Madhuri Sathish / Bustle & Equality PAC & We Are Progressives.org – 2018-09-14 00:22:55
https://www.bustle.com/p/is-kim-kardashian-in-law-school-kanye-wests-comments-mightve-been-a-little-overeager-11855938
According To A New Letter, Betsy DeVos
Will Let Schools Buy Guns With Federal Funds
Madhuri Sathish / Bustle
(September 1, 2018) — In the months after a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, killed 17 people, conservatives and gun rights advocates suggested that teachers should be allowed to keep firearms in their classrooms. School district leaders in Parkland ultimately voted against arming teachers, but in a letter issued on Friday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said she will allow schools to buy guns using federal grants.
Bustle has reached out to the Department of Education for comment. In the letter, which was addressed to the House education committee’s top Democrat — Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott — DeVos announced that she and the Education Department would not take a position on whether states could use federal funds to purchase firearms for school officials.
“Let me be clear: I have no intention of taking any action concerning the purchase of firearms or firearms training for school staff under the ESEA,” DeVos wrote. “Congress did not authorize me or the Department to make those decisions.”
DeVos also argued that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) “provides ‘substantial flexibility’ in how school districts use these funds to meet the purposes of the program,” implying that states may already have the authority to purchase firearms with federal grants. According to The Hill, some experts believe that DeVos’ announcement effectively clears the way for schools to buy guns with federal money.
Frank Brogan, assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education, told the Associated Press that allowing teachers to carry firearms “is a good example of a profoundly personal decision on the part of a school or a school district or even a state.”
This is a perspective that both DeVos and President Donald Trump seem to share; in the past, both of them have said that schools should have the choice to arm their teachers if they believe that could be beneficial.
Brogan also told the AP that the Every Student Succeeds Act — which gives states primary jurisdiction over policies pertaining to education — sets aside 20 percent of its $1 billion in school funding to address school safety.
“The people at the local level who’ve been there for years could make the decisions about what services to purchase, what equipment to buy to fulfill the general broad obligations laid out in that law,” Brogan argued.
The question of whether Congress already allows schools to purchase guns using federal grants is an extremely contentious one, according to Politico. Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat, argued on the Senate floor last week that DeVos “allowing federal funds to be used to arm teachers is in direct contravention of federal law.”
However, Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander believes the opposite, and has said that Congress already gives states the final say in such decisions.
The Trump administration started to look into this question of purchasing guns for schools earlier this year, NBC News reported, when Texas and Oklahoma asked the Department of Education whether its schools could purchase firearms using grants under Title IV funding.
Texas officials specifically wanted to know whether they could use Student Support and Academic Enrichment grants on “services associated with crisis management,” such as guns or bulletproof entries. In response, Brogan told the AP that the Education Department’s position on the issue is that states should interpret such grants as being their money, and they can do what they choose with it.
ACTION ALERT: Betsy DeVos Bringing GUNS in Our Classrooms???
Equality PAC
(September 11, 2018) — Betsy DeVos and her Republican cronies in Congress want to FORCE teachers to carry guns! It’s ABSURD!!
They are PAWNS for the Gun Lobby — prioritizing the MILLIONS of dollars they get from the NRA over our kids LIVES! Well this time, we REFUSE to comply. Guns should NEVER be in schools.
Keeping weapons OUT of schools should be a no-brainer. But Republicans (like Betsy DeVos) ONLY care about keeping the NRA happy: More guns = more donations from the gun lobby.
Our classrooms are becoming war zones. Putting more guns in schools CANNOT be the answer. So we started a nationwide petition with our partners to tell Congress to STOP Betsy DeVos from putting guns in classrooms.
ACTION: Sign your name NOW to keep guns out of schools
Equality PAC, PO Box 15337, Washington, D.C. 20003
ACTION ALERT: No Tax Dollars to Arm Schools
We Are Progressives.org
(September 11, 2018) — In an unprecedented move, Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos wants to allow school districts to buy guns with taxpayer dollars. The gun lobby’s push to arm teachers puts profits ahead of the safety of students and teachers and distracts from real gun safety reform. We can’t allow their heartless, hazardous agenda to threaten our children’s safety.
Guns have no place in schools. Congress must pass comprehensive gun safety laws and block any moves to use federal funds to arm teachers.
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is trying to use taxpayer funds to purchase GUNS for teachers! This money could be going towards buying new textbooks, paying teachers, or repairing our crumbling public schools. But Betsy DeVos would rather use her position in order to benefit her allies in the NRA.
Schools should be a place where our children are able to learn in a safe, comfortable environment. If it was up to Betsy DeVos, every public school in the country would be flooded with military grade weapons!
And if we don’t speak out, she might actually turn her sick vision into a reality. All on the taxpayer’s dime! So we’re immediately calling on Congress to BLOCK this awful policy, and stop DeVos from arming our teachers.
ACTION: If you’re with us, sign your name to demand Congress stop Betsy DeVos from using taxpayer dollars to arm teachers.
Tell Congress:
Stop Betsy DeVos from arming teachers and further endangering our children.
