DeVos says she won’t take action on funding to arm teachers
WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Friday she has “no intention of taking any action” regarding any possible use of federal funds to arm teachers or provide them with firearms training.
DeVos’ comments came after a top official in her department, when asked about arming teachers, said states and local jurisdictions always “had the flexibility” to decide how to use federal education funds.
Frank Brogan, assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education, said arming educators “is a good example of a profoundly personal decision on the part of a school or a school district or even a state.” President Donald Trump and DeVos have said that schools may benefit from having armed teachers and should have that option.
DeVos said Friday that “Congress did not authorize me or the Department to make those decisions” about arming teachers or training them on the use of firearms.
Her comments were in a letter to Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott, the top Democrat on the House committee overseeing education, and were posted by the department on Twitter.
“I will not take any action that would expand or restrict the responsibilities and flexibilities granted to state and local education agencies by Congress,” DeVos wrote.
Democrats and education groups have argued, however, that the funds are intended for academics, not guns.
DeVos heads a federal commission on school safety that was formed after the deadly Valentine’s Day shooting at a Florida high school.
An early draft of the commission’s report recommends that states and communities determine “based on the unique circumstances of each school” whether to arm its security personnel and teachers to be able to respond to violence.
That approach, the draft says, “can be particularly helpful” in rural districts where the nearest police unit may be far away. Other recommendations included employing school resource officers and ensuring they worked closely with the rest of the school staff.
Educators from some remote rural schools also told the panel that they rely on armed school personnel because the police may take too long to arrive. Others, however, argued that arming teachers is dangerous and could make schools feel like prisons.
Brogan said the Every Student Succeeds Act, a bipartisan law that shifts education authority to states, provides about $1 billion in annual funding for various school needs, including 20 percent specifically set aside for school safety.
“The people at the local level who’ve been there for years could make the decisions about what services to purchase, what equipment to buy to fulfill the general broad obligations laid out in that law,” he said.
It would be up to Congress, not the U.S. Department of Education, to place any restrictions or barriers to use those funds for purposes not currently in the law, a department spokeswoman said.
The debate arose earlier this month after a small rural school district in Oklahoma and the state of Texas asked the department to clarify what the funds can be used for.
“The position is: You have the language ... the language was written specifically to and always interpreted to mean ‘this is your money,’” Brogan said.
Democratic lawmakers and teachers said the Trump administration is acting in the interests of the National Rifle Association, and several congressmen called for legislation that would prohibit the use of those funds for guns.
Senator Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate commission overseeing education, said on Twitter that she was “extremely disappointed that (DeVos) is moving forward with this awful plan to allow federal funds to be used to arm teachers.”
“I hope she reconsiders and we need to keep pressure on her until she does,” Murray added.
The commission was created by President Donald Trump in March after 17 people were killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The panel is chaired by DeVos and also consists of the heads of the departments of Justice, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security.