Classrooms are meant to be spaces of curiosity, collaboration, and growth. Increasingly, however, they are becoming battlegrounds where teachers struggle not only to impart lessons but to manage outbursts, aggression, and rule-breaking. Across the United States, educators warn that student behaviour has quietly become the number one crisis in public education —eclipsing even pay as their top concern. A 2024 nationwide poll by the National Education Association (NEA), which surveyed nearly 3,000 teachers and education support professionals, found that four out of five educators now view student behaviour as a “serious problem.” For 81% of them, misbehavior and acting out are no longer isolated disruptions — they are daily realities shaping how learning unfolds.

A growing toll on educators

The consequences are stark. The RAND Corporation reported last year that 44% of teachers cite student behaviour as their primary source of job-related stress, while Pew Research found that 80% of teachers deal with behavioural problems several times a week. More than half encounter them every single day. Educator surveys from Idaho to Iowa to Rhode Island echo the same story: Whether it’s defiance, verbal abuse, or physical aggression, the toll is both personal and professional. In Delaware, for example, teachers lose an average of seven hours of instruction time each month to behavioural crises, according to a 2024 survey by the Delaware State Education Association (DSEA). Middle school educators report losing closer to ten. “We’re at a crisis point in public education that’s only going to get worse —until administrators, school boards, and state legislators take corrective action,” warns Stephanie Ingram, President of the Delaware State Education Association. The shortage of teachers nationwide is no longer just about salaries or long hours, it is about classrooms becoming unsafe, exhausting spaces to work in.

Burnout in real time

For teachers on the ground, the crisis is visceral. In Connecticut, educator Elsa Batista put it bluntly: “Teaching has become mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting. We are strong, resilient, and creative, but we need support. Right now, that’s not happening, and we cannot afford to lose more teachers”, according to neaToday.

That sentiment is echoed elsewhere. In Rhode Island, 74% of teachers surveyed reported students acting out, and 40% said student violence, towards peers and staff, has increased. Nationally, nearly 70% of teachers say they have experienced verbal abuse from students, with one in five enduring such treatment multiple times a month.

Searching for solutions

While cellphone bans in schools have brought some relief, educators say piecemeal fixes will not be enough. The solutions teachers call for are clear and consistent: Smaller class sizes, better support from administrators, meaningful parental involvement, more paraprofessionals, and mental health staff with the capacity to actually meet student needs.

As Joslyn DeLancey, Vice President of the Connecticut Education Association, puts it: “We have to make an investment in public education. It is the single most important investment we can make,” according to neaToday.

Lessons for students, and the system

For students, the current crisis is not just about stricter rules or disciplinary action. The reality is more complex: Rising mental health struggles, lack of support structures, and the long shadow of pandemic-era learning loss are reshaping how young people interact in schools. Behind every outburst is a student struggling to cope, often in the absence of resources that could help.

But unless policymakers, parents, and administrators act with urgency, those struggles will continue to cost everyone: Lost classroom time for students, escalating stress for teachers, and an exodus from a profession already stretched to its breaking point.

The lesson is clear. To restore classrooms as spaces of learning and growth, US must confront a truth its own educators are already voicing: The kids are not all right, and neither are their teachers.