NAOMI SCHAEFER RILEY: It’s time for a ‘broken windows’ policy for schools.

How did we get here? Daniel Buck, a former teacher and author of “What Is Wrong With Our Schools?” tells me that even schools that used to be strict about dress codes or tardiness have now let those rules go by the wayside.

Nor is it just bad public schools.

Even many of the so-called “no excuses” charter schools have decided to give students excuses.

Buck, who quit his job teaching at a private school, notes that rather than actual punishment, it’s common for students who “disrespect teachers” to simply return to the classrooms “after a stern talking to” or even just “a hug and a bag of chips.”

Administrators, explains Buck, often say they have “bigger fish to fry” than worrying about attendance.

But he adds, “if you don’t deal with small things, bigger fish come along.

You will get more cruelty and bullying.”

The standards for student behavior are set early and they influence how seriously children take authority later on.

Perhaps schools with broken windows policies, and better history departments might cut down or eliminate recent headlines such as this one: Shocking moment Jewish teacher is forced to hide in her classroom at a Queens high school as ‘radicalized’ students rampage through hallways while demanding she be fired for attending pro-Israel rally.