Post-Parkland debate continues

Teachers’ union head opposes putting guns in faculty hands

By STEPHEN FLANAGAN JACKSON

The president of a Hillsborough County public schools teachers’ union is adamantly opposed to the recently released recommendation allowing armed teachers in classrooms in Florida public schools.

Robert Kriete, president of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association, told The Observer News, “Arming teachers and school staff would be a mistake” shortly after the Public Safety Commission recommended allowing weapons for schoolteachers. The commission report released Jan. 2, 2019, comes in the wake of the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre of 17 people at Parkland High School. The 458-page report suggests mandates from the governor and the legislature to permit teachers to carry guns and to increase spending on school security. Other proposed changes call for permitting school districts to increase taxes without a referendum for security purposes. Also recommended is a new state law allowing teachers who volunteer, and pass background checks and arms’ training, be permitted to carry concealed weapons at school to react to future shooting incidents.

Current Florida law allows the arming of non-teaching staff such as principals, librarians and custodians if permitted by the local school district. 

Kriete rattled off a half-dozen reasons for not arming teaching faculty in public schools.

He pointed out that teachers and school staff “are not trained or compensated as first responders. If Florida moves ahead and arms teachers, then pay and benefits commensurate with a different risk class would need to be considered,” said Kriete.

Kriete also pointed out that arming teachers is an “easy sound bite.” He said this allows lawmakers to avoid the real issues in Florida such as lax laws funding mental health programs. “How do we address the real issues as opposed to putting band-aids on symptoms?” Kriete said rhetorically.

 Addressing the logistics of arming teachers, Kriete opined that schools are not designed for teachers and/or staff to have guns. “Even if I believed this was an otherwise sound idea, how and where will weapons be stored?” posed Kriete, adding, “Will ammunition be stored separately?” He maintained that Florida consistently fails to fund basic school necessities like paper, printer ink and staples. “Why would anyone believe safe and effective gun storage solutions will be provided so that the weapons don’t create or exacerbate other dangerous situations?” asked Kriete. “We need to weigh risk appropriately.”

Kriete then quickly and briefly suggested looking at this problem from the perspectives of the students, the teachers and the parents.

“How will arming teachers make students feel?” he asked.

“Florida already has a critical teacher shortage,” he remarked. “Adding this to already overworked and underpaid teachers will add to said shortage,” claimed Kriete.

“Arming teachers and staff is another reason that will drive parents from public schools,” he observed.

Then, getting to the financial aspect and the government responsibility, Kriete said, “Student safety, from mental health programs to properly trained law enforcement individuals protecting our students, must be appropriately funded by the elected Florida lawmakers.”

Several members of the Hillsborough School Board have voiced in the news media strong opinions against arming teachers. The present priority of the school board is utilizing trained law enforcement, guards and school resource officers to protect the schools.

Hillsborough board chairman Tamara Shamburger commented, “I do not support teachers carrying guns, just as I do not support security officers teaching students.”