You may have heard what Betsy DeVos, President-elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, recently said about the threat of grizzly bears in our children's schools.

During Wednesday's confirmation hearing, Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut asked DeVos if she believes guns have “any place in and around schools.” DeVos replied that she thought it was a matter best left to the states, and used the example of Wyoming schools protecting students from grizzlies as a reason for her answer (a justification that was soon debunked by a Wyoming school superintendent who said that guns are not allowed on school property).

Murphy, of course, asked his question thinking about Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six educators were shot and killed just four years ago. He said later that he was “shaken to the core” by her answer.

My mom, Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, was the principal of Sandy Hook. She died that day, running towards the shooter as he fired at her, trying with all her might to protect her kids.

It’s easy to get distracted by DeVos’ concern about grizzlies in schools, but we have to keep focused on the part of what she said that is really and truly disturbing: The woman who could be our next Secretary of Education said she would support allowing guns into our children's schools.

This means that guns could become a part of our children's daily lives, and that the very place we expect to be a haven for learning math and science could be where our kids learn how to duck and cover.

DeVos is right that grizzly bears don’t belong in schools. But neither do guns. By not taking a definitive stance on keeping guns out of our schools, she's posing a real threat to our children’s safety.

Research from Everytown for Gun Safety shows that there have been at least 210 school shootings since my mom and 25 others died at Sandy Hook. This is a problem that isn’t going away, and one that won’t be solved by demanding that teachers become sharpshooters.

My mom spent her life preparing to take care of students. She earned a degree in education. She spent years in a classroom, teaching special education for kindergarteners and middle-schoolers. By the time she became principal of Sandy Hook, she knew exactly what elementary school should be—a happy place for kids, where they could learn and grow in a safe environment.