health -- irreplaceable.
>> Let's get into some of these
concerns a little deeper.
Including whether to arm
teachers in America.
For that, I am joined by Becky,
the president of the national
education association, the
largest labor union.
Thank you for joining the
newshour.
You were a teacher when the
columbine shootings happened.
Despite efforts to harden
schools or even to harm
teachers, are you seeing a more
earnest effort in Washington
with this bipartisan framework
that gives you new hope schools
can be made to feel safe again?
>> I have been teaching for 23
years.
I will never forget the day
after, suits coming to my class
and just like they did two weeks
ago to teach us all over this
country, are we safe?
And I said with confidence 23 --
23 years ago that this country
would never let that happen
again.
And then Virginia tech and sandy
hook.
I will tell you that I am so
incredibly proud of our work
because of their courage and
their resilience.
I believe we have been heard and
the bipartisan agreement that
has been reached addressed some
of our concerns, not all of them
so we will continue to push but
it does give them hope,
especially our students that
their voices and their stories
can make a difference and we can
change what is happening in this
country.
>> What is not happening and
that bipartisan framework?
18-year-olds are still going to
be able to buy assault weapons.
What should you be asking for?
We will fight for raising that
age limit.
We still have yet to hear all of
the details of it.
We want to make sure that it
goes far enough to close all of
the loopholes.
When we talk about background
checks, we also know they are
looking at looking to pass red
flag laws.
There are other issues when the
details come out, they don't
have all of the competence of
common sense gun laws.
>> One policy I know you don't
support is arming teachers and
Ohio's governor --
what is your reaction to that?
>> I talked to some educators
from Ohio and they were in tears
when I spoke with him last
night.
Anything that would put more
response ability on them, we
know our educators all over this
country are focused on teaching
and nurturing or supporting our
students.
For there to be a law that has
them armed which of course puts
more guns in this --
it is absolutely unconscionable,
overwhelmingly do not support
this.
In 2013, the state of Texas
passed a similar law.
Only 361 out of 370 1000
teachers in the state of Texas
actually took them up on that.
We know that is not a solution.
It is not.
It is a false idea.
Quick to be clear, my
understanding of the Ohio law is
that it gives teachers the
I just want to say that what are
the perspectives of supporters
from arming teachers --
it gives them the ability to
protect themselves and their
classrooms if they choose to be
Is there any scenario that you
see that a teacher should have
that option?
>> I toxic to teachers all over
this country and I will tell you
that educators always take that
additional responsibility on.
Society believes that they
should be defending our kids
with guns.
We will continue to speak out
against that.
>> I know there are a lot of
parents speaking out against
that as well.
The president of the national
education association, thank you