High-profile incidents of school violence have made headlines for several years now. The response to those incidents--both nationally and locally--has been positive: Schools have developed new programs to combat school violence, and recent early intervention efforts have focused on identifying and assisting students who show warning signs of violent behavior.

But what's missing from these national and local initiatives is an approach to the troubling number of assaults on school staff every year. Despite the media frenzy related to school violence, the number of violent assaults on students has declined in recent years. Unfortunately, the reverse is true for staff, who have been subject to growing levels of violence. Among the findings from recent studies:

• A report from the U.S. Department of Justice found that education ranked third among all workplaces in the average number of annual violent workplace incidents. According to the findings, K-12 school employees report nearly 150,000 cases of assault or other violent crimes every year. The rates of non-fatal assaults from 1992-1996 were especially high for junior high school staff (57.4 per 1,000) and special education staff (40.7 per 1,000)--far higher than the overall rate of 14.8 for all workers. While specific figures are not available, paraprofessionals--who often work with special education students--were likely the victims of many of those assaults.

• A California study estimated an even higher annual rate of assaults on school staff: 269.7 per 100,000 reported workers vs. 27.5 for workers in all industries studied. School bus drivers were especially at risk for assault; the annual rate for these workers was estimated at an astounding 518.1 per 100,000 workers. Nearly 92 percent of assaults in California on school staff were perpetrated by students.

• An analysis of nearly 30,000 workers' compensation claims found that the percentage of claims for violence-related injuries was higher in schools than all other industries. More than 11 percent of all school claims were related to violence, and almost three-quarters of the violence-related claims were filed by women.

Clearly, comprehensive school violence prevention programs must be broadened to reduce or prevent assaults on staff. One important step would be the genuine involvement of all staff in the development of these programs. School bus drivers, paraprofessionals, custodial and maintenance workers, office employees and food service staff--along with their local unions--should be actively consulted. Experience from effective programs indicates that programs for protecting school staff should include:

• conflict resolution and violence prevention training for all school staff;

• security alert systems designed by all staff;

• more support and authority for bus drivers and other staff outside the classroom to deal with disruptive/violent students;

• investigation and accurate record keeping of assaults;

• counseling and support for staff who have been assaulted; and

• advocacy for staff who want to file assault charges.

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) in New York City, which also represents paraprofessionals and school secretaries, has a long-standing program to support and educate its members on school violence and security. For a copy of the UFT guide, contact the AFT health and safety program at 1/202/879-4400, ext. 5677.