Table 210.10.

Percentage of teachers indicating that certain issues are serious problems in their schools, by level, locale, and control of school: Selected school years, 1987-88 through 2020–21

[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Control of school and issue	1987-88 total		1993-94 total		1999-2000 total		2003-04 total			2007-08 total			2011-12 total			2015-16 total			2020-21
																			Total			School level									School locale
																						Elementary/ middle schools			Secondary/ high schools			Combined/ other schools			City			Suburban			Town			Rural
1	2		3		4		5			6			7			8			9			10			11			12			13			14			15			16
Public schools
Student tardiness	10.5	(0.18)	10.5	(0.28)	10.2	(0.22)	13.8		(0.29)	9.8		(0.33)	11.9		(0.33)	12.1		(0.27)	8.3		(0.20)	6.5		(0.22)	12.6		(0.46)	7.2		(0.65)	13.1		(0.45)	7.6		(0.30)	5.8		(0.39)	4.7		(0.34)
Student absenteeism	16.4	(0.23)	14.4	(0.29)	13.9	(0.26)	13.1		(0.31)	11.7		(0.36)	13.9		(0.35)	15.0		(0.31)	17.2		(0.37)	13.3		(0.35)	25.6		(0.71)	19.1		(1.32)	23.8		(0.71)	14.5		(0.46)	16.7		(0.76)	13.9		(0.66)
Teacher absenteeism	2.3	(0.09)	1.5	(0.09)	2.2	(0.10)	1.1		(0.08)	1.5		(0.15)	1.6		(0.14)	2.3		(0.10)	1.9		(0.09)	1.7		(0.10)	2.4		(0.18)	1.5		(0.23)	2.3		(0.18)	1.7		(0.13)	1.5		(0.20)	1.9		(0.19)
Students cutting class	5.9	(0.16)	5.1	(0.12)	4.7	(0.12)	5.5		(0.23)	4.0		(0.20)	4.9		(0.22)	4.9		(0.21)	5.1		(0.20)	2.4		(0.13)	11.2		(0.51)	5.1		(0.58)	8.5		(0.50)	4.6		(0.27)	3.8		(0.33)	2.4		(0.25)
Students dropping out	---	(†)	5.8	(0.16)	4.6	(0.11)	3.3		(0.13)	3.5		(0.19)	3.1		(0.17)	2.2		(0.12)	1.6		(0.10)	0.6		(0.06)	3.6		(0.30)	2.6		(0.45)	2.7		(0.27)	1.1		(0.11)	1.5		(0.19)	1.2		(0.15)
Student apathy	---	(†)	23.6	(0.35)	20.6	(0.30)	16.6		(0.34)	16.5		(0.45)	20.0		(0.44)	18.3		(0.32)	14.5		(0.28)	10.0		(0.28)	24.6		(0.50)	15.9		(1.15)	16.1		(0.56)	12.9		(0.38)	16.1		(0.78)	14.6		(0.61)
Lack of parental involvement	---	(†)	27.6	(0.45)	23.7	(0.36)	21.6		(0.42)	19.5		(0.49)	24.6		(0.54)	21.5		(0.36)	16.7		(0.35)	14.9		(0.34)	20.3		(0.63)	18.0		(1.29)	20.7		(0.61)	13.7		(0.43)	19.2		(0.87)	15.2		(0.62)
Poverty	---	(†)	19.5	(0.52)	19.2	(0.43)	21.4		(0.45)	22.1		(0.59)	29.0		(0.59)	29.3		(0.41)	24.8		(0.47)	24.0		(0.49)	25.9		(0.86)	27.6		(1.66)	32.9		(0.87)	17.0		(0.55)	31.8		(1.52)	24.4		(0.78)
Students come unprepared to learn	---	(†)	28.8	(0.39)	29.5	(0.36)	26.8		(0.46)	24.2		(0.56)	30.2		(0.59)	27.4		(0.37)	19.6		(0.34)	18.4		(0.39)	22.3		(0.62)	19.9		(1.29)	24.8		(0.64)	15.9		(0.46)	22.4		(0.90)	17.8		(0.65)
Poor student health	---	(†)	---	(†)	---	(†)	---		(†)	3.3		(0.20)	5.0		(0.25)	5.2		(0.15)	4.1		(0.13)	3.7		(0.16)	4.6		(0.25)	5.6		(0.60)	6.6		(0.32)	3.0		(0.18)	4.1		(0.33)	3.0		(0.23)
Physical conflicts among students	5.8	(0.18)	8.2	(0.25)	4.8	(0.19)	12.1		(0.29)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Robbery or theft	3.7	(0.12)	4.1	(0.17)	2.4	(0.11)	3.7		(0.17)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Vandalism of school property	6.1	(0.15)	6.7	(0.23)	3.4	(0.15)	3.7		(0.16)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Student pregnancy	6.9	(0.17)	7.3	(0.24)	3.7	(0.12)	2.4		(0.12)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Student use of alcohol	11.4	(0.18)	9.3	(0.17)	7.4	(0.14)	3.0		(0.10)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Student drug abuse	8.0	(0.14)	5.7	(0.14)	6.0	(0.11)	4.5		(0.14)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Student possession of weapons	1.7	(0.06)	2.8	(0.12)	0.8	(0.06)	0.5		(0.05)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Verbal abuse of teachers	8.1	(0.21)	11.1	(0.26)	---	(†)	11.8		(0.31)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Student disrespect for teachers	---	(†)	18.5	(0.35)	17.2	(0.34)	21.6		(0.45)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Private schools
