Arming Teachers: PA Union Opposes As State Bill Moves Forward

Pennsylvania's biggest teacher's union has weighed in on the proposal to arm teachers, saying such a plan would actually make students less safe.

The Pennsylvania State Education Association, in a statement issued Thursday by President Dolores McCracken, said the union opposes policies to put more guns in schools. The approach would endanger students, school staff, and first responders, McCracken said in the statement.

Teachers are not trained law enforcement officers, McCracken noted – "their job is to educate children and act as role models."

McCracken's statement was in response to recent comments by President Donald Trump, who said he supports the possibility of giving concealed guns to teachers with military or special training experience — "only the best," he wrote in a tweet.

But the prospect of arming teachers in Pennsylvania is not new. A bill that would allow teachers to carry handguns in schools was approved by the state Senate in June. The legislation will reportedly be considered by a House committee as soon as next month.

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Trump called "gun-free" schools a "magnet for bad people," and allowing qualified teachers to carry guns in the classroom would cost less than hiring guards and could be a powerful tool to curbing mass shootings at schools. "Highly trained, gun adept, teachers/coaches would solve the problem instantly, before police arrive," he tweeted. "GREAT DETERRENT!"

PSEA clarified it is not opposed to the use of "appropriately trained" armed school safety guards.

But McCracken, whose group represents 181,000 teachers and school employees, said the union is "absolutely certain" that legislation aimed at arming teachers would make students less safe. "We strongly oppose state and federal efforts to put more guns in schools."

Meanwhile, Senate Bill 383, which allows teachers to carry handguns, will be considered in March by the House Education Committee, 6 News reports. The committee will consider the bill as part of a larger hearing on improving school safety, the station reported.

The bill gives teachers the option of carrying concealed firearms on school property and in the classroom. The bill, sponsored by Republican Donald White of the 41st District, would also allow school staff members, like maintenance workers or any administrative employees, to carry firearms.

The PSEA opposes such a proposal, saying it would create more problems for first responders arriving at the scene of a shooting, making it more difficult to immediately distinguish a perpetrator from a school employee.

“PSEA is for strategies that keep students safe. Arming school staff members doesn’t keep students safe. That’s why we oppose it.”

Here are the president's tweets:

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