Tyler Junior College
The effects Betsy Devo’s plan to arm teachers will have on Texas Education.
In partial fulfilment of government 2305-022
From: Musa Qongo
To: Dr.Mast
Date: October 7, 2018
Table of contents
Page 1:Contents page.
Page 2: Roles of guns in Texas.
Page 3: Democrats vs Republicans.
Page 4: Pros of carrying arms.
Page 5: Cons of carrying arms.
Page 6: Argument for use of guns in Texas.
Page 7: Argument against use of guns in Texas.
Page 8: Conclusion.
Who is Betsy Devo’s?
According to internet sources Betsy DeVos is “an American business woman, politician and government official whose been working within the government since 2017 as the Secretary of Education.” Betsy DeVos is a republican and as we know, republicans tend to take a more conservative stand on issues and avoid interventions within social programs. The reason for this is because their beliefs are that the federal government shouldn’t have a massive role within people’s lives. Betsy DeVos has been known to make numerous appearances in supporting school programs in school choice matters. Three decades of involvement in school education policies shows how highly decorated she is in the field however the public tend to believe that she’s rather controversial in some of the matters she supports. From what we as people viewing from the outside can see is, that Betsy’s background is built from a foundation before her time with her mother being a public-school teacher which could’ve ultimately led to her strong interests within this particular field. Equal opportunity is a pressing matter for Betsy as she believes that not all kids in the country are receiving quality education across the board and things should be changed. Having said all of the following the question that comes to mind is what is Betsy’s strongest interests within bringing such a deadly power into the state of Texas’s education?
School safety commission and the roles of guns in Texas
Betsy DeVos recently has been back and forth with the school safety commission in regards to the arming of teachers within education for the safety of all. This is a controversial and pressing matter especially with the shocking incidents that have occurred within school environments over the past couple of years. The matter that is of main focus is Texas and whether the use of arms should be prohibited within the state of Texas. Betsy has been strongly passionate about how the government has handled school shootings recently. For instance, referring to how the president of the United States has been rather ignorant in his measures of distracting the public instead addressing the issues of gun violence within schools.
Education within Texas is a delicate matter because the deep roots of this state and how the people in the state still show signs of old tradition in their beliefs and systems. Any particular upset may cause uproar and cause rebelling to the point of difficult matters increasing; for instance, individuals may rebel in private and take matters into their own hands. Texas education and more importantly education in general isn’t a matter that should be easily threatened as the youth of today are tomorrow’s future. Texas has one of the most friendly gun carrying laws in the nation, however the culture is ever so different in comparison to majority of states. However, even though it’s a friendly gun state it still has one of the lowest crime rates within the United States. Betsy recently has had ideas of introducing arms into the school system for various reasons, for example helping teachers to be able to regulate and protect the lives of students and those around them daily. This can possibly influence the Texas government into believing that it’s a good idea although many have argued against its proposition.
Betsy at first was trying to seem like she was a mediator by not picking any sides but by simply stating that it’s important that the commission cannot create or amend any current gun laws because that is the job of a Congress. That is contradictory because she later on passionately speaks about how the carrying of arms may potentially influence the lives of those in the school environment for the better.
Democrats vs Republicans
Betsy DeVos has the backing of majority of republicans in the matter of arming trained school officials to protect and serve the students of schools within the Texas area. Democrats on the other hand may argue that this idea might be endangering the lives of school students even more so for many reasons. For example Texas is a state well known for it’s strong beliefs in religion which is a key factor in influencing there decisions in regards to many occasions. Not only is Texas a state with strong beliefs but this also shows the character of the people within the state due to the fact that they’re very prominent in following what they believe in, moreover being the people of Texas may question anything controversial and bring to light any discrepancies that may go against traditions, cultures or beliefs as for decades they have been following these traditional ways.
What adds more controversy to the argument of whether teachers in Texas should carry arms or not is the fact that according to a company called Politico, schools in Texas during the year 2013 were requesting funds for the training of School Marshalls to be qualified to use firearms within a school premise to protect students and teachers. An argument for allowing these funds to be invested in these various school programs will possibly influence the parents of these children into believing if something bad were to occur on these school’s premises, the staff will be well trained and well equipped to deal with the situations at hand.
