Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is a shining example of conservative leadership in the wake of his latest announcement to keep kids safe. Announced at Austin Road Elementary School in Winder, GA, he wants to provide a $10k annual stipend to teachers and other non-officers to take firearms training. The stipend would be awarded to teachers holding a firearms training certificate.
He’s not just putting it all on the educators, either. He is also calling for stricter standards for the already necessary safety plans, as well as increasing the money schools are provided to hire resource officers. Asking for police-certified officers usually comes at an expense of $80k a piece in salary and benefits. This kind of cost can drive up taxes, and in very rural communities, that adds up quickly, too, unless the state foots the bill.
Requiring people to go through extensive training to carry their firearms on campus isn’t a new idea, but it hasn’t been too successful yet. Many critics of this kind of plan would rather see more school resource officers or more counselors on staff to help students instead. They believe that the problem of violence can be solved by hugs and soft words, even though the point of no return was long before the shooter struck.
Barrow County Superintendent Chris McMichael has allowed the Security Chief to carry for many years now. However, before allowing other employees to come to work armed, the school board would need to meet and discuss the merits. Currently, they employ 16 officers, but with 20 schools, there are always a few without one on site. While he seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith sees it as a great way to potentially have someone right on the scene. Plus, having multiple forces working on stopping the shooter can save lives.
The Professional Association of Georgia Educators is the largest teacher’s group in the state. In their opinion, the money needs to be included in the state’s funding formula; this way, they can rely on it year-to-year, and not as yearly grants.
While a good idea in theory, as leftists have proved with other budget line items, once the district receives funding, the caring stops. Instead of funding armed teachers, it’s all too easy for them to “dedicate” it to another area or cut from one area to “make up for it” in another. The shell game liberal school administrators play with budgets would make even Russian crooks baffled. It’s like watching Biden trying to recall last night’s meal- nothing will add up.
Another critic comes from the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE). The AP spoke with GAE President Lisa Morgan about the idea. She says, “Teachers should not be armed in the classroom. We are not there to serve as law enforcement, and introducing more firearms into the school is not a way to solve the problem of violence in our schools.”
Oh, how quickly we forget.
What Ms. Morgan is failing to remember is how unreliable they can be. Look at Parkland in 2018 when the school’s officer froze and stayed outside. Or even the 2022 Uvalde school shooting when local PD refused to go in and even arrested parents who attempted to rush the school to save their kids. As much as the liberals distrust the police and want to claim that officers are racists and murderers, they rush to call them for a shooting. They don’t want to take that responsibility into their hands.
This choice to exercise your Second Amendment rights is not made lightly. For educators, it’s made with more weight than most could fathom. They ultimately know that they are resigning themselves to doing what they must to protect others, but it’s something they will be training to do, and they hope they never will have to. While we wish we didn’t need them in schools, until people get the mental health of their evil little spawn under control, it’s the best answer we have.
