Some schools already let teachers carry firearms

Fierce debate erupted after Parkland, Fla., attack

As U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos leads a commission tasked with examining ways to protect schools, including arming school personnel, will K-12 buildings swap “gun-free zone” signs for a more armed and dangerous message?

President Trump and other White House officials support offering federal funds for “rigorous firearms training” to qualified school employees. It’s a fiercely debated idea amid demands for stricter gun laws from survivors of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting.

An NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll showed the majority of Americans don’t want to arm teachers, but 42% of respondents said they should.

As Florida looks at a proposal to arm its teachers, critics say it could create more problems, citing the 132 hours of training required — less than what basic police recruits receive.

Education groups such as the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association are against it.

“We need solutions that will keep guns out of the hands of those who want to use them to massacre innocent children and educators. Arming teachers does nothing to prevent that,” NEA president Lily Eskelsen García said.

Carrying a gun isn’t something many teachers want to do, the #ArmMeWith movement pointed out. Instead, many say they’d appreciate more funding for other resources.

But arming teachers isn’t a new concept. In Texas, 172 school districts already allow staff to to carry firearms, per the Texas Association of School Boards. Most made the decision to arm staff after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut that killed 26 people, mostly young children.

Texas school administrators operating under what’s known as the Guardian Plan are allowed to carry handguns or keep them locked in a safe. Schools receive stipends to cover ammunition for practice and annual tactical training. The plan is just one of three ways Texas public schools can arm staff. Others include forming police forces and establishing school marshals. Districts also may contract with security firms and law enforcement to patrol campuses.

Aaron Sydow, the superintendent of the Fairview R-XI School District in West Plains, Mo., said that when he started in education 20 years ago, he could not have imagined teachers walking the hallways with concealed handguns, but this is a different day and age.

“It’s sad that it’s come to this,” he said.

At least 14 states arm teachers and an additional 16 give local school boards the authority to decide whether school staff can carry guns, according to data compiled by VICE News.

Some schools make it clear to visitors they employee armed staff, but others choose to conceal the defense measure. For example, a school district a few dozen miles north of Dayton, Ohio, keeps its guns, Glock 19s, strategically hidden in school buildings, tucked inside biometric safes that can be opened only with a thumbprint. According to Ohio law, anyone “who has written authorization from the board of education or governing body of a school” to carry a weapon in school can do so.

For parents living in states where guns are allowed in school, there’s no real way to know in some cases if your child’s teacher is carrying a gun.

Justice Department funding for arming school staff could persuade more schools to entertain the option.

Michelle Gaitan of the San Angelo Standard-Times and Harrison Keegan of the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader contributed to this report.

“It’s sad that it’s come to this.”

Aaron Sydow Superintendent, Fairview R-XI School District, West Plains, Mo.