An argument against allowing these funds to be invested in these various school programs is that these Marshalls that are being trained are human after all and can’t be expected to make the right decision under pressure which we’ve seen time and time again flawed within schools around the USA. The cases we’re referring to aren’t necessarily always gun related but have shown that humans are emotional individuals and can make the wrong decisions dependant on circumstances. Another argument against carrying arms within school premises is if a school shooting was to occur and a student was to pass away the blame would not be put on the school but rather on the individual who was bearing the responsibility of taking care of the certain classroom or school area. This is an unfair judgement, for there’s only so much control an individual can have whether bearing a weapon or not.
Pros of carrying arms on school premises furthermore
We live in a world that is super security-conscious. For example, our airports, malls, banks, and sports stadiums are overloaded with security. All of these examples show that schools in America lack adequate protection. Arming teachers at schools in Texas will keep them proactive. For example, if a school shooter is spotted on site the teachers or marshals trained to carry these guns will be able to respond to these alerts way before the police can arrive. This will also give parents and students a better sense of security. With adequate training, crisis management skills, and proper preparation put into place this is a much faster and more efficient approach to protecting the lives of children in schools in Texas. In a recent article on the independent newspaper, Florida Republican Sen. Greg Steube once said that “Our most valuable, most precious resources are our children…” We need to look after tomorrow’s future and many have agreed that this could be the missing piece to the puzzle, especially with all the last school shootings and massacres that have occurred recently. Another argument for teachers being allowed to carry arms in the future is the fact that in Amendment 2 in the Bill Of Rights, it states that “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Cons of carrying arms at school premises explained.
The first negative one would say about teachers carrying arms, is that it takes away the element of fun for the teachers. As a human, one can only assume that putting the lives of children on a teacher’s hand is something very dangerous and nerve-wrecking for both parties. For example, if a school shooting situation is about to occur at your school and you’re the teacher, a lot of things start to run through your mind. In the heat of the moment the teacher could panic, and start firing random shots, and these random shots could end up inflicting damage onto a student or even potentially killing them by mistake. Another negative is that it is not guaranteed that the teacher has the gun with them at all times. If kids get a hold of the gun, they could possibly misuse it for all sorts of wrong reasons. Even though school shootings have been deemed “serious incidents”, there is evidence that shows that there are more serious incidents happening that are way worse or that occur at a more frequent rate than school shootings. School shootings in Texas are rare, and I feel as if a lot of money would be wasted by training teachers in Texas to use arms. Yes, the lives of humans are priceless, but the amount of money the government has is not endless and it could be used for other reasons such as developing the infrastructure for example.
To conclude on this controversial matter, one can understand the idea that Betsy Devos had and whether or not the people of Texas and their government would benefit or not. Texas is a state known for its hospitality therefore one can only say that the implementation of teachers carrying arms at schools would not benefit the government. Individuals can make the state safe on its own by simply taking care of themselves and those around them.
Bibliography
CBS/AP. “Betsy DeVos: School Safety Commission Won't Examine Role of Guns.” CBS News. Last modified June 5, 2018. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/betsy-devos-guns-school-safety-commission-senate-subcommittee-testimony-today-2018-06-05/.
Green, Erica L. “Education Secretary Considers Using Federal Funds to Arm Schools.” The New York Times. Last modified August 23, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/22/us/politics/betsy-devos-guns.html.
Emma, Caitlin, Michael, Bill Scher, Joshua Zeitz, Edward McClelland, and POLITICO Magazine. “DeVos Revives Bitter Debate over Arming Teachers.” POLITICO. Last modified August 23, 2018. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/23/betsy-devos-guns-in-schools-750219.
Danilova, Maria. “DeVos: 'No Intention' on Funding to Arm Teachers.” Time. Last modified September 1, 2018. http://time.com/5384749/devos-no-intention-arming-teachers-with-federal-funds/.
Board, The Editorial. “Arming Teachers through Federal Grants Is Not the Answer.” USA Today. Last modified August 31, 2018. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/08/30/betsy-devos-arming-teachers-federal-grants-editorials-debates/1123437002/.
deardorff, harrison harris. American Democracy Now. 5th ed., n.d.page67