Proponents of the measure hope that armed teachers will reduce the frequency and lethality of school shootings, which have become recurrent in the United States.
Opponents of the bill, including teachers’ unions and the state’s main police union, say it will make schools more dangerous for children.
The bill was finalized 10 days after a teenager with an AR-15-style rifle attacked a school in Uvalde, Texas. Nineteen students and two teachers were killed in the massacre.
The Governor of Ohio, the Republican Mike Dewine, has said he will sign the bill into law.
The bill passed the Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly this week.
It was designed to defuse a ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court last year that said a longstanding state law required teachers to complete more than 700 hours in a peace officer training program before they could be armed in the school facilities.
Supporters of the bill said it would allow school staff to confront an armed attacker before police entered.
“In emergencies in our schools, seconds matter and tragedies are preventable,” Thomas Hall, the bill’s sponsor, said in a statement.
Armed teachers will be required to undergo criminal background checks and receive 8 hours of additional training each year thereafter.
Under the new law, school districts would have to notify parents if they decide to allow armed teachers onto school grounds. It was not immediately clear how many school districts would choose to allow it.
Source: Ambito
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