NC teachers could get paid to carry guns under new proposal
RALEIGH, N.C. March 10 2019 — In an effort to keep classrooms safe, some North Carolina lawmakers are proposing to pay teachers more if they choose to carry a gun.
It’s all part of the School Security Act of 2019. Active shooter drills, school lockdowns, and security changes are now part of the curriculum for students.
At least 30 students and staff were killed in school shootings last year.
The new proposal in North Carolina takes security a step further. Lawmakers are pledging a five percent pay raise for any teacher who chooses to undergo active shooter training and carry a gun.
The bill that was filed Wednesday would require any teachers who want to carry guns to go through annual drug testing and a minimum of 16 hours state-funded active shooter training.
“That means there’s more protection within our schools, and I’m not someone who’s going to look at a good and see an inherent evil,” Republican Senator Ralph Hise said, co-sponsor of the bill.
The School Security Act of 2019 would establish up to 3,000 teacher resource officer positions. Some teachers worry it could do more harm than good.
“Flooding a school with guns is not the answer. We don’t need a bunch of teachers running around with guns that don’t know what’s going on if they hear lockdown, lockdown,” said one 11th grade teacher at Olympic High School in Charlotte.
Participation in the program would be strictly voluntary, with each local school district making the decision whether teacher resource officers are a good fit for their schools.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Dr. Clayton Wilcox is an outspoken opponent.
“I think it confuses the situation for an officer who has to respond because who is the good guy, who is the bad guy,” he explained.
“No parent wants to think about the possibility of violence occurring at the school that they send their children to every day, but unfortunately that’s a reality in the world we live in today,” said Sen. Warren Daniel, NC Senate District 46.
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