We recommend arming three (two at the bare minimum) teachers with both firearms and training. We will partner with firearm manufacturers to obtain the firearms at negotiated rates. I assure you- there will be an abundance of firearm manufacturers who would provide us with the weapons at $25 above cost to be able to claim that they are "protecting the schoolchildren of America." The list of the armed teachers' equipment is as follows:

• (1) AR-15 - $600
• (1) Glock 17 - $400
• (1) Plate Carrier and Body Armor - $300
• Ammunition/Magazines for both primary and secondary weapons - $200
• Identifiable Hat (high visibility for recognition by law enforcement) - $10
• Accessories (pepper spray, handcuffs, etc.) - $90
• Locking, enclosed environment for the weaponry - $400
• TOTAL:   $2,000

The equipment would have to be placed in secure, locked enclosures that were readily available for the members of the SMART Program to access them in a moment’s notice. The teachers would also have to complete a certification course, accompanied by semi-annual qualification of standards. Criteria is as follows:

• Must be a male under the age of 55
• Must be willing to engage in the training and perform up to certain standards
• Must have a valid weapons permit (if host state requires one)
• Must take a minimum training of 25 hours of firearm and violence training each year
  • Training must be performed by qualified and certified instructors
• Qualifying and Participating teachers will earn an additional $10,000 per year on annual salary

With 3 qualifying teachers per school, that means that each school would incur the cost of $36,000 per year (approximately the cost of one teacher). When multiplied by the estimated 100,000 schools that in the United States, we have a total increase in spending at around $3.6 billion. This doesn’t consider that many of the schools are private schools which would be able to fund this without government subsidy.

Now, far be it from me to propose an increase in spending without a way to pay for it. $3.6 billion is a lot of money. Also there is the inevitable situation where some schools won’t have any teachers who can qualify or are willing to take on this massive responsibility. We have ways to deal with both issues.

First, if a school in unable to find 2 (minimum) members for the SMART Program, then the services will come from local unemployed veterans of our armed services. They will receive a salary of $40,000 (plus benefits) per year each and will be funded by the federal government to avoid the tax burden being placed solely on the local community. I don’t think we’ll have a problem filling those positions with veterans who would want to protect school children.

In order to pay the $3.6 billion increase in the budget, we will have to cut back in other areas. Also, since this is a federally funded program- we have the option to balance the budget by cutting into the deficits of other federally funded programs. Specifically, we’ll cease our federal aid of sending taxpayers dollars to the following countries:

• Pakistan - $3.5 Billion / Year
• Iran - $101 Million / Year
• North Korea - $118 Million / Year
• Venezuela - $45 Million / Year
• Cuba - $87 Million / Year
• Somalia - $1.1 Billion / Year
• Palestine - $2.44 Billion / Year

Since the SMART Program is estimated to cost $3.6 billion per year, we would have been able to generate enough revenue to fund the program for more than 2 years with just the taxpayer federal aid money given to the above countries in 2014. These are countries whose core values are in stark contrast with those of our own, and in deed many of them are funding or aiding our enemies abroad. By cutting the funding to the above countries and focusing our spending on the protection of AMERICAN CHILDREN, our schools will be far safer and our communities will be stronger.

We don’t see school children dying from structure fires in the United States. We don’t see them dying from tornadoes. Yet in America, every schoolkid has to practice fire drills and tornado drills ad nauseum. The most likely cause of death for school children in America is violence. Yet very few (if any) schools really practice a plan for dealing with an active shooter. By overpowering those mentally deranged people that would attempt to hurt our children- we can reduce these tragic numbers. In order to do so, however- we must accept the fact that evil and violence do exist in the world, and that in order to protect our children we must confront violence with overpowering violence. True evil isn't defeated by good vibes and unicorns... True evil isn't convinced to stop- it must be neutralized by force.