Brian Whiston, Michigan's state superintendent of schools, says teachers need more respect and more pay. During an interview at the 2016 Mackinac Policy Conference, he also said he believes guns do not belong in the state's schools.
Whiston says he wants to, "Make us a top ten performing state." One part of that is retaining the best teachers by paying them well.
"There's an ad in Lansing for truck drivers," the superintendent said. It talks about paying them $66,000 to deliver food to McDonald's. "Nobody seems to have a problem with that, but they think we pay our teachers too much," he said.
Superintendent Whiston was clear about his stance on guns in Michigan's schools.
"I don't support having guns in school," he said, adding, "I am pro Second Amendment."
"I just think schools should be a safe haven," he said. Whiston believes only security employees should be armed inside of schools.
"Accidents would occur," he said, if teachers had guns in Michigan's schools.
Watch the full interview with Michigan state school superintendent Brian Whiston in the video player above.
