Arming Teachers Isn’t Safety, It’s Political Theater

The Humble (TX) Independent School District is gearing up to arm school employees under Texas’ School Marshal Program, a plan lawmakers rolled out years ago when they ran out of actual ideas. On Nov. 11th, the board voted to move forward, giving administrators the green light to draft the rules. They haven’t decided which campuses will host this pilot program, but the message is unmistakable. If you can’t solve a problem, just throw more guns at it.

Under the law, school marshals are district employees, not police, who volunteer to carry firearms around children. They need a License to carry, pass a psychological exam, and attend 80 hours of training approved by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Humble ISD plans to pile on even more requirements like firearms qualifications, added PD training, and extensive background checks. In other words, everything short of giving them an actual badge, because that would admit this is policing on the cheap.

Supporters call it a “layered security approach,” which is a polite way of saying, “We know this doesn’t work, but it sounds impressive in a PowerPoint.” It joins the usual lineup of metal detectors, secure entrances, alert buttons, anonymous-reporting apps, and safety drills, none of which address the underlying issue, but all of which let districts claim they’re “doing something.”

Here’s the problem. Guns in schools are dangerous. Full stop. Not just in the hands of a shooter, but in the hands of anyone. And no amount of training converts a civilian employee into a flawless action hero. Even police officers with far more training miss shots, misidentify threats, and freeze under pressure. Yet we’re supposed to believe a teacher or office staffer is going to perform better because they took an 80-hour crash course and passed a background check.

We’ve already seen what happens when armed staff come into play. Guns are left in bathrooms, misfires in classrooms, students grabbing unsecured weapons, and school employees potentially shooting the wrong person during chaos. This isn’t speculation; it’s the real-world track record of these programs. But apparently the lesson learned is, “Let’s do more of that.”

And because this is Texas, we all know why this program exists in the first place. Actually limiting access to firearms? Absolutely not. That’s off-limits. That’s heresy. The 2nd Amendment is the 1st Commandment. Instead, lawmakers created a workaround where schools pretend to solve the problem by arming the adults who were hired to teach math and mop hallways, not engage in tactical operations. The state dodges responsibility, and districts get to look “tough on safety” without touching the one variable that actually drives school shootings.

Humble ISD insists the School Marshal Program will “protect lives.” What it really does is increase the number of weapons in a building full of kids and then hopes nothing goes wrong. It’s the educational equivalent of storing gasoline inside the fire station and trusting no one lights a match. This is like trying to fight cancer with more cancer.

Want real safety? Fund counselors. Strengthen community supports. Reduce access to firearms. Invest in prevention that doesn’t involve turning school employees into quasi-cops with the expectation that they’ll beat an AR-15 with a handgun and good intentions.

But that requires Texas politicians to have a brain and a spine. So instead we get the School Marshal Program. Texas’ favorite way to treat symptoms, ignore causes and call it leadership.

(Source)