ARMING THE SCHOOLHOUSE — Starting this summer, a group of anonymous employees at North Texas Collegiate Academy campuses will begin taking part in a lightly regulated state program meant to deploy school staff as last-ditch guards against active shooters. — In light of last week's tragic events in Uvalde, Superintendent Lisa Stanley wrote in a May 26 letter to families, "I also want to assure all families and stakeholders that highly-trained staff members stand prepared to protect our students and our staff." — "If an intruder entered your home with ill-intent, you would do everything in your power to protect your family," Stanley wrote. "Our staff and students deserve that same protection and we are committed to providing that." — The state has allowed teachers to sign up as armed campus "marshals" since 2013 after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., in addition to adopting the school "guardian" program used by the North Texas school system. — Neither idea has seen enormous participation rates in Texas, your host reports. The idea of gun-toting teachers still promises to harness renewed political urgency in the school safety debate, as a top Texas law enforcement official on Friday acknowledged failures in a plodding police response to this week's violence. WHERE GOVERNORS STAND — Following last week's massacre, The Associated Press asked governors across the U.S. whether they believed their states have an obligation to reduce mass shootings and violence committed with guns and, if so, how. — Governors agreed they had a responsibility to try to do something. Democrats and Republicans alike mentioned the need to invest in mental health services and training to help people potentially prone to violent outbursts. The commonality generally ends after that. Democratic governors are amplifying calls for greater gun restrictions. Republican governors often emphasize more security at schools. — Republican Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, during a speech Friday at the National Rifle Association convention in Houston, denounced calls for gun control as "garbage" and embraced greater school security measures. "Why do we protect our banks, our stores and celebrities with armed guards but not our children? Are they not truly our greatest treasure?" Noem said. — Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa also laid out a variety of potential school safety steps while talking with reporters Friday. "It's looking for ways to harden schools; it's talking about having conversations about state resource officers," she said, later adding: "Maybe a single entrance into the school system and making sure educators are trained." — None of the Democratic governors who responded to The AP's questions supported arming teachers or staff to deter or stop attacks. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers — a Democrat who is a former teacher, school superintendent and state education chief — said he's concerned that arming teachers would make schools more dangerous. — "There's not enough people to do it," Evers said, "and I'm not sure we want to turn our learning institutions into armed camps."
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