Mass. state board unanimously votes against arming teachers

A Massachusetts state education board unanimously voted Tuesday to approve a resolution against arming teachers in the state, WBUR reported.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s board fully supported the resolution against arming teachers, rejecting President Trump’s calls for some teachers to carry firearms in an effort to deter school shootings.

The resolution states that arming teachers could actually make schools “less safe.”

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State Education Secretary Jim Peyser backed the resolution, calling arming teachers “ultimately irresponsible” and “not in the best interests” of students.

“You need training on an ongoing basis, and teachers just are never going to be that well-trained. Even if they’re trained [on how to use] a firearm, they’re not going to be trained in the practices they need to be effective in those situations,” Peyser said, according to WBUR.

Board members also said teachers were hired based on their teaching qualifications, not for their “skills as a security officer.”

Trump had called for some teachers to be armed following the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., last month, saying school staffers could be trained to carry firearms and receive bonuses for doing so.

“He would never have run into the building if he thought bullets were going to come flying back into him,” Trump said, during an interview last month, of the accused school shooter in Florida.

The White House also said earlier this month that it would encourage states to offer firearms training for school employees.