Report finds safety problems in Phila. schools

Violence in city schools is unacceptably high, and the Philadelphia School District needs to take immediate aggressive steps to stem the rising tide, a report released yesterday by state Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak concluded.

The number of criminal offenders - more than 5,207 fifth through 12th graders last school year - and the nature of the violence raise "real concerns about whether all schools provide the kind of environment necessary to ensure safety and promote student achievement," Zahorchak wrote.

He urged incoming schools chief executive Arlene Ackerman to "bring a renewed and more vigorous focus on improving the school climate immediately." Ackerman starts working in the 167,000-student district on June 1.

The report was written in response to a document prepared by state safe-schools advocate Jack Stollsteimer. It slammed his work, calling his account "inaccurate and misleading."

Stollsteimer's and Zahorchak's reports agree that school safety is a dramatic and worsening issue, and most of their data match. But among the problems with Stollsteimer's report, Zahorchak said, was that he understated the number of students transferred to alternative schools.

The new report says that last year, the district transferred 33 percent of serious offenders to alternative schools. Stollsteimer had said the district transferred 29 percent. The difference is that the state counts students who were transferred for noncriminal offenses.

Of the fifth through 12th graders who assaulted teachers, both reports say that 34 percent of the cases were not reported to Philadelphia police, as district policy requires.

Stollsteimer, who vigorously defended his report yesterday, said the figures disagreed because he did not count students who committed "Rule 16" offenses - violations of more minor school rules that happen so often they get bumped up to more serious offenses.

"It does seem like their numbers match mine pretty closely, and their numbers are still pretty abysmal," Stollsteimer said. "The difference is in the interpretation."

The state blasted Stollsteimer's stance that the district violates federal and state safety laws by not expelling problem students. Zahorchak also said the district was correct in using a loophole that lets it transfer students to an alternative school rather than expel them.

No student has been formally expelled since the 2005-06 school year. Stollsteimer, a state employee Gov. Rendell appointed in 2006, says expulsion better protects victims while providing offenders due process.

Zahorchak, who said he would give Ackerman a copy of Stollsteimer's report, said the district could not fix its problems alone.

"We look forward to working with you to aggressively improve the safety of Philadelphia's public schools," he wrote to Ackerman.

Zahorchak also defended school officials, who had inaccurately reported violence numbers to the state before the 2005-06 school year. Questions from The Inquirer prompted them to fix the problem.

The state and Stollsteimer disagree over how much crime has increased in the last five years; Stollsteimer says it rose 345 percent, but the state says the figure cannot be calculated because of the change in reporting.

Stollsteimer and Zahorchak also disagree over so-called consent decrees, legal agreements that call for several hearings before students can be transferred to alternative schools. Stollsteimer says they make effectively punishing problem students difficult, and he wants to go to court to get rid of them.

The state says that that argument is a "red herring" and that there would be no real change in how the district handled weapons cases if consent decrees were abandoned. Fighting that legal battle would simply waste taxpayer money, the secretary said.

Zahorchak recommended several steps to improve school safety, including clarifying the student code of conduct; providing staff training on safety, security and reporting; and posting a climate manager in all schools. He also called for discipline and safety departments to work better together and for the district to ensure that discipline is consistent.

The secretary's report gives Ackerman and the public a clearer view of the safety issues in the district, said Sheila Ballen, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education.

"There is some unnecessary alarm in the draft report," Ballen said of Stollsteimer's report. "We do not want guns in schools, but expulsion is not always the best solution, and it is up to the school district and the superintendent to decide that."

Cecilia Cummings, a spokeswoman for the district, said that the district was still reviewing the state report but that its data were accurate.

"Any violence in schools is unacceptable," Cummings said. "While the district has put in a number of initiatives that have begun to take hold and show signs of working, we still have a very long way to go."

The changes, made over the last five years, include extending the student code of conduct to off-school hours, providing every high school with metal detectors and scanners, and improving the student assistance program.

"We can't stop until every child feels safe in his or her person when they come to school, and every teacher feels safe," Cummings said.

Helen Gym, president of Parents United for Public Education, said her group was also upset with Stollsteimer's call for more punitive measures for troubled students.

"Everyone recognizes the issues, but the solution of expelling students and increasing the number of kids going to alternative providers is not a good one," Gym said.

Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said Zahorchak's report was spot-on.

"The secretary of education very clearly states that there is a serious safety problem in some of our schools," Jordan said. "It's a small bunch of bad apples who are really making it difficult for all students to learn in our public schools."