Press Releases
Teamsters Local 502 CASA Statement Opposing School Violence, Arming of School Staff
(PHILADELPHIA) – Teamsters Local 502/Commonwealth Association of School Administrators (CASA) is opposed to the arming of teachers to combat possible school shootings.
School administrators advocate for peaceful resolutions to the mass school shootings that have taken place across the country.
Local 502 represents more than 550 school administrators who work in the School District of Philadelphia.
The union is speaking out about conceal and carry in schools because it would have a dangerous impact on students, teachers, administrators, staff and families. School administrators and teachers pursue their careers to teach and make a difference in students’ lives. Core values in schools and classrooms include nonviolence, civil discourse and peaceful resolutions to conflict. Arming school personnel with guns would be hypocrisy.
Administrators and teachers have many responsibilities to oversee schools, ensure purposeful lessons and maintain a welcoming environment. Weapons training would be an additional responsibility added to a long list of duties, when more time should be spent on classroom instruction.
Arming non-police personnel increases the possibility of further gun violence which could produce more student and staff deaths.
“The great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached nonviolence, and if we place guns in schools, we are endangering an entire community,” said Dr. Robin Cooper, President of Local 502/CASA. “There are other solutions to this problem, some of which are taking place in front of our eyes. Students are exercising their civil rights by protesting peacefully. Discussion on the divisive issue of gun control is being deliberated with these young voices speaking up and leading. We cannot lose any more young, promising lives, but arming principals and/or teachers with guns in order to combat a possible assailant is not the answer.”
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.