“I have no intention of taking any action concerning the purchase of firearms or firearms training for school staff under the [Elementary and Secondary Education Act],” Betsy DeVos said in a letter to Rep. Bobby Scott. | Oliver Contreras/Getty Images DeVos says she won't block schools from using federal money to buy guns

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced on Friday that she would not stand in the way of states that want to use federal grants to purchase guns for schools, emphasizing that it’s a decision for local officials to make.

“I have no intention of taking any action concerning the purchase of firearms or firearms training for school staff under the [Elementary and Secondary Education Act],” DeVos said in a letter to Rep. Bobby Scott, the top Democrat on the House education committee.


DeVos' letter comes as Democrats and some education groups had asked the Trump administration not to allow federal education grants to be used for firearms after The New York Times first reported last week that the Education Department was considering the issue.

Education Department officials said that they believe that states and school districts already have the flexibility to purchase firearms using federal education grants.

States and school districts have “substantial flexibility” in deciding how they spend the money under the more than $1 billion Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants program, DeVos said in her letter.

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“Congress did not authorize me or the Department to make those decisions” about how school use the money, she said, adding that she would “not legislate via fiat from the Department.”

DeVos said she would "not take any action that would expand or restrict the responsibilities and flexibilities granted to State and local educational agencies by Congress,"

Frank Brogan, a top DeVos deputy, told the Associated Press in an interview published earlier on Friday that states have "always had the flexibility" to use the grants they deem necessary — including to purchase firearms for schools.

Education Department spokeswoman Liz Hill said Friday that the department was restating existing policy rather than relating a new decision. "The safe-schools block grant for many years has allowed states to make the decision about how to use those federal dollars to make schools safer for children," Hill said.

Democrats said they were outraged that the Education Department wouldn’t block states from using educational grants to purchase guns for schools.

Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate education committee, tweeted that she was "extremely disappointed" that DeVos is "move forward with this awful plan."

Some states, including Texas, have sought clarity on whether they can use the funds to arm school personnel.

Brogan, the assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education, told the AP that arming educators "is a good example of a profoundly personal decision on the part of a school or a school district or even a state."

When asked whether the grants funds could go to purchase the needed firearms, Brogan said states have long had that ability already.

"The people at the local level who've been there for years could make the decisions about what services to purchase, what equipment to buy to fulfill the general broad obligations laid out in that law," Brogan said.

President Donald Trump and DeVos have stoked an intense debate since the Valentine's Day school shooting in Parkland, Fla., over whether teachers should be armed, arguing that those who are trained should be allowed to do so in communities that back the effort.

Critics argue that Congress didn't intend for the money to be used for guns. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), for instance, said on the Senate floor last week that “DeVos “allowing federal funds to be used to arm teachers is in direct contravention of federal law.”

But Senate HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) has said that Congress had already allowed states and school districts to decide whether to use federal money to buy guns.

The grant program falls under the Every Student Succeeds Act, the sweeping K-12 law which replaced No Child Left Behind. Brogan said the law provides about $1 billion in annual funding for various school needs, including 20 percent specifically set aside for school safety.

Since the shootings, DeVos has chaired a federal school safety commission expected to make recommendations later this year on how to make schools safer.

A draft of the section on training reviewed by the AP said the commission recommends that states and communities determine "based on the unique circumstances of each school" whether to arm its security personnel and teachers.