steps are responsible for these tragedies, and if nothing is done, those that follow. Our students and school employees deserve a safe environment to learn, and those that continue to put extreme politics above safety continue to fail them.
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The Texas American Federation of Teachers represents more than 65,000 teachers, paraprofessionals, support personnel, and higher-education employees across the state. Texas AFT is affiliated with the 1.7-million-member American Federation of Teachers and AFL-CIO.