New Hampshire Law Gives $100K to Families of Public School Employees Killed in Shootings

Family members of staff killed "in the line of duty" will get a $100,000 death benefit.

When teachers signed up to educate kids, it's unlikely they thought they would have to be dodging bullets. Yet, as CNN reports, there have been 22 school shootings in 2018 alone.

Now New Hampshire lawmakers passed a bill allowing state's teachers to receive a $100,000 death benefit if they're "killed in the line of duty," according to CNN. That phrase is usually reserved for police officers, firefighters, and members of the military, but now it's extended to teachers too.

Teachers aren't the only ones eligible for the benefit though. The bill, HB1415, will also allow any full-time or part-time public school employees killed during a violent act while working at state schools like public schools, community colleges, and universities. But of course, lawmakers are hoping to never have to tap into those funds.

"I pray to God that we never have to use the death benefit," said state Rep. Mary Heath, who's a retired teacher, to CNN. Heath, who said she gets "teary-eyed" thinking about the series of school shootings in the United States, also commented about the lack of safety. "It's so disturbing to think that children can't be safe in schools," she said.

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The death benefit will comes from a $10 million bill which focuses on improving security in the state's public schools. In the meantime, U.S. lawmakers have yet to introduce common sense gun control laws to decrease school shootings from happening again.

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