Education Department Considering Plan To Allow School Districts To Arm Teachers Using Federal Funds
The $1 billion student support program, part of the Every Student Succeeds Act, is intended for academic and enrichment opportunities in the country’s poorest schools, but it makes no mention of prohibiting weapon purchases. News on guns and public health comes out of Texas and Las Vegas, as well.
The New York Times:
Betsy DeVos Is Said To Weigh Letting School Districts Use Federal Funds To Buy Guns
The Education Department is considering whether to allow states to use federal funding to purchase guns for educators, according to multiple people with knowledge of the plan. 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. And it would also undermine efforts by Congress to restrict the use of federal funding on guns. As recently as March, Congress passed a school safety bill that allocated $50 million a year to local school districts, but expressly prohibited the use of the money for firearms. (Green, 8/22)
The Associated Press:
Texas Governor Grants $1.5M More To Santa Fe After Shooting
Gov. Greg Abbott has announced additional funding for the Houston-area community where a teenage gunman in May fatally shot eight students and two substitute teachers. Abbott said in a statement Wednesday that $1.5 million will be given to Santa Fe for a "resiliency center" that will serve as a "focal point for the city's mental health response." Another $300,000 is earmarked for the school district to provide counseling services to students and others. (8/22)
The Associated Press:
Doctor Facing State Inquiry About Vegas Shooter Drug Records
A doctor accused of improperly looking up prescription records of the dead gunman in last October's mass shooting in Las Vegas will invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination at an upcoming disciplinary hearing, his lawyer said Wednesday. Dr. Ivan Goldsmith is the focus of a "witch hunt" for the source of a newspaper report about Stephen Paddock's prescriptions in the days after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, attorney E. Brent Bryson said. (Ritter, 8/22)
