Obama Let 1 Billion Dollars in School Security Funds Lapse Before Sandy Hook Mass Shooting

Impact

President Obama sobbed on live television while trying to soothe the nation in the wake of the horrific Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

However, according to The Washington Guardian, both the president and Congress "quietly" let federal funding for school security programs lapse — out of budget concerns. 

According to the Guardian, two Justice Department programs that provided more than $200 million to schools for training, security equipment and police resources over the last decade weren't renewed in 2011 and 2012.

In addition, a program that provided $800 million to put police officers inside schools was ended a few years earlier; and funding for an Education Department program to prepare schools for mass tragedies was also terminated. 

The report says that the funding was cut off "even though the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, warned in 2007 that many 'many school district officials said that they experience challenges in planning for emergencies due to a lack of equipment, training for staff, and expertise and some school districts face difficulties in communicating and coordinating with first responders and parents.'"

Read more on The Washington Guardian.