Vallas tried to put armed city police officers at the high schools, but Mayor Street rebuffed him.

The district also took steps to streamline its disciplinary process, hold monthly meetings to analyze attendance and school crime data, and beef up violence prevention and intervention programs - all points that drew praise from consultant Ellen Green-Ceisler in a report released March 1 that was largely critical of the district's disciplinary process.

Last week, Vallas announced a new teacher safety hotline - 215-400-STOP. It had received nearly 50 calls as of late Friday.

Vallas also said all assaults on staff would result in a 10-day student suspension and move for expulsion, along with felony charges. After a private meeting arranged by city Education Secretary Jacqueline Barnett, Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson stood with Vallas and promised to respond to all reports of assault and make arrests when the victim approves.

The new approach was welcomed by some who felt the curtain had finally been raised on the unruly atmosphere in some city schools.

"The consensus is we're glad to see that people are realizing there are severe problems in our schools and they're going to take action on it," said Lynn Strein, an eighth-grade teacher at Carnell School, which had 14 incidents of assaults on educators as of Jan. 31. "Finally someone is going to take us seriously. "

Strein said Carnell, in Oxford Circle, had handled the assaults appropriately.

At West Philadelphia High, where teachers were critical of the handling of assaults and threats, teachers' union representative Pat O'Hara said he was glad "there will be some consequences attached. "

Others, however, said the move would further criminalize youths, many of them troubled and hurting.

"We're turning our schools in a lot of ways into pathways to jail," said Howard Stevenson, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education.

Adults, who have "emotional power" over youth, sometimes provoke a child who already is troubled, he said.

"There are things that lead up to those aggressions. Very rarely do you have a kid who has no concern for human life or dignity that would act out," he said.

Stevenson called for a "tribunal" of adults to evaluate assault cases before punishment is meted out.

Vallas sees things differently.

"We shouldn't make excuses for violent behavior," he said. "We're always trying to find a reason to justify antisocial behavior. We're growing up in a blameless society. No one takes responsibility for their actions. "

Richard Mantell, principal of Frankford High School for 11 years, said each student's circumstances must be taken into account. On Thursday, two days after the district's new assault policy was announced, a ninth grader pushed an assistant principal - which, by policy, could have resulted in suspension and arrest.

According to Mantell, his assistant principal chose not to call police after she learned that the new student had been released from a psychiatric hospital five days earlier. The administrator called the girl's parents, who said she had been kidnapped and raped, Mantell said.

"She gets pushed into a large, comprehensive high school. Is anyone really surprised that these issues present themselves in our schools? " Mantell asked.

He said that he was outraged at Vallas' decision to remove West Philadelphia principal Clifton James last week, and that many at a principals' meeting last week shared his feelings.