Having run through the worst case scenarios with both daughters, I reckon that I am less concerned about them becoming helpless victims. Still, I have to say that as yet we have not seen even the tip of the iceberg insofar as what could be done at a school. Either because the assailants are not really interested so much in inflicting real harm, or they are just incompetents (as was the case with the Columbine crowd), the casualty rate for armed incursion and assault in our schools is insignificant relative to the potential. It is a fact that armed incursion with the intent to inflict maximum casualties in a school environment is quite a plausible concept. Even solo, a properly and easily equipped assailant could really break the hearts of a community, with casualty counts perhaps in the hundreds before being neutralized. Multiple assailants could put that number into the thousands, in a matter of minutes, long before any law enforcement response of sufficient capability could do anything about it. To cite a cliche, we ain't seen nuthin' yet.

As for arming teachers, there's been talk of that too lately. Two things I find infeasible about that concept. First, a person's career does not necessarily qualify them as a candidate for carrying or using a firearm. Most teachers I've encountered do not possess the correct disposition to warrant arming them under any conditions. My other concern is that protecting students from harm is not in the job description, and should not be. I pay good money for the right people to do that job, and if they can't because of whatever bureaucratic reason, then I will be inclined to spend my money on facilities that are properly manned. I would not want a cop teaching my kid algebra either.

There are solutions to this situation, but first folks are gonna have to come to terms with the harsh reality that we live in, and give up the illusions. I witnessed firsthand what reality for schoolkids was in Baghdad. You gotta have some cajones to take your kid to public school there, and yet it is working. We ought to be taking some notes.

Have you been in a school that is locked down, or know someone who has who also has a tactical sense?

The best analogy that I can think of is a killing stall. Group the targets in one place, practically in a plie, same place in every room, with no way out until a shotgun slug blows the lock apart.

I don't think the cause is any one thing. Personally, I don't think the public school system is worth anything, but it's not just that, or there would be an endless stream of school shootings.

I think it's probably the schools PLUS the poor parenting PLUS the culture. The poor parenting and the culture are probably also products of the poor schooling, but few would even consider that.

People don't want the teachers armed, but I think if the teachers themselves (individually) are comfortable with the idea, why not let them? And if the schools don't want that, they can hire professional armed guards. But they wouldn't do that. Schools and sensible choices don't go together. Schools are basically in the business of making money; the safety and education of the kids aren't exactly the main issues.

Sue

FWIW I used to drive for a large school district in SLC and one day as I pulled into the school to drop off elementary kids and pick up new ones we were met by the local police dept. and quickly escorted into the school and was quickly placed into lock down, not the most pleasant of days but we were told that a guy had robbed a store two blocks from the school and everybody was on the lookout for this guy, parents were told that their kids were safely locked inside the school w/ police at every exit, so there was no way this clown was getting in. He was caught about a mile north of the school hiding in his own house (caught by video tape, known crook) We were let go after an hour and a half of being inside the school

the whole "school lockdown" think bugs me - if your parents are there - it THEIR choice - I'll be dammed if my kids are ever locked down and I decide it's time for them to leave - they WILL be leaving.. I may have an APB put on my right afterward, but you damed well better believe that if I decide they are better off OUT, they WILL be out, or I'll be dead trying

Three days ago, a young man was arrested at a local high school with a .380 automatic in his backpack. While his intent hasn't be made public, I suspect that the vigilance of a fellow student and the decisive action of school administration and local law enforcement officers averted another tragedy. According to local media reports, this student had a decreased mental capacity and had been bullied recently by several upper classmen. Additionally, the father was arrested and charged with failure to secure a firearm, a felony in North Carolina.

"Schools are in the business of making money."

Susan, I'm not sure I follow that logic. I'd love to see a public school that makes money.

if the school knew about the bullying and did nothing to stop it.. They would be equally at fault.

No kidding on that!!!
Every year we have to supply more and more at my kids school. Now every student has to bring 3 boxes of klenex, 3 bottles of glue, and a myriad of other things. I'm just waiting on the year that they have to bring their own toilt paper

" I'd love to see a public school that makes money. "

I don't mean in the sense that they turn a profit. Check out your local school district and find out where the money goes. ALL of the money. Does over half of it go for administration?

By the 1960s, over a hundred studies had been made to determine the best way to teach kids to learn. One hundred percent of the studies showed pure phonics did the job. Zero percent showed the current see/say methods worked. The schools said the tests were 'flawed'. ALL the tests were flawed. They continued to 'teach' by methods proven not to work. They gradually pretended to include 'some' phonics, and call it the 'combined method'. It doesn't work either. This sounds stupid, doesn't it?

But there's a method to their madness. Every time they've got a student who can't seem to learn, they can label him/her as 'learning disabled', and get more federal tax dollars to 'fix' the problem. Nothing changes, but the money rolls in.

I'm sure you've heard of the 'no child left behind' program. The schools produce children who really are being left behind educationally, and now get more money for producing them. And the money rolls in.

The schools can collect income from Medicaid, as they can have their special ed teachers file claims for providing 'medical services'. They aren't really providing medical services, it's just a matter of a couple of teachers talking about students, but Medicaid is billed just the same, and the dollars roll in.

The last time I checked my property tax bill, 55% of it went to the schools. And that's just property taxes. They get it from lots of other places, too. It simply rolls in from knee-jerk reactions because 'it's for the kids'. Well, it's not for the kids. They don't give a rat's patootie about the kids. It's about the money.

Sue