Safety in School

This past Friday William & Mary had its last day of classes ("Blowout" to many) for the academic year. This year however there was more police presence and the FBI as well! This led me to reflect on the security of today's elementary schools.
When I was in school, I don't believe I ever perceived it as a place where violence could occur, but obviously, what with the Columbine bombing and other incidents, it can be. I was reading on tapped in one day about a William & Mary student who was in a class where a student brought a knife to school. What do you do in a situation like this? Should we as preservice teachers be trained in this before hand, or is it much like dealing with parents - something you just have to learn with experience.
This also led me to question once again why athletes and performers get paid a lot more money than teachers. The government and everyone else places so much emphasis on education, but yet they don't pay their educators nearly what people who merely play a game get. These new-age teachers are in some cases risking their lives to teach (though I'm sure violence is not that big an issue in most cases). Not only do teachers help raise people's kids, but they protect them as well. And this is not a reason to compensate them more?