21% of teachers fear being physically attacked at school, and 43.7% report being victimized since 2020 — but most states do not allow teachers to file workers' comp for job-caused PTSD

Twenty-one percent of K-12 teachers report being worried about being attacked or harmed while at school, according to NCES data for 2024-25. This is not hypothetical anxiety: 43.7% of teachers reported experiencing at least one form of victimization since March 2020, including 35.2% who experienced verbal threats and threatening violence, 10.7% who were physically assaulted, and 21.2% who had property damaged. Nearly 50% of teachers and principals expressed concern about students being attacked or harmed at their schools — a 12-percentage-point increase from 2022. The mental health consequences are severe but largely uncompensated. A teacher who is punched by a student, threatened by a parent, or witnesses a violent incident in their classroom can develop PTSD, anxiety disorders, or depression that makes it impossible to return to the classroom. But in the majority of U.S. states, workers' compensation does not cover mental health injuries unless they are accompanied by a physical injury. As of January 2024, only 31 states plus DC allow workers to file mental-health-only workers' comp claims, and even in those states, the evidentiary bar is high — the worker must prove the mental injury resulted from 'extraordinary' stress beyond what is 'normal' for the job. For teachers, the cruel irony is that violence has become so common that insurers can argue it is a normal part of the job, thereby disqualifying claims. This problem persists because of a two-decade policy shift toward restorative discipline practices that, while well-intentioned, have in many districts been implemented as 'no consequences for student behavior.' When a student assaults a teacher and is returned to the same classroom the next day, it sends a clear signal: the teacher's safety is less important than avoiding a suspension statistic. The April 2025 executive order on 'common sense school discipline' and new state laws (like Texas's mandatory alternative placement for student assault of employees) are early responses, but the damage to teacher trust and morale from years of feeling unprotected has already driven experienced teachers out of the profession.