Reston, VA – NASSP Executive Director JoAnn Bartoletti issued the following statement on the release of the 50th Annual PDK Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools:

Principals see firsthand the effects of our nation’s choice to drain the educator talent pool by underpaying and undervaluing teachers rather than to replenish the pool. This reality is completely unsustainable. We cannot be comfortable with the stunning contradiction that a majority of Americans both recognizes the importance of the teaching profession and want their own kids nowhere near it. The recent series of teacher strikes and the public support for more should wake us up to the need to invest more purposefully and creatively in the professionals who do nothing less than build our collective future.

While the school-security poll results are not new, their re-release is well timed with the recent conversation about the use of Title IV funds to arm teachers. School security experts, SROs, and educators all believe there are more effective ways to protect students in schools than to arm teachers. And we can now add parents to that list by a two-thirds majority. We hope this consensus will finally allow for a more reasonable, less divisive conversation about keeping students safe in school that revolves around research-tested practices like those identified in the Framework for Safe and Successful Schools. 

About NASSP

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is the leading organization of and voice for principals and other school leaders across the United States. NASSP seeks to transform education through school leadership, recognizing that the fulfillment of each student’s potential relies on great leaders in every school committed to the success of each student. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to student leadership development, NASSP administers the National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society, and National Student Council.