James_March-April_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 81
E D U CAT I O N
An Assault on Georgia Teachers
is an Assault on Public Education
BY TA N A PA G E
merica’s teachers are
the preservers and
protectors of our
heritage. You save
our past from
being consumed by forgetfulness
and our future from being engulfed
in ignorance. — Ronald Reagan
Teacher Assaults Have Risen
It is difficult to argue with that
sentiment— until the daily reality
inside many classrooms exposes
how far we have drifted from it.
Increasingly, teachers report
that classrooms are no longer
governed by meaningful behavioral expectations. Some students
arrive unprepared or unwilling
to learn, others openly disregard
rules and still others present
serious behavioral challenges addressed through frameworks that
prioritize procedural compliance
over physical safety. The result is
a growing number of educators
who feel unprotected, unheard
and expendable.
Teachers are not okay. They
are exhausted by no-consequence behavior, eroding respect,
student-to-teacher bullying and a
lack of meaningful administrative
response. Despite assurances to
the contrary, all is not well in the
Emerald City.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the rise of assaults
on teachers. These incidents not
only endanger educators but also
erode instructional time, undermine classroom stability and
violate Georgia’s statutory promise that every child is entitled to
a climate conducive to learning.
Unsurprisingly, they also fuel
teacher attrition, which in Georgia now approaches 40 percent.
Consider Amy, a Georgia
teacher assaulted by a special education student with a documented history of violence. After being
badly beaten, Amy activated the
panic button in her classroom.
Assistance arrived ten minutes
later. She suffered a concussion
and remains under evaluation for
a possible traumatic brain injury.
The student was not charged,
as the incident was attributed to
the student’s disability, and was
reassigned to a classroom down
the hall. One week later, the same
student assaulted another teacher, breaking that teacher’s nose.
Only then was a temporary crisis
placement implemented.
Or consider Tiffany, another
Georgia educator, struck in the
head by a large student. She now
suffers from chronic headaches
and hearing loss. Although a
workers’ compensation physician
has cleared her to return to work,
she cannot hear adequately. Her
sick leave has been exhausted;
any further leave will be unpaid.
Requests to the district to supplement the difference between
workers’ compensation pay and
her contracted salary have gone
unanswered. The student involved was neither suspended
nor charged.
These cases are not aberrations. They reflect systemic
failure.
National data underscore the
scope of the problem. According to the National Institute of
Justice, 83 percent of teachers
surveyed have experienced some
form of physical abuse by students. The study identifies three
primary predictors: lack of school
discipline, student disengagement and insufficient administrative support.
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