Teacher who hid 19 students slams lawmakers for praying instead of acting: 'Congress is failing us'

A teacher who hid 19 students during a school massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School slammed lawmakers on Thursday for offering prayers to the vicitms instead of acting to prevent school shootings.

During an interview on the Today Show, host Hoda Kotb noted that teacher Melissa Falkowski had done everything correctly during the shooting but that alone could not prevent the death of 17.

"You did exactly what they told you," Kotb explained. "You knew the drills, you put the kids in the right place. And yet, this happened anyway."

"I've seen this on TV, we all have," Falkowski replied. "This shooting after shooting and there's always the same thing is said, 'It's not the time to talk about gun control, it's not the time. It's time to pray for the families.'"

"And I just think that hasn't gotten us anywhere," she continued, choking up. "I mean, here we are and we're like the latest statistic on school violence. And as a society, as Americans, we're failing our children. And we're not keeping them safe. And Congress is failing us and the government is failing us."

Falkowski concluded: "Something has to be done."

Watch the video below from NBC.