In the coming days schools will be considering ways to improve the safety of their students in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Unfortunately, we are also now in a time period of tight budgets, and I do not want our schools to have to choose between improving security and firing teachers.
Please establish a federal grant fund that would enable schools to apply for additional money specifically for improving the safety of schools. This grant fund could enable replacement of doors, locks and other building infrastructure, while also allowing for purchase of new safety equipment, including cameras, buzzer systems, etc.
In this time of national tragedy when the entire nation is thinking about the safety of our children, this initiative should gain bipartisan support.