Police have other priorities

Florida passed a law allowing teachers to be armed. Not one single school district has done so. Most have simply paid to have police officers stationed in every school. A couple have opted to hire dedicated armed security guards. Both of these options cost money, but are less than ideal.

For example, putting armed police officers in school. Here is a story about a school resource officer who saved residents of an apartment complex from a fire. First, the reason that he saw the fire was that he was late for work. Then the time spent actually working the fire and rescuing people. All of this time means that the school, which is paying to have a police officer there to protect students, was left unguarded and without protection. Of course, one could say that the threat to life safety at the fire outweighs the duty at the school, but this line of reasoning makes me wonder just how often this excuse is used to justify leaving the school defenseless. 

After all, if a nearby fire (which is not primarily a police department function) justifies the police in being elsewhere, what other events do so? A car chase? Shoplifting? A nearby robbery? The number one priority of police is their own safety, in case you forgot the images of police hiding behind carloads of families in that Miami shootout. The police commenting on that shootout even admit that their safety takes priority over the safety of the public. 

Their number two priority is catching criminals. Saving the lives of children come a distant third to that. The SRO at my school said that he was against arming teachers because anyone on campus who is armed should be accompanying him in his quest to find and catch the shooter. I pointed out that, as the last line of defense for the students, an armed teacher should lock themselves in the classroom with their students and defend that classroom full of kids and leave the elimination of the threat to the cops. He laughed at me. 

This isn't a criticism of the officer. This is a criticism of the refusal to arm the one group of people who are there, on the scene, and have a vested interest in defending the lives of school children. After all, as a teacher, my fate and the fate of my students are the same. I have skin in the game, and defending my own life also ensures that I am defending the lives of my students. 

Where is the line drawn? Arming teachers would solve every one of these. The teacher isn't going to be