La Crosse Teachers’ Union president speaks mind on being armed in classroom

From the White House down, everyone seems to have an opinion this week on whether teachers should be armed with guns in classroom.

The most important opinions, however, need to come from those in the schools.

John Havlicek is the head of the La Crosse Teachers’ Union. He says the view from his colleagues is practically universal.

“Every teacher that I know thinks that idea is just crazy,” Havlicek said. “The idea that we’re going to turn our schools into some kind of military zone by arming all the teachers is bizarre.”

As for the students, Havlicek thinks they’re doing just fine expressing their opinions.

“These kids are motivated,” he said. “They recognize that things are possible that were not possible when I was their age. When you want to communicate something (at my age), it would have been a bunch of phone calls.

“Now, one kid can communicate with thousands of other kids instantly.”

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel even suggested that he would train teachers who wanted to be armed.

Havlicek points out the obvious dilemma there that teachers are in the front of the classroom to do one thing.

“I’m not a policeman. I’m not a soldier. I’m a Spanish teacher,” Havlicek said. “This is not why we came into education. That’s so contrary to what teachers think, to what parents want, to what is even common sense.”