Philadelphia School Violence
Teachers have stepped forward to talk about incidents of violence and abuse. How big a problem is this in the Philadelphia School District?
Here is The Inquirer's continuing coverage of the issue.
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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.
Video Interviews
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Frank Burd speaks out
Germantown High School math teacher Frank Burd talks about the broken neck on Feb. 23 when a senior pushed him and he fell against James Footman, a ninth grader who punched him in the face.
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City special-ed lapses increase school violence
- Without the help they need, these students commit a disproportionate percentage of assaults on staff.
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Roberta Bellamy talks about son
Roberta Bellamy talks about her son, Kareem, and other children in his autistic support class at Penn Alexander School in West Philadelphia.
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A year of living dangerously
- An autistic child's violence against classmates complicates his right to education - and theirs.
- .pdf: Report on Philadelphia School District’s student disciplinary system
- .pdf: School District’s response to the report
System Discipline Report
In a report released by the district on March 1, 2007, Ellen-Green Ceisler, a consultant hired by the district, was highly critical of the district’s disciplinary system describing it as plagued by inconsistencies, high turnover in personnel, and a lack of training, staff and resources - all leading to a breakdown in procedure and an insufficient transfer of problem pupils out of the schools. Ceisler who previously monitored the Police Department as head of the city's Integrity and Accountability Office. The district sharply disagreed and issued its own response. Here are both reports:
- The district safe-schools advocate said the lack of discipline violates the law.Philadelphia public schools are unsafe places where students who commit violent crimes are rarely punished and rehabilitated and with a disciplinary system that is "dysfunctional and unjust," according to a report by the district's safe-schools advocate.
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- Parent angry over girl's assault at grade schoolThe day was winding down at Daroff Elementary School, and the classroom was mostly empty when six boys attacked a fourth-grade girl last month as she emerged from a coat closet.
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Philadelphia police are investigating allegations that a girl at Fels High School in the Northeast was sexually assaulted by two ninth graders in a classroom closet Tuesday.
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City and state education officials yesterday defended the Philadelphia School District's limited expulsion of students who bring weapons to schools, dismissing a complaint from a school-safety expert as a misreading of federal law.
- Pennsauken confronts a spate of offenses, including a hit list.A Pennsauken High School student's suspension and arrest after the discovery of a hit list was the latest in a spate of bad behavior that the school board president said would not be tolerated.
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There was a slight uptick in violence reported in and around Philadelphia public schools during the first six months of this academic year.
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Along with books, laptop and cell phone, there's something else Jeremy Clark wants to bring to class: his gun. The Villanova law student feels vulnerable without his Glock.
- Several sixth-grade girls in Bristol Twp. have spoken out. Some parents say the principal should take stronger action.An 11-year-old girl from Lafayette Elementary School in Bucks County's Bristol Township School District said her male classmates accosted and fondled her and five other sixth-grade girls repeatedly over several months.
- The boys at Lafayette Elementary in Bristol Twp. are accused of harassing six girls at school.Bristol Township police plan to talk to several boys from Lafayette Elementary School who are accused of sexually harassing and inappropriately touching six girls earlier this year, and charges could result, school district officials said.
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