We can do better than arming our teachers

INSTEAD OF outlawing civilian possession of automatic and assault weapons, the president has proposed arming teachers as a solution to the problem of school massacres. There are some questions that need to be answered about this proposal.

1) What is the plan for getting input from teachers and teachers’ unions?

2) What is the plan for getting input from parents and ensuring that all demographic groups are queried?

3) What possible long-term effects from such a policy are anticipated, such as current students who aspire to be teachers deciding to select another path, thus creating a teacher shortage in an already strained profession?

4) If the proposed policy creates a deficit of well-trained teachers, what is your plan to address this?

5) In school districts that are already financially strained, how would such a program be paid for?

6) How would the positive and negative effects of the policy be measured, tracked and addressed?

7) There has been no public discussion of the president’s readiness to demonstrate his certainty that this is a good solution and appropriate protection for American children. Does he plan to transfer his own child to a public school where his only protection from an assault rifle attack will be a few teachers with handguns?

We have the worst gun policy and its resulting problems in the developed world. We can do better than this to protect our children and all our citizens. We need to pressure Congress and the president to take effective measures and ban automatic and assault weapons.

ELLEN TATGE Albuquerque