Dive Brief:

• The 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, has been a rallying cry for people on both sides of the gun control debate, and educators are providing perspective about what is best in schools.
• Education Week reports Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America plans to launch Educators Demand Action as an umbrella campaign to coordinate the efforts of teachers and administrators who have fought attempts to arm school personnel and tighten gun laws.
• While there are some educators who believe armed staff could help protect students in the case of an active shooter, many have become powerful voices against such proposals in state legislatures, including those who have lived through school shootings.

Dive Insight:

The last election saw an increase in the number of state governments that are controlled entirely by Republicans, in both houses of the state legislature as well as the governor’s office. As Republicans have traditionally been friendlier to relaxed gun laws, this could usher in a new set of legislative changes. Texas is among the states where concealed carry in college campus buildings is legal for the first time this academic year.

Any districts that do introduce guns into classrooms and school buildings should make sure proper training accompanies the change. Ideally adults who are approved to carry weapons should be prepared for a variety of scenarios in which they might use them and be required to maintain their skills with regular trainings.