Survey: Violence least of school woes

WASHINGTON (AP) -- School shootings may loom large in the public's mind, but school board members have bigger problems -- only one in nine says school violence is a "major concern."

A survey released Tuesday by the National School Boards Association shows its members consider student achievement, special education, teacher shortages and balancing the budget more pressing issues.

The vast majority -- about 77 percent -- say school violence is only a "moderate" or "mild" concern.

"Most smaller school districts would say it's a serious issue, but not as urgent as other issues, such as funding," said Tom Bennett, chairman of the Coos Bay, Oregon, school board. "We believe we've got adequate safeguards, and we know our students better."

Coos Bay, a small coastal city in southwest Oregon, enrolls about 3,800 students, making it small compared with most other school districts.

"I think that that can lead to more commonsense prevention," Bennett said.

The survey of 837 board members suggests that while high-profile school shootings in Colorado, Oregon, California and Kentucky have made national news, raising tests scores and hiring enough teachers are "the real issues that schools are dealing with day in and day out," said survey author Frederick M. Hess.

Hess, an assistant professor of education and politics at the University of Virginia, said student achievement hadn't ranked as high in similar surveys of board members taken in the past, suggesting that efforts to raise students' basic abilities in reading, math and other subjects are taking hold.

Keeping the surveys anonymous made it more likely that board members didn't downplay concerns over violence, he said.

"I tend to take it at face value, but recognize that one needs to be a little cautious," Hess said.

There are nearly 15,000 school systems nationwide. Most, about 85 percent, enroll fewer than 5,000 students and elect their school boards.

In the survey, board members in the nation's largest school districts were more worried about violence -- 26.4 percent called it a major concern, compared with only 7.3 percent in the smallest districts.

Overall, violence was a major concern for 11.7 percent of board members; it was "not a concern" for another 11.3 percent.

Participants were randomly selected in spring 2001 to complete the written questionnaires. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Ohio school safety consultant Ken Trump said many school districts have moved safety to the back burner after worrying about it for years; many developed "crisis plans" to deal with school shootings and the like, then moved on to other matters.

He said the plans should be dusted off and revised regularly, since school districts need to react quickly when violence happens.

"By no means are we at the position where we can kick back our feet and smile and say, 'We've done everything we can do,"' Trump said.

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