UNITED STATES
The United States Education Department is considering whether to allow the States to use Federal funding to purchase guns for teachers.
Such a move appears to be unprecedented, reversing a longstanding position taken by the Federal Government that it should not pay to outfit schools with weapons.
It would also undermine efforts by Congress to restrict the use of Federal funding on guns.
As recently as March of this year, Congress passed a School Safety Bill that allocated $US50 million ($A68.5 million) a year to local school districts, but expressly prohibited the use of the money for firearms.
However, the Department cites a program in Federal education law, the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants, which makes no mention of prohibiting weapons purchases.
That omission would allow the Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos (pictured) to use her discretion to approve any State or school district plan to use grant funding for firearms and firearm training.
Spokesperson for the Education Department, Liz Hill said it was “constantly considering and evaluating policy issues, particularly issues related to school safety”.
“The Secretary nor the Department issues opinions on hypothetical scenarios,” Ms Hill said.
The $1 billion ($A1.37 billion) student support program, part of the Every Student Succeeds Act, is intended for academic and enrichment opportunities in the country’s poorest schools.
It calls for school districts to use the money toward three goals: Providing a well-rounded education, improving school conditions for learning, and improving the use of technology for digital literacy.
Department officials acknowledged that should the Education Department carry out the proposal, it would appear to be the first time that a Federal Agency has authorised the purchase of weapons without a congressional mandate.
While no such restrictions exist in the Federal education law, it could undermine the grant program’s adoption of “drug and violence prevention,” which defines a safe school environment as free of weapons.
However, people familiar with the Department’s thinking say it has determined that the gun purchases could fall under improving school conditions.
Washington, 24 August, 2018
