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NEA Communications 202 822-7200

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 1999

Statement by Bob Chase, NEA President, on the 1999 Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher: Violence in America's Public Schools - Five Years Later

The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher for 1999 bolsters our call for parents and other adults to become more engaged in the lives of their children.

We have persistently advocated for measures to enhance school safety -- including expanding peer mediation and conflict resolution programs, increasing the number of school counselors, and limiting access to weapons. I hope we will find ever greater support for school-based, family-based, and community-based solutions.

The MetLife survey finds that most students feel safe at school. There is good reason for this, because statistically children are more secure in school than anywhere else. Now we must all work together to make all schools even safer.