More than one-in-five K-12 teachers in the United States have considered leaving the profession over safety concerns in the classroom. The statistic comes from a Gallup survey of almost 500 teachers and is nationally representative.
Two-in-five teachers say say that their schools are not well-protected. Often times in cases of mass shootings at schools, officers have not provided extra safety. Moreover, the question of whether to arm teachers themselves remains a contentious point of debate. One school in Pennsylvania has even decided to arm students with rocks, who could then stone a school shooter.
Gallup's polling of teachers was conducted just weeks after the shooting, so that proximity could affect outcomes. Nonetheless, the 20 percent of teachers who have considered leaving their jobs over safety concerns doesn't indicate a lack of cool-headedness. Only 9 percent of teachers reported being "very worried" about being a victim in a mass shooting, with 27 percent "somewhat worried." Meanwhile, 8 percent say their students are very worried and 37 percent say they're "somewhat worried." Inversely, 64 percent were "not too worried" or not worried at all.