Who Should Be Armed in Florida Schools? Not Teachers, Lawmakers Say. But Maybe Librarians.
March 6, 2018 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
But the legislation, written and advanced unusually quickly after last month’s deadly shooting in Parkland, Fla., would still bring more guns into schools in districts that opt into the marshal program. That was not among the far-reaching demands for gun control pushed by student activists after the shooting. However, lifting gun-free safe zones in schools has been a longtime goal of the N.R.A.
“This is fulfilling part of the N.R.A.’s dream,” lamented Senator José Javier Rodríguez, a Democrat whose party is far outnumbered in the State Capitol.
Still, not even Mr. Rodríguez could bring himself to vote against the amendment scaling back the marshal program. Not a single Democrat said “no” when Joe Negron, the Senate president, asked for a voice vote. The amendment, despite allowing for librarians, counselors and coaches to carry guns, was still the biggest concession Democrats got from Republicans on the legislation. Mr. Scott, Mr. Negron and House Speaker Richard Corcoran have made passing the gun package a priority before the annual legislative session ends on Friday.
In the end, a majority of senators decided some action was better than none — even if the legislation is disliked by Democrats who oppose arming any school personnel, and by Republicans who oppose enacting any new gun restrictions. The legislation passed, 20-18, with three Democrats voting in favor, and six Republicans against.
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“Do I think this bill goes far enough? No, I don’t,” Senator Lauren Book, a Democrat who voted in favor of the measure, said through tears after she recalled walking through the bloodied halls of Stoneman Douglas High. “But what I disagree with more is the idea to allow the great to be the enemy of the good.”
In a statement, a spokeswoman for Mr. Scott, who has advocated more police officers in schools, called the Senate’s amendment “a step in the right direction.”
Monday’s debate began when Senator René García, a Republican, offered the amendment to prohibit teachers assigned full-time to the classroom from carrying weapons. The marshal program had been labeled the Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program, after one of the Parkland victims.
Senator Rodríguez read subsections of the state statute defining a classroom teacher and rattled off a list of educators who are not included: counselors, psychologists, librarians, media specialists, teacher’s aides, adjunct teachers. “The cafeteria person or the janitor,” Senator Audrey Gibson, a Democrat, later quipped.
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Senator Gary Farmer, also a Democrat, asked about a scenario that is hardly unusual: a full-time classroom teacher who also coaches an athletic team, or heads an after-school club. Scott Beigel, a geography teacher killed at Stoneman Douglas High, also coached the girls’ cross-country team.
“Would the person who is both teaching and coaching after school be excluded from the guardian program?” Mr. Farmer asked.
Mr. García said it would be up to each school district to decide.
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