Oklahoma Educator Gun Survey Results

[EhlerDave]

On page 4, reply number 84, nails the problem.

"Some students simply should not be in a traditional school setting."

 

[TerryMiller]

While it could be true is some cases, it's not likely a primary argument for either the OEA or administrators. Also, Oklahoma teachers do not really have "tenure." They do have the right to due process if fired after 3 years on the job. The number of "teachers working who are unfit for the responsibility of the job" would, in my view, be extremely rare. Also, the surveying organization, Professional Oklahoma Educators, is a non-union alternative to the Oklahoma Education Association.

Back in the '80's, I was a school board member, and we learned that "firing" a teacher who had attained tenure was very difficult. They had to have a number of warnings with "plans of improvement" for each warning. As long as the teacher could show that "some improvement" was being made, they couldn't be fired.

Now, I don't know how things are now, but I'd almost wager that if anything, it has gotten more difficult to fire them without good cause.

I still declare that the federal government REALLY needs to eliminate their Department of Education. If that were done, the teacher's unions would have 50 state Departments of Education and countless school boards that they would have to lobby instead of just lobbying the federal department and having the feds "mandate" a policy.

Education over the years has gotten worse, and I believe that it is largely because of the unions.

 

[druryj]

Interesting in that the Oklahoma SDA already makes allowance for personnel at college campuses to carry a firearm IF given approval by the college president. I retired as a VP of Student Services some 4 years ago from higher education here in Oklahoma, having worked at 4 different colleges in the state system. Even though I am also a retired Marine Infantry Officer, am pretty highly trained in the use of weapons, and the use and application of deadly force, and was one of the first in the state to receive my SDA Instructor License (#18) , and sought such permission from each of the presidents I worked for, I was never given permission to carry. I was denied each and every time I sought such permission. Why? because the chancellor, Glenn Johnson, is totally against guns on campus and stated so loudly and repetitively over the years. None of the presidents was about to buck the chancellor, after all. Higher Ed in Oklahoma is nothing, if not highly political. (You.Do.Not.Buck.The.Chancellor.) The law may pass, but teachers and administrators at any level may still face insurmountable hurdles to actually carrying a gun until the people who run things wake the hell up and realize that our schools, to include the college campuses, are nothing more than a barrel full of fish for a deranged person who wants to kill as many as he can. It's stupid. It's incredibly hand-wringing stupid. Ostrich heads in the sand. (Maybe the bad man will not come to MY school, at least not while I'm in charge).