Editorial

A militarized school is not a safe school

Posted

The New York Times reported last week that U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was weighing the use of federal grant money to arm teachers across the country. DeVos’s staff — predictably — pushed back on the report. The department was merely responding to an inquiry from education officials in Texas, USDE spokespeople said, and no decision had been made.

Still, according to CNN, the Department of Education left the matter open. Spokeswoman Liz Hill told reporters that the department “is constantly considering and evaluating policy issues, particularly issues related to school safety.”

The report, and the department’s tepid denial of it, were enough to raise alarm bells for New York state lawmakers and education officials, as well it should have. Our schools are no place for weapons.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, a Democrat, quickly responded to the report by saying that her administration opposes the use of federal funds to arm teachers. Curran also pointed to the outstanding work of improving safety that is ongoing in the county’s 56 school districts, including continual training and widespread use of the Rave app, which improves response times and the flow of information for first responders in the event of an active shooter.

“Every penny of federal grants should go towards our children’s educational enrichment,” Curran said, “not towards bringing firearms into their classrooms.” We agree.

New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and Board of Regents Chairwoman Betty Rosa also released a joint statement calling the prospect of guns in the classroom “misguided and dangerous.”

How could giving teachers the means to defend their classrooms be dangerous? some might ask. Before we answer, first consider the logistics and the cost. Every teacher in a school that opts to take up arms would first be required to be licensed. That’s a fee of $200 per applicant in Nassau. Passing a criminal and mental health background check would not likely be a problem for teachers, but training would come next — an expensive proposition.

In the Clarkesville School District in Arkansas, CNN reported, about 13 faculty members were trained in firearms when the program began, at a cost of $68,000, and they must be retrained every year in defensive tactics.

Setting aside the image of teachers strapped with firearms, adding to the already surrealistic — but necessary — sight of students and law enforcement streaming through halls in rehearsals of mock-terror scenarios, the plan could prove deadly for minority students.

Given all of this, injecting guns into our classrooms would likely do nothing but turn up the heat. It’s a dangerous proposition that is unfair to students, and to teachers, who have enough on their plates in trying to meet 21st century learning standards, teaching the whole child and keeping an eye on students’ social and emotional well-being.

Educators from across Long Island, including Rockville Centre Superintendent Dr. William Johnson, are decrying the proposal to put guns in our schools. Parents and students must join in the chorus to ensure that it never happens.