Parkland Students Who Survived Shooting Could Get Reprieve From State Exams

They come from different politics and perspectives though now they are united as parents all living the same profound loss.

“We know that force on force is a deterrent”, Oliva told the House.

Students return to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after a shooting on Valentine’s Day left 17 people dead.

It’s been almost three weeks since the mass shooting, and just like the activism the students have created, the victims’ parents are following suit.

Florida senators narrowly gave their approval Monday to a sweeping school safety bill that would pour millions of dollars into hardening schools and increasing mental health services but would exclude most teachers from participating in a controversial “school marshal program” meant to allow school employees to carry concealed weapons on campus.

Two out of three adults in the United States want stricter gun laws, CBS found in a poll conducted a week after the tragedy. While crafted by Republicans, some GOP senators still opposed it because they don’t agree with raising the minimum age to guy a rifle from 18 to 21 or requiring a waiting period to buy the weapons. “Work with us. Let’s make these schools safe, and once every school is safe in America, do what you have to with the gun laws”.

“The root common denominator of all mass killing is the instrument used”, said Sen. “We need a ban on assault weapons and these high-powered magazines”.

The House will vote on Senate Bill 7026 on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun lawmakers, including President Donald Trump, have proposed arming educators as a way to deter mass shootings at schools.

Most members of Florida’s 28-member Florida Conference of Black Legislators also opposed the program, fearing black students could be discriminated against by armed school officials.

Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime died in the shooting, described Gov. Scott’s proposal as the “minimally acceptable” effort that could get passed in the legislature.

Under the change, those who “exclusively perform classroom duties as classroom teachers” wouldn’t be allowed to participate in the program.

The Senate met for eight hours on Saturday and again on Monday.

There are a number of things that would have to happen in order for a teacher to carry a gun.

Amy King, a leadership and English teacher at THS, said the day of awareness was the idea of students in her leadership class.

Piccolo said the arming of teachers, contentious as it is, will likely remain in the bill as it moves through the House in part, because of strong support from Republicans. Debbie Wasserman Shultz, a Weston Democrat, on Wednesday.