April

ILLUMINATING

4 CEA ADVISOR APRIL 2018

TEACHERS’ EMOTIONAL STORIES OF AGGRESSIVE STUDENT BEHAVIOR TRIGGER LEGISLATIVE ACTION CEA outlines new measures to keep classrooms safe

Palma Adams was an elementary school teacher in Watertown until a permanent disability, the culmination of years of student abuse, changed her life. “I would like to explain how my career came to an end,” she told lawmakers. “On September 28, 2007, I was working one-on-one with a multi-handicapped student when he turned, stared at me with a glazed expression, spit in my face, and proceeded to punch me in my left temple. While I tried to get him to his designated safe area, he punched both of my breasts, back- kicked my right ankle to the bone, and bodychecked me to the cement wall.” Attacks such as these were repeated over many years, by many students. “I felt overwhelmed and was unprotected and unsafe in my workplace,” said Adams. “I requested help from school administration for problematic students, but none came.” Silent no more Special education teachers, like Adams, as well as regular education teachers, are sharing alarming stories about being assaulted by their students. A steady rise in student aggression, combined with inadequate administrative attention to the problem, has pushed hundreds of Connecticut teachers to step out from the shadows and speak up. And legislators are sitting up and taking notice. “I came to Manchester a very healthy, active 33-year-old woman,” school social worker Charity Korb recalled, “but I’ve been injured by students so many times that I’ve never been able to heal.” Korb, along with Waterbury middle school teacher June Kozloski and retired Norwich art teacher Heidi Kapszukiewicz, have testified in person about these aggressions. Many others have submitted written testimony detailing the horrors of assaults that resulted in lost teeth, broken jaws, life-changing back and leg injuries, chronic pain, and the anxiety and other post-traumatic stress symptoms that accompany repeated attacks. “I’ve been injured multiple times by different students over the last few years,” said Kapszukiewicz, who retired just weeks earlier from a career teaching art in Norwich. “My career was suddenly stopped short because of a host of injuries,” she explained. “I loved what I did, but when I got punched in my right shoulder and tore my rotator cuff, I was robbed of my career. No student, no teacher should go to school afraid of what might happen to them that day.” (In a video at cea.org/assaultstories , she describes how student assault ended her career.) “These behaviors and lack of support for teachers are adversely affecting the learning environment for students,” said CEA President Sheila Cohen. “The safety of students and teachers in the classroom should be paramount, but in many cases, it

classroom, including the disruptive one, are learning,” Kaplan-Cho says. “Just last week, a teacher told me that from the time an incident with one of her students began and the time her class was able to safely return to her room, three hours had elapsed. In addition to the trauma of witnessing aggressive behavior, that’s three hours of instructional time lost.” CEA Executive Director Donald Williams stressed to lawmakers, “Ignoring these problems undermines school safety and robs students with behavioral issues of the opportunity to get assistance— before school issues become criminal justice issues.” Contact your legislators. Tell them to support SB 453.

is being ignored. Oftentimes, disruptive students are returned to their classrooms almost immediately, where the aggressive behavior continues.” CEA Program Development Specialist Robyn Kaplan-Cho calls the issue a crisis and notes that student assault has become most prevalent in the elementary and pre- kindergarten classrooms—a fact that surprises many outside the education community. Calls for policy change After hearing teachers’ firsthand accounts, the legislature’s Education Committee raised a bill, SB 453, aimed at improving teacher safety. The bill, which will be voted on by the full legislature, includes CEA’s proposal to allow a teacher to remove from the classroom a student who has assaulted someone, poses a threat to the safety of others, or repeatedly bullies other students. The bill recommends placing the student in an appropriate setting that does not threaten other students, and it requires that the student receive appropriate supports before returning to the classroom. Other CEA-supported measures in the bill include • enhancing response and establishing appropriate procedures regarding violent behavior • requiring that administrators report violations of classroom safety to parents and the board of education • requiring administrators to meet with teachers within two days of an incident to establish a plan to address violent behavior on an ongoing basis Ripple effect Korb, who is the only social worker for the 300 students at her elementary school, says, “There’s such a large number of students who need significant behavior supports that I can’t ever bring anything to fruition.” Every day, she says, she misses regularly scheduled appointments with students who have IEPs or 504 plans because other students are acting out and disrupting their classes. “If a classroom has to be cleared several times per week because a student is having a meltdown, throwing chairs, and pulling down bulletin boards, no students in that

Several student assaults caused a shoulder injury that ended Heidi Kapszukiewicz’s teaching career.

Rates of violent incidents in

80

Connecticut schools In recent years, the number of violent incidents reported in Connecticut public schools has risen steadily, even as enrollment has declined. Teacher testimony also points to the serious issue of school administrators underreporting violent incidents.

60

40

20

Incidents per 1,000 students

Source: Jacqueline Rabe Thomas, CTMirror. org. “How Safe Are CT Students At School?” (based on data from the Connecticut Department of Education)

0

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

IN THEIR OWN WORDS Hundreds of teachers are sharing their personal stories of being assaulted or threatened by students—and having administrators sweep their concerns under the rug. Their courage to speak has made an impact on lawmakers, who are working to pass legislation to make classrooms safe. Here are some excerpts from teachers’ powerful testimony: • A colleague and I were both assaulted by a student this year. The student in question pushed each of us. My colleague was in her second trimester of pregnancy at the time. I suffered from a herniated disc. • I was physically attacked a few years back. A child kicked me so hard that I needed to have knee reconstruction surgery. I now limp. • I was physically assaulted by a student last year and had to go on disability leave. I now have permanent back problems. • Assaults on school personnel are a major problem that doesn’t get addressed. We are punching bags and disrespected on a regular basis. • I received a sexually harassing email from a student, and the principal told me I should be lucky he didn’t sexually assault me. I received no support from administration, and no action was taken. • A good friend and colleague had to give up her running hobby after a student kicked her so hard that her leg fractured and never fully recovered. • I have been violently shoved around in my classroom. The administration and resource officer did nothing. They blamed me. • I had rotator cuff surgery and was punched by a fourth-grade student. The punch was forceful and purposeful, and nothing was done about it. • My colleagues who have been assaulted have left the profession because they felt abused and not supported by the administration. • I have been hit, kicked, scratched, and pushed. • I have had my clothes ripped and ruined; had large chunks of my hair ripped out, causing my scalp to bleed; been bitten to the point of scarring; and been kicked so hard that bruises lasted for weeks. • Students are scared and stressed, and the teachers are fearful that if they file an assault report they will lose their jobs. • There isn’t enough strong action to help students who witness these attacks, which result in decreased learning in the classroom, witnessing the removal of a fellow student, and a guest teacher coming to their room because their teacher is receiving medical attention.

Watch Charity Korb tell her emotional story at cea.org/assaultstories.