While 45% of the general public and 43% of public school parents somewhat or strongly support arming teachers, that percentage has not significantly increased in the wake of recent school shootings, according to a preliminary report released by Phi Delta Kappan International.
Similarly, 37% parents supported arming teachers, according to 2018 polling by PDK following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. Three months after the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas, most parents still do not overwhelmingly support arming teachers, suggesting the public doesn’t see such measures “as a panacea," the report said.
Arming teachers is the only public school safety measure to draw majority opposition from those surveyed. It's also the only measure that more Americans strongly opposed, at 34%, than strongly favored, at 21%.
“We cannot make our schools armed fortresses. Whether to bring police officers into schools should be decided on a school-by-school basis," said Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association, in a statement on the results. "We oppose efforts to bring more guns into our schools by teachers and administrators."
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