Posted on 03/12/2018 10:42:00 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
In the wake of the recent horrific shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, a number of proposals involving federal grant programs have been offered in Congress to try to address the critical issue of school safety.
Empowering states and localities to implement evidence-based programs that meet their needs represents a sensible approach.
Among the proposals under consideration is the Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act of 2018, which has been introduced in the House by Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., a former sheriff, and in the Senate by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Both House and Senate versions have several co-sponsors and appear to enjoy broad bipartisan support.
The House version would authorize $50 million annually to create a grant program, to be administered by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, to assist local law enforcement, school personnel, and students by defraying up to 75 percent of the costs associated with evidence-based programs to prevent school shootings.
Such programs could include training and technical assistance for students, school personnel, and law enforcement to identify signs of violence and intervene early to prevent students from hurting themselves and others; the development and operation of anonymous reporting systems for threats of school violence; the development, operation, and training of school threat assessment intervention teams; coordination between school officials and local law enforcement; and any other measure that the director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance determines might significantly improve school security.
The Senate bill would authorize $75 million in fiscal year 2018 and $100 million annually for the ensuing 10 years, although the bill provides that such sums might be partially offset by funds previously allocated to a Justice Department research program called the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative.
(Excerpt) Read more at heritage.org ...
School safety is constitutionally a STATES’ issue NOT federal issue.
The feds are part of the problem.
Oh, so the solution is to spend more money... Nice.
Isn't it always? Why do I smell another teacher union payoff?
My position on government schools, as far as money is concerned:
If you have a school system which is tops in the state, sending kids to Ivy League schools and winning championships in various athletic fields, and if you say, “Can I have more money?”, you will likely be turned down — the local Police Dept needs money more than you do. Or the Fire Dept. Or Parks and Rec or whatever. You’re doing great. You don’t need more money.
If you have a school system which is failing, with a violence problem, low graduation rates, and terrible scores on standardized tests, and if you say, “Can I have more money?”, you will likely get more money.
The School Administrators, at a certain level WANT to fail. Because they want more money. That’s how they get bigger staffs, more assistants to the assistant, better offices, and better facilities. It pays to fail.
The answer to everything is always “More Money” and actual success gets in the way of that.
Agreed. The Feds should butt out, IMO.
Yes, and it’s a matter of constitutional law, not personal opinion.
If more spending doesn’t fix the problem, then we obviously didn’t spend enough.
There is ONE law passed by congress that has cause the number of school shootings to sky rocket by 300% since it was signed into law. That law was passed by congress in 1990 and should be repealed.
That one law? - the gun free school zone law
If it weren’t for the feds stealing state revenues by means of unconstitutional federal taxes, taxes that Congress cannot reasonably justify under its constitutional Article I, Section 8-limited powers, then the sovereign states would be able to pay for such programs imo.
"Congress is not empowered to tax for those purposes which are within the exclusive province of the States."—Justice John Marshall, Gibbons v. Ogden, 1824.
The states need wise up and eliminate the corrupt, post-17th Amendment ratification feds as an unconstitutional middle man with respect to “helping” the states to manage their revenues.
Note that James Madison, generally regarded as the father of the Constitution, and Thomas Jefferson, had warned patriots to be on their guard against the feds unconstitutionally expanding their powers in subtle ways.
”I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” —James Madison, Speech at the Virginia Convention to ratify the Federal Constitution (1788-06-06)
”To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.” —Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson's Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank : 1791
”The system of the General Government is to seize all doubtful ground. We must join in the scramble, or get nothing. Where first occupancy is to give right, he who lies still loses all.” —Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, 1797.
The remedy to unconstitutionally big federal government …
Patriots need to finish the job that they started in 2016 by electing Trump president.
More specifically, patriots now need to be making sure that there are plenty of state sovereignty-respecting patriots candidates on the primary ballots who will commit to supporting Pres. Trump in leading the states to repeal 16 & 17A and put a stop to unconstitutional federal taxes.
Patriots then need to pink-slip career lawmakers by sending patriot candidate lawmakers to DC on election day.
And until the states wake up and repeal 17A, as evidenced by concerns about the integrity of Alabama's special Senate election, patriot candidates need to win elections by a large enough margin to compensate for possible deep state ballot box fraud and associated MSM scare tactics.
Hacking Democracy - The Hack
They don't deter shootings?
Whoever violates the Act shall be fined not more than $5,000, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.
Give the damn teachers their OWN Bumpfire stocks! LOL!
Ultimately the safety of the child rests on the parents. It should be locally dealt with with the brunt of “protection of the student body” in the hands of parents. We should not be depending on a school district to make the right decisions regarding the safety of our children.
Agreed. But that is a matter of the people of each state.
In the meantime, there is fairly strong evidence that Obama and his Federal Extortion Racket compromised the Florida school district and police.
One thing for sure - local schools are NOT constitutionally under the authority of the feds.
The Chuck n Nancy gravy train keeps serving from taxpayer mouths. Some deals.
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