This study offers an interpretive exploration of teachers' perceptions of violence, and its links with their decisions to leave urban schools. The study presents the stories of those who began their career in urban districts and then left within five years. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with twelve former urban educators are the main source of data, but ethnographic descriptions, document reviews, and general observations were also used to substantiate the results. In general, these educators perceived inner-city schools as violent and chaotic places where anything can happen. While the stories of those who persevere in the inner city have been told on numerous occasions, very little is known about the perceptions of those who leave urban districts. While much literature exists on school violence, its contributing factors, effects, and the social context which produces such violence, the link between attrition and perceptions of violence has not been systematically explored or documented. In fact, despite an extensive review of the literature on urban education and urban teachers, the authors have been unable to find any information on such educators' perceptions of violence and how those perceptions link with attrition. This article addresses this important research gap, and offers some suggestions for trying to lessen teacher attrition in urban districts. It explores a few important research questions: Why do teachers leave inner-city schools? To what extent and how can this leaving be linked with perceptions of violence?