Education Department Debates Using Federal Funds for Guns

Education Department Debates Using Federal Funds for Guns

The bipartisan Every Student Success Act does not expressly prohibit or allow the use of grants for the purchase of firearms.

The Education Department said last week that it is weighing whether to allow states to use federal funds to purchase guns for schools. If approved, the plan could generate controversy from opposing sides at a time when a string of school shootings have been especially deadly.

A member of the Trump Administration told the Associated Press that the bipartisan Every Student Success Act, passed in 2015, does not expressly prohibit or allow the use of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants for the purchase of firearms. The official said the agency has received several letters asking to clarify what those funds could be used for and has begun the process of researching the issue.

Many opposing leaders, organizations and advocates have spoken out against allowing schools to use federal funds to purchase firearms, including Nicole Hockley, co-founder of Sandy Hook Promise who lost a son in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.

"Rather than arming teachers with a firearm, I would rather arm them with the knowledge of how to prevent these acts from happening in the first place," Hockley said to the Trump Administration during a listening session in February.

On Thursday, August 23, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy responded to the debate by inserting an 11-th hour amendment into a spending bull that would block school districts from using taxpayer money on teachers' firearms.

"I'm doing everything in my power to make sure that Secretary DeVos's [sic] plan to arm our schools is stopped in its tracks," Murphy said. He also noted in March, when Congress passed the $50 million STOP School Violence At, it "expressly opposed putting guns in the hands of teachers."

 

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

Featured

  • 2025 Secure Campus Award Winners Announced

    Campus Security Today is pleased to announce the 2025 Secure Campus Award winners. Twenty companies are being recognized this year for products that help keep education and business campuses safe. Read Now

  • K-12 School Safety Trends Report Shows Training, Technology Are Saving Lives

    CENTEGIX, the industry leader and most widely adopted wearable safety technology provider for K-12 education, today released its 2025 School Safety Trends Report, the only comprehensive and data-rich analysis of school safety available in the wearable panic button market. The report identifies and outlines the top tech and legislative movements relevant to school safety in the U.S. and draws on data collected in the 2024/2025 school year through the CENTEGIX Safety Platform, including more than 265,000 incidents of CrisisAlert use. Read Now

  • Survey: Fewer Than 20 Percent of School Leaders Consider Their Main Entrance “Completely Secure”

    Singlewire Software, provider of solutions that help keep people safe and informed, releases the findings of its inaugural School Entrance Security Report, which captured responses from more than 500 school staff members across the United States. This research highlights the concerns and challenges schools are facing in securing their entrances and keeping students and staff safe from potential threats Read Now

  • Securing Higher Education: Combating Enrollment Fraud and Empowering Student Financial Success

    Higher education institutions are facing a costly and growing crisis: enrollment fraud. Between 2020 and 2022, the cost[1] of acquiring a new student surged by up to 32%, straining already tight budgets. At the same time, “ghost students” using stolen identities to enroll fraudulently put institutions at even greater financial risk. Read Now