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GOP Proposes Arming California Teachers

Kyler Jae |
January 31, 2013 | 6:09 p.m. PST

Staff Reporter

 

A group of Republican state lawmakers proposed a bill on Wednesday that would enable school districts to use educational funding to arm and train school faculty and staff.

The proposal comes as a response to the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Conn. last month.

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, one of the proposed bill’s main supporters, said that the bill would protect students and teachers from armed intruders.

“The idea is to create essentially an invisible line of defense around our kids,” said Donnelly at a Capitol news conference.

He went on to explain that the proposal, AB 202, is modeled after the federal air marshal program. Only the school administration would know the identity of the armed teachers.

Many people have already spoken up against the proposed bill, including several teachers. Joshua Pechthalt, president of the California Federation of Teachers, said that he thinks the proposal is “patently ridiculous.” Another opponent of the bill, Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) said that the bill would face too much opposition in the Legislature to pass.

Reach Staff Reporter Kyler Jae here


 

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