School safety measures are best determined with the help of local community officials, says Jennifer McCormick, state superintendent of public instruction.
With this year’s session of the Indiana General Assembly halfway completed, school safety and other education matters such as teacher pay remain priorities. Bills that propose providing money to train teachers to carry a weapon in schools and to increase funding for K-12 education are advancing.
McCormick said she is against state lawmakers’ push to arm teachers in response to recent shootings.
“I have not been a supporter of ‘let’s arm teachers and hope for the best.’ I think that’s a bad, bad, bad idea,” McCormick told local educators and the public at the MCCSC Co-lab on Feb. 27. “The risks outweigh the rewards.”
Potentially allowing armed school staff and faculty is one solution being advanced at the Indiana Statehouse to address recent shootings.
House Bill 1253 creates a firearm safety and training curriculum for teachers, school staff and employees that is focused on responding to a school shooting situation. It also allows school districts to apply for state dollars to train teachers and staff who volunteer to carry firearms on school grounds.
Reporter Brittani Howell contributed to this story.
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