Last month, a school safety commission here in Arkansas made its recommendations to the governor. Or maybe to the state's school systems. The governor said not everything recommended has to find its way into the law books. And that the local school districts can make a lot of these changes themselves. Spoken like a conservative politician in good standing.
The commission's recommendations were many, but the one that made the top of the news was about arming teachers. Or, more accurately, arming some teachers--those who volunteer and go through all kinds of training. Nobody but nobody is talking about arming all teachers in Arkansas. Except those who oppose having any kind of backstop in the classrooms if guns are involved. They do indeed talk about arming all teachers, if only to confuse the issue.
We look forward to superintendents, principals, and when necessary lawmakers making these changes. (The Ledge might be called on to provide funding for some things.)
The commission was formed after that school shooting in Parkland, Fla., back in February, in which 17 were killed and 17 more injured. By coincidence, the commission formed in Florida recently reported back to its own governor. Its recommendations also include arming some volunteers in the classrooms. It's as if those who study the problem of school shootings for nearly a year know best how to prevent them in the future.
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission consisted of 15 people--cops, teachers, mental health pros, parents, local politicians. (Arkansas' governor appointed 18 people to his commission.) Most folks have no idea how hard it is to get 15-18 people to agree on anything. Take editorial boards. Please. After hashing out an issue for 45 minutes, an editorial board might not agree on what to call the topic. Abortion or choice? Global warming or climate change? And to get more'n a dozen people to all sign off on a solution might take watering down that solution--so much so that nothing is really said.
That's why it's so remarkable that both these room-sized commissions agreed on armed presences in classrooms.
Arkansas' commission said schools should have an "armed presence" whenever students and staff are on campus. Florida's panel says that state law should be changed to allow teachers to carry weapons on campus--if they pass background checks and serious training programs.
Florida's statewide teacher union opposes that. Its arguments seem twofold:
- Adding more armed people on campus will make schools more dangerous.
But are high school football games more or less dangerous with cops milling around? The union would have us believe that pros with sidearms necessarily make the place more dangerous. That's prejudice talking, not experience.
- Teachers shouldn't be armed guards.
In a perfect world, they wouldn't be. And even in an imperfect world, they don't have to be. But they can be last-resort backstops until the cops get there--one last obstacle between crazies and our kids.
The folks in Florida who've been debating the Parkland shooting for a year understand as much. They get it.
As for those who don't? We're reminded of what Samuel Johnson once said to an opponent who kept saying, "I don't understand you." At which Dr. Johnson observed: "Sir, I have found you an argument; but I am not obliged to find you an understanding."
One wonderful day, there won't be a need for armed security on any school campus. But until the world is perfected, we must protect our kids. It sounds like common sense to most of us. But common sense gets less common every day.
Editorial on 01/04/2019