Democrats in the House and Senate introduced legislation Thursday intended to clarify that the Department of Education cannot allow school districts to use federal funds to arm teachers.

"The last thing our classrooms need is for schools to be loaded up with weapons," Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said at a press conference Thursday. "That terrifies children who are already living in fear of being the next victim."

The bill is a direct rebuke to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who last year considered whether to allow states to use a program in the federal K-12 law to pay for firearms and training for school staff – a move prompted by an inquiry from education officials in Texas who wanted to do so.

DeVos later said she was not actively looking for ways to allow states to use federal dollars to arm teachers, but the policy of arming school personnel was one of nearly 100 recommendations included in a federal school safety report issued by the White House in December.

"Teachers have way too much to do today as it is," Murphy said. "They don't need to be marksmen and go through the training for that."

The major sponsors of the bill include Murphy, who was sworn into office just weeks after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults, and freshman Rep. Jahana Hayes, also a Democrat from Connecticut and former national Teacher of the Year who has been vocal in arguing that educators do no want guns in school.

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"I bring a perspective of a classroom teacher," Hayes said at the same press conference. "I never would have wanted the responsibility of securing a firearm."

The legislation is just the latest in a series of proposals introduced by Democrats in the wake of two major school shootings in 2018 that shook students, educators and parents and propelled the country to re-examine everything from gun safety laws to school discipline practices.

As it stands, at least 30 states and Washington, D.C., allow school security officers to possess weapons in schools, and at least eight states allow other school employees, including teachers, to possess weapons in schools if they meet certain safety training criteria.

The Democrats' proposal does not address state or local education funding or gun policies, and it comes at a time when some states are considering legislation that would eliminate gun-free school zones, provide handgun training for teachers and allow concealed handguns on school property.

In fact, lawmakers in states across the country have introduced nearly 250 school safety bills so far in 2019, though most of them focus on emergency preparedness – things like setting school safety plans, conducting emergency drills, installing door locks and metal detectors and implementing parent-notification systems.