RALEIGH - Ten thousand educators from North Carolina and across the country will meet in Atlanta next week to talk about the most pressing issues facing teachers and students. In the wake of the Newtown shootings, they'll discuss ways to keep students and campuses safe.

Rodney Ellis, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, says they're concerned about the mental health issues that are often associated with school shootings. “We want to make sure that those individuals are receiving the proper care that they need, to first of all prevent such actions as they’ve been taking of late.”

Ellis says they're working with legislators to make sure there are security officers on duty at every school in the state.

The educators will also discuss the impending increase in student loan interest rates, education funding, and immigration reform. Ellis says teachers see the effects of immigration every day in the classroom. “Because we have a number of immigrants in our classes and we need to make sure that we can properly educate them. But at the same time they need to make sure that whatever reform measures are put in place, they are common sense and they are beneficial to the students who come to our schools every day.”