"This is a topic that weighs heavily on the minds of many. Personally my thoughts are that teachers should not be armed. Firearms should not be allowed in the school or classroom, where they would be accessible to students. I am in favor, however of having armed security guards, that would patrol the school grounds and the main entrances to the school to secure the premises."

Carrie Rice, English, Lawton-Bronson (Iowa) High School: Rice said the proposal by Education Department Secretary Betsy DeVos to use federal funds to train and arm teachers is misguided and that a better use would be money to hire more school personnel to identify at-risk students.

"Frankly, I have enough to do in a day without worrying where I put my firearm. Adding this responsibility to teachers is putting us in a very tenuous and dangerous position, as accidents will happen. And while you could train us to potentially take the life of a school shooter, you could never train us to intentionally take the life of a shooter who is someone we have nurtured and taught in our classrooms or an innocent student caught in the crossfire."

Patty Wheeler, Ridge View High School, in Holstein: