School Climate & Safety

Educators’ Views on School Safety, in Charts

By Caitlynn Peetz & Vanessa Solis — July 11, 2023 1 min read
Photograph of closed lockers in a school hallway, in the distance a there is a blurry figure.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Even as schools continue to report an increase in students’ behavioral problems and mental health needs, the majority of educators say they generally feel safe at school.

But many say they feel less safe than they did in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted every part of life, as well as every detail of schooling.

In a survey of educators, principals, and district leaders conducted by the EdWeek Research Center last month, 41 percent of respondents said their sense of safety at school has decreased compared to 2019.

Still, overall, 71 percent said they still feel safe at work.

The results come as many districts have reported an increased number of threats and more violence in schools. And an analysis by Education Week has found that school shootings have risen. In 2022, there were 51 school shootings that resulted in injuries or deaths. That was the highest annual total since Education Week began tracking school shootings in 2018.

Still, some studies have found teachers’ biggest safety concern is about students bullying each other, rather than gun violence.

In general, educators in urban districts were the most likely to say their sense of safety has decreased since 2019. Those educators were also the most likely to say they feel unsafe at school compared to those in rural or suburban districts.

Teachers appear to be more worried than principals and district leaders. In the survey, 66 percent of teachers said they feel safe at work, significantly lower than for principals (83 percent) and district leaders (88 percent).

When asked what would make them feel safer, school staff were most likely to point to preventative measures, like hiring additional mental health professionals. They also pointed to policy shifts far outside the purview of schools—such as closing loopholes in background check laws to purchase firearms, and banning assault weapons.

Consistent with many other studies, respondents to the EdWeek Research Center survey were least likely to support measures that would increase police presence or allow more firearms on campus, like allowing teachers to carry guns.

In an EdWeek Research Center survey a year ago, soon after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, educators were also more likely to support heightened restrictions on gun sales and more funding for student mental health care.

Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
How to Leverage Virtual Learning: Preparing Students for the Future
Hear from an expert panel how best to leverage virtual learning in your district to achieve your goals.
Content provided by Class
English-Language Learners Webinar AI and English Learners: What Teachers Need to Know
Explore the role of AI in multilingual education and its potential limitations.
Education Webinar The K-12 Leader: Data and Insights Every Marketer Needs to Know
Which topics are capturing the attention of district and school leaders? Discover how to align your content with the topics your target audience cares about most. 

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Climate & Safety Opinion School Police Officers Should Do More Than Just Surveil and Control. Here’s How
SROs should be integrated into schools as a means to support students and create a safe, humanizing environment.
H. Richard Milner IV
5 min read
opinion sro school police 80377388 01
Dynamic Graphics/Getty
School Climate & Safety 4 Tips to Keep Students' Misbehavior From Sapping Up Class Time
Students' misbehavior has become one of educators' top concerns. Schools need a more deliberate approach to handle it, an expert says.
6 min read
Image of young students in a classroom
Parker Davis and Alina Lopez, right, talk about words and acts that cause happiness during morning circle in teacher Susannah Young's 2nd grade class at Lincoln Elementary School in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 4, 2017. Social-emotional learning has been found in research to have a positive effect on students' behavior, but it's not a quick fix for misbehavior.
Ramin Rahimian for Education Week-File
School Climate & Safety Is Virtual Learning a New Form of Exclusionary Discipline?
Some districts are assigning students to virtual learning as a punishment for misbehavior.
5 min read
High school student working on computer at home.
Getty
School Climate & Safety Opinion How to Reduce Gun Violence? Teachers Share Their Ideas
Schools alone can't banish gun violence, but they can invest in ways to strengthen the community and resist discrimination, which can help.
15 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty