According to "Variety", the story was conceived by brothers Producer Aaron Russo and Executive Producer Irwin Russo, the latter of whom was able to draw on ten years real-life experience as a teacher in New York City.
This movie was filmed at Central High School in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus City Schools had closed Central High, and several others, due to declining enrollment, after the court-ordered desegregation of its school system, which took effect in 1979, and resulted in many families moving to the suburbs, to avoid having their children bussed to schools not in their neighborhoods. Since then, Central High School has been renovated, to become the new site of the Center for Science and Industry.
JoBeth Williams said the scene where she runs fully nude in the school hallway was incredibly difficult to do because she had to do it several times in front of a large crew and several cast members, including young actors playing the high school kids. When she was offered the role, she told director Arthur Hiller that she didn't want to film that scene and she'd only accept the part if they would come up with a different scene that didn't involve nudity, but was just as shocking. He agreed, but after several discussions, ideas she and Hiller discussed never seemed to work in the same way. So she finally agreed to strip off her clothes and run naked. She said, "It was quite awkward, but I'm an actress, and I was being paid to do that job. That scene was intense, and my discomfort with it probably fed the intensity."
In an unusual move at the end of the film, the picture cuts to an advertisement for the movie's soundtrack album just before the rest of the closing credits roll.