Independent voices from the TWT Communities
In this tiny Texas town, children and their parents don't give much thought to safety at the community's lone school — mostly because some of the teachers are carrying concealed weapons.
The nation's leading teachers unions Thursday slammed the idea of arming more teachers, a proposal floated in the wake of last week's Sandy Hook school shooting by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and others and already in place in some Texas schools.
"We don't have money for a security guard, but this is a better solution," district Superintendent David Thweatt told reporters. "A shooter could take out a guard or officer with a visible, holstered weapon, but our teachers have masters degrees, are older and have had extensive training. And their guns are hidden. We can protect our children."
"Nothing is 100 percent at all. ... But hope makes for a terrible plan, hoping that (a tragedy) won't happen," Thweatt said. "My question is: What have you done about it? How have you planned?"
