I was just watching MSNBC and saw that Jon Hornik, the mayor of my home town (Marlboro, NJ) was in favor of arming teachers in the Marlboro school system. I had read last week that they were going to install armed guards in the schools, but this was first I'd heard of them planning to arm teachers.
A bit of background on Marlboro, NJ. It's an upper middle class suburban town in Central Jersey (the type of place where some of the students drive nicer cars than the teachers). It's about an hour from NYC, an hour and twenty minutes from Philly and 15 minutes from the Jersey Shore. Growing up, it seemed like the town was about 50% Jewish, 40% Italian and 10% everything else. Jon is actually the son of the man who was mayor when I was a kid. And, as he lived down the block from me and was friends with my sister, I remember dancing with him at her Bat Mitzvah. So, while it didn't really have a small town feel (at last count, there were five public elementary schools and two middle schools), at times it felt like that.
I haven't been back since my father sold our childhood home about seven years ago, but like most hometowns, it holds a special place in my heart. And, so I'm quite distraught about this turn of events. It wasn't easy being a teacher at Marlboro 25 years ago and I'm sure it isn't any easier. Teachers are hired to teach and should not have to worry about getting the drop on someone. Note: the article below talks about the plan to place armed guards in schools, but doesn't mention anything about arming teachers, so I hope it was just hyperbole and not an actual plan.
NJ Mayor defends armed guards in schools