Prior to her attendance at Wednesday’s ribbon cutting for the new Jones Early Childhood Development Center, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly paid a visit to the National Memorial to Fallen Educators.
The governor’s visit followed the annual rededication ceremony of the memorial last Friday as part of hall of fame induction activities. That day, the names of 16 teachers, administrators, custodians and other education staffers were added to the tablets including two from the massacre in Uvalde, Texas, in late May.
With the rising level of gun violence on a national scale, Governor Kelly says we have to do more than just offer our “thoughts and prayers.” She says while those are “sincere,” that sincerity is “not making a difference.”
As she looked upon the memorial alongside retiring National Teachers Hall of Fame Director Carol Strickland, Governor Kelly says she experienced a sense of urgency and motivation.
Just days after the mass shooting in Uvalde, residents and lawmakers alike began a reinvigorated call for more common-sense gun laws and legislation to help prevent future incidents. US Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas has submitted a bill, co-sponsored by several federal lawmakers including fellow Kansas Senator Jerry Moran, that would move COVID-19 relief dollars into “hardening” schools against attacks.
The National Memorial to Fallen Educators was granted its designation as Kansas’ only national memorial back in 2018 thanks in large part to bills introduced by Senator Marshall and Kansas Senator Jerry Moran.
Since its original dedication in 2014, the memorial has had 179 names inscribed across its tablets.
