HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — “Our highest number is 80. Our lowest number is 64,” said Allen Goodman from the front of his 7th-grade classroom at Guinta Middle School.
Teaching math may be the easiest part of Goodman's job right now.
His kids are talking about Stoneman Douglass and the possibility it could happen to them.
Right now, Tallahassee lawmakers are divided over the so-called marshal program to train school staff to carry concealed weapons in the classroom.
“Me as a teacher personally, if that was my last resort, I would do it to protect these kids because these are my kids. It would be the same thing in your own house,” said Goodman.
Even though Goodman says he'd carry he believes other measures should be exhausted first.
“These kids lives are worth hiring more security. If we can do that and prevent because I’m going to be honest, not every teacher should have a gun,” said Goodman.
High School teacher Ryan Haczynski believes no teachers should have guns.
“The way the law is written, we wouldn’t know who’s actually carrying a gun. It would just create an additional layer of anxiety for these students and they really don’t need that in their lives,” said Haczynski.
He says he polled his students more than 80-percent say teachers with guns would not make them feel safer.
A new Quinnipiac poll says he's in good company most Floridians don't want teachers armed.
“I don’t care how much training a teacher goes through, in that moment, if they’re trying to stop an active shooter, what happens if they miss? What if they hit a kid?” said Haczynski.
Real questions facing both of these educators. whether they like it or not.
