During a November meeting of the Harrisburg School District Board, teachers from the district asked the board for help dealing with increasing violence in the classroom. Between July and October of this year, forty-five teachers have retired from the Harrisburg School District; Harrisburg Education Association president Jody Barksdale says more have resigned since October.

"I have been kicked, punched, hit, scratched. I've had a student physically restraining me in front of my other students," pleaded first grade teacher Amanda Schaeffer. "Many of the personal things that I have bought for my classroom have been broken or destroyed."

The level of violence has become an ever-present distraction for teachers. "Many minutes are spent each day dealing with violence that is happening in the classroom," said Schaeffer. "How am I meeting my students' needs with this behavior happening? How am I supposed to have a safe, nurturing learning environment when this behavior happens?"

The education association has asked for the formation of a taskforce that would include administrators, teachers and parents to address the causes and solutions to the violence. Harrisburg District Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney acknowledged the problem and asked for time to address the issue, saying "Unfortunately, some of these things take time. They take time for training; they take time for investigation, and making sure that we are doing the right thing for our students."

On the Monday edition of WITF's Smart Talk, we talk with Barksdale about the concerns of teachers in Harrisburg classrooms and discuss solutions with Knight-Burney, Jaime Foster, HSD's Chief Academic Officer and Chanda Telleen, Nationally Certified School Psychologist and Educational Consultant through the CAIU Supporting PA's Behavior Initiative, Fulling the Role of District Director of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support.