States Consider Legislation to Protect Teachers

Safety at Work

Frankfort, KY (WorkersCompensation.com) – As schools struggle with how to protect teachers from students some legislators are considering legislation that will codify it.

In Kentucky, lawmakers have introduced legislation to “strengthen protections for Kentucky’s teachers” from student violence. Ky. State Sen. Matt Nunn (R-Sadieville) said his legislation would require schools to report all attempted assaults on staff, and result in students who physically injure school staff to be expelled from school for one year. The legislation also gives local prosecutors the option to prosecute students 14 and older charged with felony third-degree assaults as adults.

“This bill is about the classroom. It’s common sense 101,” Nunn said Thursday in the news release. “We support and protect our teachers who walk into school every day with our kids’ best interest at heart.”

The Kentucky Education Association, one of the unions representing teachers in the state, said legislation that addresses teacher and staff safety is important.

“Recent statistics reveal that assaults in schools have increased post-pandemic, and KEA looks forward to reviewing Sen. Nunn’s bill,” David Patterson, KEA spokesperson, said. “KEA can provide him real-world experiences from our members working in classrooms everyday across Kentucky and offer solutions to make our schools safer.”

While statistics for last year’s attacks are not available yet, recent surveys show the problem of teachers and school staff being attacked by students is a widespread problem that has been growing since the pandemic. According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, during the 2020-2021 school year, an estimated 150,000 public school teachers were attacked by students.

But a 2024 study by the American Psychological Association (APA) found that more than half of the teachers surveyed reported physical violence at the hands of students, up 42 percent from pre-pandemic results. In Texas, school districts reported 2,654 assaults on employees by students during the 2023-2024 school year, an increase of 18 percent than the year before.

In December of last year, two Union County, N.C. teachers were attacked by a student at a high school. Police in Union County said the student attacked one of the teachers with her fists which resulted in multiple cuts and marks to their face. When a second teacher stepped in to diffuse the situation, that teacher was also injured.

Both of the teachers were released from the hospital after they were treated for their injuries.

In Roseville, Calif., a third-grade teacher was attacked by a student in October.

The Diamond Creek Elementary School student allegedly pushed the teacher hard enough to warrant the teacher being taken from the school to the hospital in an ambulance. The teacher returned to the school shortly after. In a message to school parents, principal Lisa Phillips said the district could not discuss the incident.

“While we cannot discuss consequences for the student involved, please know that we take any incident of physical aggression seriously, and the district is taking disciplinary action consistent with our policies and Education Code. It’s important for families, students, and staff to know that safety is, and will always remain, our top priority,” Phillips wrote. “Please also know that we are sharing all information that we are legally and ethically able to provide. Out of respect for student and staff privacy, and in accordance with state and federal confidentiality laws, we cannot share additional details.”

In an effort to address the issues, lawmakers in several states have proposed legislation that would protect teachers. In Indiana, a bill similar to the one presented in Kentucky was introduced that classifies battery against certain public-facing workers, including teachers, as a Level 6 felony. And in Wisconsin, legislation has been introduced to create a teacher “Bill of Rights” for teachers, that were intended to help manage student behavior and protect educators from violence, and address the state’s teacher shortage.

Last year, Arkansas passed the Teacher and Student Protection Act of 2025 that prohibits a student who has been removed from a classroom for violent or abusive behavior from being placed back into the same class as the victimized teacher or student. And in West Virginia, a school discipline law went into effect in July 2025 that provides teachers with more authority over classroom management and establishes that a teacher “Shall stand in the place of the parent” when exercising control over their classroom.

Before that legislation was passed in Alabama in 2024 to allow teachers the right to remove disorderly or disruptive students from their classrooms. The legislation also required administrators to take decisive action based on a code of conduct. In 2023, Iowa lawmakers introduced legislation that created a framework for reporting threats within 24 hours and gave districts tools to suspend or expel disruptive students.

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