Student tardiness	3.6	(0.38)	2.6	(0.23)	2.9	(0.21)	2.8		(0.40)	2.5		(0.28)	3.8		(0.59)	---		(†)	1.9		(0.28)	1.1	!	(0.36)	2.3		(0.48)	2.5		(0.51)	2.7		(0.50)	1.3		(0.31)	‡		(†)	2.2	!	(0.88)
Student absenteeism	3.7	(0.39)	2.2	(0.19)	2.5	(0.22)	1.9		(0.23)	2.0		(0.23)	3.0		(0.34)	---		(†)	2.8		(0.29)	1.9		(0.42)	4.0		(0.66)	3.2		(0.49)	3.4		(0.50)	2.5		(0.43)	‡		(†)	2.7	!	(0.93)
Teacher absenteeism	0.8	(0.13)	0.8	(0.10)	0.8	(0.11)	‡		(†)	0.5		(0.13)	0.5		(0.12)	---		(†)	0.8		(0.17)	0.8	!	(0.28)	0.6	!	(0.22)	1.0		(0.28)	1.0	!	(0.31)	0.7	!	(0.22)	‡		(†)	‡		(†)
Students cutting class	0.9	(0.16)	0.7	(0.11)	0.8	(0.12)	0.5		(0.11)	0.5	!	(0.18)	0.7		(0.20)	---		(†)	0.7		(0.15)	‡		(†)	1.6		(0.41)	0.9	!	(0.30)	0.9		(0.25)	0.7	!	(0.23)	‡		(†)	0.6	!	(0.28)
Students dropping out	---	(†)	0.6	(0.09)	0.5	(0.10)	0.3	!	(0.09)	0.4	!	(0.20)	0.3	!	(0.13)	---		(†)	0.5		(0.13)	0.4	!	(0.19)	0.369491	!	(0.15)	0.6	!	(0.26)	1.0	!	(0.31)	0.1	!	(0.06)	‡		(†)	‡		(†)
Student apathy	---	(†)	4.5	(0.28)	4.3	(0.29)	3.0		(0.39)	3.9		(0.34)	3.6		(0.38)	---		(†)	3.6		(0.34)	1.8		(0.41)	6.382621		(0.74)	4.2		(0.61)	4.4		(0.57)	3.4		(0.50)	1.9	!	(0.88)	2.5		(0.60)
Lack of parental involvement	---	(†)	4.0	(0.26)	3.4	(0.37)	2.5		(0.37)	2.5		(0.24)	2.7		(0.32)	---		(†)	2.3		(0.30)	1.6		(0.42)	2.493332		(0.60)	2.8		(0.53)	1.9		(0.42)	2.8		(0.52)	‡		(†)	2.8	!	(0.88)
Poverty	---	(†)	2.7	(0.23)	2.1	(0.26)	2.2		(0.26)	2.0		(0.21)	2.6		(0.33)	---		(†)	2.5		(0.32)	1.9		(0.44)	3.206535		(0.63)	2.8		(0.58)	3.1		(0.58)	2.2		(0.46)	‡		(†)	2.7	!	(0.94)
Students come unprepared to learn	---	(†)	4.1	(0.28)	4.9	(0.36)	3.5		(0.30)	3.6		(0.34)	3.9		(0.41)	---		(†)	2.8		(0.31)	2.0		(0.45)	4.687452		(0.83)	2.8		(0.52)	4.1		(0.66)	2.2		(0.45)	‡		(†)	2.3		(0.68)
Poor student health	---	(†)	---	(†)	---	(†)	---		(†)	0.7		(0.13)	0.8		(0.21)	---		(†)	0.8		(0.17)	‡		(†)	1.406267	!	(0.43)	1.0		(0.28)	1.4		(0.34)	0.6	!	(0.22)	‡		(†)	‡		(†)
Physical conflicts among students	1.3	(0.19)	1.5	(0.15)	1.0	(0.18)	2.4		(0.31)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Robbery or theft	1.3	(0.18)	0.8	(0.10)	0.9	(0.11)	0.4		(0.10)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Vandalism of school property	1.3	(0.19)	1.2	(0.11)	0.7	(0.11)	0.5		(0.11)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Student pregnancy	0.6	(0.12)	0.4	(0.06)	0.4	(0.09)	‡		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Student use of alcohol	3.6	(0.30)	3.1	(0.19)	3.1	(0.16)	0.7		(0.17)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Student drug abuse	1.8	(0.24)	1.3	(0.15)	1.8	(0.14)	1.1		(0.25)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Student possession of weapons	0.4	(0.11)	0.3	(0.06)	0.3	(0.06)	#		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Verbal abuse of teachers	2.0	(0.24)	2.3	(0.25)	---	(†)	2.4		(0.40)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)
Student disrespect for teachers	---	(†)	3.4	(0.27)	3.8	(0.31)	5.1		(0.37)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)	---		(†)

---Not available.

†Not applicable.

#Rounds to zero.

!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.

‡Reporting standards not met. Data may be suppressed because the response rate is under 50 percent, there are too few cases for a reliable estimate, or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.

NOTE: Private schools were not included in National Teacher and Principal Survey data collection for the 2015–16 cycle. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Teacher Data File," selected years, 1987-88 through 2011-12; "Private School Teacher Data File," selected years, 1987-88 through 2011-12; and "Charter School Teacher Data File," 1999-2000; and National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), "Public School Teacher Data File," 2015-16 and 2020-21; and "Private School Teacher Data File," 2020-21. (This table was prepared April 2023.)