With the political atmosphere that comes every election year, the question lingers “Why do teachers tend to lean more liberal?”

Research published by the Washington post , that reports on the Democrat-Republican divide based on kinds of jobs, shows that there are 79 democrats for every 21 republicans who are teachers in the United States.

Marine Science Teacher Karen Tripp believes that the altruistic aspect of the career might be one reason teachers are prone to be liberals.

“Teaching is one of those jobs, like firefighters, where we work for the community and we think about what is better for the community before what is best for ourselves,” Tripp said.

According to a poll conducted by Edison Research/NEP 55% of Kamala Harris’s voters had a college degree while only 42% of Donald Trump’s voters received a college degree.

Some teachers such as Ethics teacher Jeffrey Childers believe that this common leftism within the career is a result of the college education in which teachers were given.

“It’s part of the larger trend that college educated people tend to swing more liberal, and the way that education has been done nationwide, especially for the past 50 to 60 years is more influenced by that side of the political spectrum,” Childers said.

Social Studies teacher Steven Johnson feels as though it is not only the education but rather the diverse environment colleges provide their students with.

“The more you have been to colleges and universities or other large areas where there are a diverse group of people, you have a better understanding and familiarity with other cultures. This usually makes the person more tolerant of different ideas, which ultimately makes them a little liberal,” Johnson said.

As a general trend teachers have more of a liberal approach to politics, however, a few times these practices were present even before they took on teaching. For instance, while Johnson was not yet a  teacher the first time he voted, his political views were already left leaning.

“The first time that I voted would have been 2008, when I voted for Barak Obama.I remember thinking he would be a better leader than his opponent. It was a momentous occasion because it would be the first time America had a black president,” Johnson said.

A lot of times these standings come from individual experiences and happenings one has witnessed in the past.

“Queens, New York, where I grew up, is one of the most diverse places in the world, let alone the country. We were so exposed to other people’s cultures and lifestyles. I had a lot of different friends that had different ideas but, in the end of the day we were still people that had to exist in the same space. When that happens, you learn that you need to respect everybody and at the very least acknowledge that they have the right to live their life the way they want to, as long as it does not hurt anyone,” Johnson said.

One might think that politics has no place in the choice of a career, however, Johnson explained his political ideals are what led him to become a teacher.

“My political views partially helped me determine what I wanted to do with my career, which is another thing that makes a lot of teachers more liberal leaning because we have a strong sense of that kind of social contract that says you should do whatever you can to assist and provide for other people,” Johnson said.

Reading teacher Marie Betts is from England and has not requested a U.S. citizenship, however, American politics still affect her and the way she goes about her classroom.

“There are so many laws that revolve around being a teacher, what you can and cannot say. I honestly think we are too constricted with what we can teach kids, it is not like that in Europe, and it is very hard for me,” Betts said.

With the “Don’t Say Gay” Florida law, Betts many times feels limited as to what she can teach her students. The law was signed by the Republican governor Ron DeSantis which might reflect on how Florida teachers view the Republican Party.

“If I were to vote here this would potentially shape my political views but, for now I only go to where I think each age group should know about. For example, I taught the Holocaust, and I did not go into full detail, but they [students] should know what happened,” Betts said.

Despite the large amount of democrats in the education field, teachers often keep their own political opinions outside class discussions and only focus on the betterment of the students’ skills.

“In the class I am not trying to change anybody’s mind, I am trying to help them make up their own minds, so I do my best to hide whatever my opinion is or what my political standing is on a certain issue, so this way they can make up their own ideas,” Global Perspectives teacher Mark Roberts said.