Record Numbers of Public School Teachers Attacked as School Discipline Is Curbed

“A record 220,300 public school teachers reported that they were physically attacked by a student during the 2015-2016 school year, according to a report jointly published this month by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

“The 220,300 public school teachers who said they were physically attacked by a student in 2015-2016 is up from the 197,400 who said they were attacked by a student in 2011-2012 (which is the last school year before 2015-2016 for which teachers were surveyed on the question).”

In recent years, many school systems have curbed suspensions of students who engage in “willful defiance” of their teachers. California plans to eliminate suspensions for all K-12 students for “willful defiance” (previously, it was an option for kids in grades 4-12).

California’s State Senate has voted 30-to-8 to ban such suspensions, and the State Assembly is expected to enact the ban into law. California’s legislature previously passed such a ban in 2018, but it was vetoed by former Governor Jerry Brown, who viewed it as too extreme. But Brown is no longer in office, and this time the ban is expected to become law.

The real cause of the Boward Florida school shooting was the Obama Administration changes to school discipline.  Suspending and Expelling lots of unteachable or disturbed students made for embarrassing statistics.   Forbid the school administrators to suspend or expel those students and the government report on school violence looks a lot better.

After all what else can the unruly or disturbed student do to get attention?