We are pleased to see educators, administrators and state lawmakers taking school safety seriously.

Active shooter drills and authentic conversations with students are simply necessary. 

There is no one solution for keeping our children safe but we are sure of one thing: Arming teachers should not be a part of the equation.

Let teachers teach.

In the horrible wake of the shooting and deaths of children at the school in Uvalde, Texas, some people are again pushing to arm teachers.

Bluntly, arming teachers is a horrible idea.

Beefing up school security, sadly, is necessary.

More trained and armed police officers, metal detectors, single secured entry points, panic buttons, fencing and safe rooms are all things needed or at least worth considering but teachers with guns is not the answer.

Having a gun in a classroom, even if the teacher has a concealed-carry permit, just creates too many possibilities of things that could go tragically wrong. Some teachers may be former police officers, military personnel or avid hunters familiar with weapons, but that is most likely a very small percentage of educators.

The only people using a deadly weapon to protect our most valuable resource are trained professionals.

Having a handgun permit, going to a shooting range and shooting at targets, animals or even going through one or two active-shooter classes, does not mean you would be able to defend yourself or anyone else when confronted with someone who has a semi-automatic long gun and no regard for human life, his own or anyone else’s.

We are not opposed to armed, trained, certified police officers or deputies in our schools. That’s their job. That is what they are trained to do.

Shooting assailants armed with AR-15s with their small handgun is not the job of a school teacher.

We oppose arming school teachers.

There are better ways to keep our children safe.