U.S. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut says that the Education Secretary cannot let school districts use federal money to arm teachers.
That’s in response to a New York Times report that says Betsy DeVos is drafting guidance to do just that.
Murphy says the move would directly contradict rules for spending grant money in schools.
“You can use the grants for a school environment that is free of weapons. And yet, reportedly the secretary is about to issue guidance saying that money can be used to load schools up with weapons. That is in direct contravention of the statute itself.”
Murphy addressed the Senate Thursday afternoon. He’s on a committee that handles budgets, including education.
He says Congress already passed bipartisan legislation to fund school safety. It directly mandated that the money could not be used to buy weapons or train teachers to use them.
An FBI study says that unarmed civilians are 20 times more likely to interrupt a mass shooting than an armed citizen.