Education quality has alarmingly decreased over the years and many people are becoming aware of the decrease in safety that comes along with it. Public service workers are starting to face more abuse and inconveniences by those they want to help. One teacher in Antioch, Tennessee met the consequences of mischief in the classroom.

The Assault

A Metro Nashville Public Schools teacher wanted a misbehaving student to pay attention in class, as every teacher would wish for. The teacher caught the student “texting and Googling answers for her school work”. When he tried to confiscate the high schooler’s phone, she attacked him with pepper-spray three separate times.

He ran out of the English classroom screaming, “She just pepper-sprayed me! She pepper-sprayed me”! The entire left side of his face turned bright red. Students in the classroom when the incident took place were seen laughing, making jokes, and showing no concern for the injured teacher. 

“It got in my ear, my mouth, nose, everything. It was a very unpleasant experience.”

The MPNS teacher

Metro Nashville Police Department says that juvenile court will be issuing a misdemeanor charge against the student.

Reoccurring Violence

This was sadly not the first time the teacher was attacked. Two months prior, he was punched in the head by a different student who got their school-issued laptop taken away. This student was also trying to cheat on their assignments. Students have even cut his hair and spit on him. The reoccurring behavior from students and lack of disciplining from administration led to the teacher resigning and planning to never return to MNPS.

“It’s unconscionable you would have to put up with something like that for $48,000 a year.”

The outraged teacher

A Problem Found Within the District

The high school teacher attempted to contact a school administrator after the assault, but no one returned his demands for help. The school was extremely short-staffed and administrators had to take place of absent teachers. This caused attention to be taken away from those who were supposed to overlook the school and keep order. 

Many people including the MNPS teacher wonder why the district is not funding these “failing schools” and why state legislature is not taking action. Teachers blame the increase of assaults in the classroom on underfunding. They feel unsupported by the school district and administrators, as their safety does not get taken seriously.

Using pepper-spray and attacking a teacher does not result in immediate expulsion. It only leads to in school suspension or up to five days of out-of-school suspension. Expulsion is a last resort and handed out if a weapon is involved or further harm is caused. Teachers want to educate in a safe learning space and provide quality education, and they believe these disciplinary consequences need to be improved in order to achieve that.