I also taught high school in a large city—NYC, matter of fact. What you say is very true—administrators don’t want their school characterized as a “dangerous school” and will go to extraordinary lengths, including what you said, to avoid teachers reporting violence perpetrated against them or other students. Or, they very well might say, “Report this and receive a nasty letter in your file or be brought up on charges. Charges for what? They’ll think of something. Transfer to a nicer school? That would be hard to find nowadays in NYC. They are pretty much equally lousy, with DEI, commie indoctrination of students, you name it. And who’s to say there won’t be a letter circulating about you being a troublemaker or some such?
> Report this and receive a nasty letter in your file or be brought up on charges. <
People who have never taught in city schools don’t understand how insane it is. We were told that calling the city police was a firing offense. So if there was a violent brawl, we had to call the school police.
They were slow to respond, and unarmed. But the administrators could bury school police reports. That’s all that mattered.
One more thing. Even in my worst classes, most of the kids were good. They tried. They are the biggest victims of all the mayhem.
I’m sure you’ll agree with that.