Texas GOP's plan to place armed guards in every school is already falling apart: report

In response to mass shootings in schools, Texas Republicans passed an unfunded mandate requiring armed guards on every campus.

However, as local news station KHOU reports, the plan already appears to be falling apart as both financial constraints and recruiting troubles are making it hard for many schools to fulfill their mandates.

Although the new law gives schools a $15,000 grant per campus to pay an armed guard, KHOU notes that the Texas Association of School Boards has estimated, "It would cost $80,000 to place a resource officer at one campus."

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One issue driving up costs is a limited supply of people who can safely wield firearms and who are available to protect students, which has put many schools in competition with one another in a scramble to hire guards before the new school year begins.

"Every school district is going after them, right?" one Texas school official told KHOU. "So we're having to adjust our compensation plan... We'll probably be taking that to the board to adjust those so that we can go recruit those good officers."

Schools that are unable to hire a dedicated armed guard also have the option of having arming a regular staff member to serve as the school's guardian, but sources tell KHOU that it's been difficult to find faculty members qualified to handle that role as well.