While students throughout PA have been begging adults to take action to make their schools safer, some Republican lawmakers were in Harrisburg laughing and joking about wanting to watch students train to throw rocks at an active shooter in their classrooms.

This appalling behavior took place on March 15^th during the House Education Committee hearing on school safety after a superintendent explained that every classroom in his district is equipped with a bucket of river stones that students are instructed to throw if a gunman enters their room.

Click HERE to ask your state representative to demand that the  PA House Education Committee hold another hearing on school safety and invite testimony from organizations that have extensive experience in the fields of school safety and school climate.

The testimony presented to lawmakers at the last hearing was inadequate to allow them to make informed and responsible decisions about their legislative and funding priorities to increase school safety.

Republican leaders invited a teacher to testify in favor of school staff carrying concealed weapons in schools. However, lawmakers did not adequately hear other perspectives; they did not invite any organization that could provide extensive evidence that adding thousands of guns to our children’s schools will dramatically raise the odds that students will be accidentally hurt or killed by firearms.

They did not hear about recent incidents where VA resource officer and CA teacher accidentally fired their guns in schools and a Michigan sheriff left his gun in a locker room, where it was found by a student after the weekend.

Lawmakers invited superintendent Dr. David Helsel to testify about his district’s school safety plan, which includes employing armed maintenance workers in school buildings. However, they did not hear testimony about how placing armed law enforcement in schools can negatively impact a school’s climate and make schools less safe by harming students’ trust in educators and creating a situation where they are less likely to report issues to school staff.

Lawmakers did not hear any testimony about how students of color and students with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by the presence of law enforcement officers in schools because no one who focuses on issues facing students of color or students with disabilities was invited to testify.

Pennsylvania’s students deserve to go to schools that are well-resourced and where they feel safe and supported by caring adults. Lawmakers must not put our children at risk because they are making uninformed policy and funding decisions based on the inadequate testimony provided at this hearing. 

Click HERE to tell your state representative to demand that Republican leadership schedule another House Education Committee hearing on school safety so lawmakers can learn from organizations and individuals that have legitimate experience in the fields of school safety and climate.  

Thank you for contacting your lawmakers and for your continued support of public education.

After you send the letter to your lawmakers, click HERE to read The Washington Post article about this hearing and watch the video where lawmakers joke about students defending themselves with rocks.