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Dear Editor,
    The [op-ed] “Arming Teachers Is Not the Answer. I Know What Is” by Marissa Castanon-Hernandez [Opinion, Sept. 16] should be required reading for all school teachers, principals, school administrators, security personnel and police officers. She offers several practical ideas for teachers and other school personnel on how to react when they might be confronted with an armed intruder.
    She writes that giving teachers guns so they have them when and if they need them is a bad idea. Instead, she urges state legislators to prioritize funding and resources for qualified security personnel, advanced monitoring systems, and adequate maintenance staff. Marissa’s more than 20 years experience in the classroom gives her a realistic perspective of what school safety should be. She offers these practical, but not political suggestions, so that “teachers can focus on teaching and students can focus on learning.”