Experts caution that reliable and up-to-date statistics on student violence against teachers can be hard to acquire. National and district data, however, show a drop in such violence over the past decade. The National Center for Education Statistics' 2007 school crime and safety report, the only known source for such data nationwide, says the…

Confronted with widely publicized accounts of assaults by juvenile sex offenders against fellow students or school staff members, several states are grappling with the issue of how to balance a student's right to an education with the threat that such a student may pose. Legislatures and agencies in several states, such as Arkansas, New Mexico,…

Coming just four days before the anniversary of the Columbine school shootings, the mass slayings by a student gunman at Virginia Polytechnic Institute last week revived vexing questions and raised familiar fears for educators across the country who grapple daily with ensuring the safety of their students and staffs. The April 16 killings provoked…