One Republican governor's response to escalating gun violence in schools was to sign a controversial bill into law that authorizes principals, teachers and other school staff to carry firearms in a school safety zone after only 24-hours of gun training.
On Monday, Ohio GOP Governor Michael DeWine signed into law House Bill 99 which would dramatically lower the required training hours for armed school personnel from 700 hours and "shall not exceed" 24 hours.
The Statehouse News Bureau said:
"DeWine, who had campaigned for gun restrictions after the mass shooting in Dayton in 2019, said signing this bill is part of an overall plan to harden school security."
However, a teacher strongly objected to the GOP-backed legislation in a powerful social media rant and slammed DeWine for signing the bill.
\u201cCoach D, a teacher, slams Republican Gov. Mike DeWine for signing a bill to arm teachers after just 24 hours of training, while refusing to provide teachers with the things they actually need to do their jobs!\u201d— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1655231843
On the Meidas Touch YouTube Channel–which features "the Most Watched and Influential Pro-Democracy Content in the World"–a teacher known as Coach D shared his frustrations and shared his take on what Governors should authorize instead of arming teachers.
"It took me twelve years of grad school, four years of undergrad, and two years of graduate school–not to mention, continued education and professional development–for years to be able to teach in my classroom," he said.
"I've now been doing that for over 20 years. But now, with over 24 hours of training in Ohio, I could be authorized to bring a lethal weapon into the classroom and expected to take on an active shooter, and then what? Go back to teaching word problems?"
"This has disaster written all over it," he said.
Twitter offered scenarios supporting this.
\u201c@MeidasTouch What if that teacher goes amok and start shooting at the students, will @GOP propose that students be allowed tho bring guns to school to protect themselves?\u201d— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1655231843
\u201c@MeidasTouch And when there is a mass shooting in a school are the police going to know what every single teacher allowed to carry looks like so that there is no chance of them being shot and killed for having a firearm?\u201d— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1655231843
\u201c@MeidasTouch He is absolutely right on this. I would never carry period, but I would worry more. And, what if someone with a gun thinks the substitute teacher is an intruder? A substitute janitor, a bus driver? If someone panics during conf. week? This is a disaster waiting to happen.\u201d— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1655231843
He then addressed the "bunch of fake G.I. Joes who make up these Bruce Willis Die Hard scenarios" and made it clear to Governors what teachers really hope to have authorized.
"We would love for them to authorize class size reduction. For years, teachers have been sitting in one-thousand square foot classes and expected to keep 30 to 35 students engaged."
"The classes get hot and stuffy, and it takes getting one student off task to ruin an entire lesson."
\u201c@MeidasTouch America hasn\u2019t supported true education in a very, very long time. I retired a year ago. My family used to worry about me. Now I worry about my grown children\u2026 because THEY are THE TEACHERS. Coach D knows what he\u2019s talking about!\u201d— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1655231843
He suggested that in a classroom with a capacity maximum of up to 20 kids, educators would be able to keep them engaged and "connected to the school."
"This would help lead to brighter students who would enjoy their classmates and their teachers."
"But we're getting guns."
"Teachers would also love for Governors to authorize classroom aids. Students need one-on-one attention. They need more tutoring and some of them need someone to ease their test anxiety."
Coach D continued suggesting teachers need the presence of another authorized adult to help with grading, and organizing lessons, so they can have bathroom breaks.
Touching on the reality of U.S. teachers resorting to spending their own money to provide sorely lacking school supplies, Coach D added that teachers would love Governors "to authorize an adequate amount of printer ink, pencils, erasers, crayons, tissues, and other materials to get through an entire school year."
\u201c@MeidasTouch Teachers: "We need school supplies so these kids can learn to read."\nRepublicans: "Here's a gun."\u201d— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1655231843
He also said teachers would love to have "more counselors, behavioral therapists, and support staff that help and identify kids with mental health issues, treat them, monitor them and help them mainstream back into society a better and more productive person."
"But instead, we're getting freaking guns."
\u201c@MeidasTouch @joncoopertweets Why arming teachers is dumb:\n\n\ud83c\udf4e teachers guns can/will be taken from them & used in shootings \n\n\ud83c\udf4e there will be more casualties due to crossfire\n\n\ud83c\udf4e how will cops know who the shooter is if everyone is armed \n\n\ud83c\udf4e cops don\u2019t make good teachers, teachers won\u2019t make good cops\u201d— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1655231843
He added that all the viable solutions that would lead to students valuing their education and teachers are all being ignored.
But instead of creating a space where students would feel safer in society, "we're going to dump guns in schools and go back to ignoring all of the improvements and resources that teachers have been begging for for years."
\u201c@MeidasTouch if law enforcement did their dang job teachers wouldn't need guns\u201d— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1655231843
\u201c@MeidasTouch @joncoopertweets I just retired from education. This is just one of many reasons. There are a few of my coworkers who I would not trust to be armed.\u201d— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1655231843
"I swear, this society is regressing," he said, defeatedly at the end of the clip.
\u201c@MeidasTouch We are regressing. I at times think maybe I shouldn't have had kids. They didn't ask to be born and we brought them in to a society that can't get along due to political divide. A society that is being gouged by the corporate world. A society that doesn't value education.\u201d— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1655231843
\u201c@MeidasTouch You are explaining this so well. The craziness of guns & more guns. And that maybe they could do more staff to enrich kids' educational experience. And maybe, just maybe, you could front the teachers pencils & erasers.\u201d— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1655231843
The bill has sparked opposition from Democrats, gun control advocates, and teachers who cited experts' analysis stating the bill would neither make schools safer nor be effective in preventing gun violence and mass shootings.