According to a new Gallup Poll, one in five American teachers say they have considered leaving their profession because of school safety-related issues. This survey was sent out March 5-12, just weeks after the Parkland, Florida school shooting.
Roughly 500 teachers who teach kindergarten through high school across the United States were surveyed. The findings also showed that four out of 10 teachers do not think their school is well protected, most are opposed to carrying guns, and many teachers prioritize gun control.
According to a Current Population Survey from 2015 to 2016, roughly 6.2 million American workers, or 4% of the total workforce, transferred from one occupational group to another. Is this going to happen with teachers now that they don’t feel safe in their jobs anymore?
Well, it is safe to say that many of them are not satisfied with the solutions that people are throwing out there. The Gallop Poll revealed that they don’t want to be carrying guns and that many think it would not be effective at all for teachers to carry guns. Many also think that arming teachers would actually make schools less safe than they are now. Most teachers, according to the survey, want policies that restrict access to assault weapons and other gun control policies.
More than 2 million people participated in a national “March for Our Lives” protest to criticize the Congressional lack of action on gun reform. This was one of the largest protests in American history, according to Sputnik International News.
There may not be a need for a national crisis yet in terms of a teacher shortage, though. The poll revealed that 75% those teachers surveyed would still decide to be a teacher if they had to do it over again. Along those lines, only 9% of teachers were “very worried” about being the victim of a mass shooting, and 64% of those surveyed said that they were “not too worried” or not worried at all.