Iowa teachers are fed up with the increasing number of violent fights at school.According to the Iowa Department of Education, 650 students were expelled or removed from school due to fights that caused injuries in the 2020-2021 school year.”In the course of my 30 years of teaching, I have seen an increase in student behaviors, becoming more aggressive at times and more violent,” said Mike Beranek, president of the Iowa State Education Association. Beranek says teachers are overwhelmed from breaking up fights and also getting hurt themselves.”We have educators who are being kicked, who are being beat, who are have been bitten, spit on, pushed into lockers,” said Beranek.Several teachers have informed the Iowa State Education Association that they plan to leave their jobs at the end of this year before their contract is up. Beranek says he is unable to provide an exact number on how many teachers are leaving, but says it is significant.”We don’t typically have that many individuals who wish to get out of their contract midyear,” said Beranek.Violence is an issue in school districts across Iowa. Cassandra Lahmann, a Southeast Polk parent, spoke at a Dec. 9 school board meeting about her son’s attack.”There is a record increase in violence in our schools. There is also a brutality of violence that’s frightening,” said Lahmann. “Since my son’s attack, I have heard of multiple serious incidents. There was a girl pushing an autistic kid down the stairs for a TikTok, a fight during dismissal behind buses where a student lost a tooth, a gun brought to school.” Beranek says the Iowa State Education Association is currently putting together a legislative package to present to lawmakers in January. They want funding for smaller class sizes and mental health resources.Beranek says the state also can afford to lose any more teachers because Iowa is already in a teacher shortage. “There are over 1,300 jobs open in the state of Iowa, that is very high for this time of year,” said Beranek. “We are reaching crisis proportions here.”
Iowa teachers are fed up with the increasing number of violent fights at school.
According to the Iowa Department of Education, 650 students were expelled or removed from school due to fights that caused injuries in the 2020-2021 school year.
“In the course of my 30 years of teaching, I have seen an increase in student behaviors, becoming more aggressive at times and more violent,” said Mike Beranek, president of the Iowa State Education Association.
Beranek says teachers are overwhelmed from breaking up fights and also getting hurt themselves.
“We have educators who are being kicked, who are being beat, who are have been bitten, spit on, pushed into lockers,” said Beranek.
Several teachers have informed the Iowa State Education Association that they plan to leave their jobs at the end of this year before their contract is up. Beranek says he is unable to provide an exact number on how many teachers are leaving, but says it is significant.
“We don’t typically have that many individuals who wish to get out of their contract midyear,” said Beranek.
Violence is an issue in school districts across Iowa. Cassandra Lahmann, a Southeast Polk parent, spoke at a Dec. 9 school board meeting about her son’s attack.
“There is a record increase in violence in our schools. There is also a brutality of violence that’s frightening,” said Lahmann. “Since my son’s attack, I have heard of multiple serious incidents. There was a girl pushing an autistic kid down the stairs for a TikTok, a fight during dismissal behind buses where a student lost a tooth, a gun brought to school.”
Beranek says the Iowa State Education Association is currently putting together a legislative package to present to lawmakers in January. They want funding for smaller class sizes and mental health resources.
Beranek says the state also can afford to lose any more teachers because Iowa is already in a teacher shortage.
“There are over 1,300 jobs open in the state of Iowa, that is very high for this time of year,” said Beranek. “We are reaching crisis proportions here.”