Student behavior a major concern among NC teachers, survey says. What that means
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- 58.1% of the 102,000 educators said student disrespect was an issue.
- Managing student conduct had the lowest positive rate among 11 areas at 64%.
- High school teachers reported tardiness, cheating and drug use as top behavioral issues.
Thousands of North Carolina teachers marched in Raleigh last week demanding higher pay and more school funding, but a new report shows that poor student behavior is also a major concern for educators.
The State Board of Education is scheduled to receive a presentation on Wednesday highlighting the top issues found in the 2026 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey. Student conduct was a major concern with a majority of the 102,640 educators who took the survey saying student disrespect to teachers, skipping class and disorder in the hallways are issues in their school.
“Managing Student Conduct emerged as one of the most challenging working conditions in the survey and one of the clearest day-to-day issues for teachers,” according to the survey summary from the state Department of Public Instruction.
Teachers in traditional public schools and charter schools are surveyed by the state every two years for their assessment of working conditions. More than 90% of the state’s educators took the anonymous survey this year.
Teachers concerned about students disrespecting them
Like the teachers who marched in Raleigh last week, those in the survey raised concerns about low pay and school funding. But the survey respondents also raised multiple concerns about student behavior in school.
Teachers were surveyed in 11 broad areas, including community support and involvement, managing student conduct, school leadership and teacher leadership. Managing student conduct had the lowest percentage of positive responses of the 11 areas at 64%
The findings are in line with how teachers across the country have reported an increase in student behavioral issues since the pandemic, when students went an extended period without in-person learning.
North Carolina’s student suspensions and school crimes dropped for the second year in a row last school year. But the rates are higher than they were before the pandemic.
Teachers were asked about 14 areas, including student possession of a weapon, cyberbullying and cheating. Three categories got a majority of responses saying it’s a problem at their school.
- 58.1% of teachers said student disrespect of teachers was an issue at their school.
- 55.6% of teachers said disorder in unstructured areas (e.g. hallways, cafeterias and bathrooms) was an issue.
- 55% of teachers said tardiness/skipping class was an issue.
While not a majority, 46.7% of teachers said disorder in the classroom is an issue at their school.
Bullying an issue in NC middle schools
The biggest student behavioral issues reported by high school teachers were tardiness/skipping class (77.4%), cheating (66.9%) and drug/tobacco product use (64.1%).
The biggest student behavioral issues reported by middle school teachers were student disrespect of teachers (69.5%), disorder in unstructured areas (66.7%) and tardiness/skipping class (61.1%). But high numbers of middle school teachers also reported bullying (57.2%) and cyberbullying (45.8%) to be an issue than elementary and high school teachers.
“Middle schools stand out for the breadth of their challenges,” according to the DPI presentation.
Even among the younger students, the majority of elementary school educators reported that student disrespect (56.3%) and disorder in unstructured areas (53%) were issues.
Teachers say student misconduct disrupting learning
DPI said teachers had a lot to say about student behavior in their open-ended comments, including how disruptive behavior is preventing learning.
“Many also pointed to ‘no consistency with consequences,’ office referrals that were ‘often ignored,’ and students being ‘returned to class shortly after’ removal,” DPI said. “Together, these comments suggest that teachers’ concerns are not limited to student behavior itself but also extend to whether consequences and follow-through are consistent enough to protect instruction and support teachers.”
Schools across the country have been trying to reduce the number of out-of-school suspensions, citing how children aren’t learning when they’re not in class. But some teachers feel the pendulum has swung too far after schools abandoned zero-tolerance policies.
“No expectations at all for students,” according to one of the anonymous teacher comments DPI included in the presentation. “Students are running around and running the school. Teachers are not supported when they are having discipline issues.”
What should schools do?
Overall, 91.1% of the teachers who filled out the survey said they intend to continue teaching next year. In addition, 84.4% said they intend to stay at their current school.
But DPI pointed to the connection between how teachers feel about their working conditions with whether they plan to stay in the profession. For instance, only 49.3% of the teachers who said they plan to leave the profession had a positive response about how their school manages student conduct.
Student conduct needs to be addressed, DPI says, because it’s “important not only as a school climate issue, but also as a condition that shapes whether teachers can sustain instruction, protect learning time, and see their work as manageable over time.”
DPI says schools should have stronger behavioral systems.
“Support student behavior systems with clearer expectations, more consistent consequences, stronger adult alignment, and targeted support in middle and high schools,” DPI recommends.
This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 3:34 PM.
