Mayor promises action on Phila. school violence

Mayor Nutter promised action on school violence Tuesday after holding high-level meetings on the subject last week as The Inquirer was publishing an investigative series that described brutal attacks in classrooms.

"Our goal is to work in partnership with the school district to bring additional resources to bear on a problem that stretches from the schools back to the neighborhoods and even into the homes of our students and their parents," Nutter said in a statement, relayed by Mark McDonald, his press secretary.

McDonald said The Inquirer stories were discussed at the meetings and "put a very bright light on a serious problem facing this city."

The meetings included representatives from the Department of Human Services, Behavioral Health, and the city Police Department and yielded "further plans" to work with the school district to improve safety in and around Philadelphia's public schools, Nutter said in the statement.

"All programs will be reevaluated. Those that work will be enhanced, and those that don't work will be ended," McDonald said.

The comments come as legislators from around the state and other officials called for change in the aftermath of The Inquirer's seven-part series, "Assault on Learning."

The series found that there were more than 30,000 serious incidents in the schools during the last five years, that attacks were carried out by children in the earliest of grades, and that violence often was not reported or reported late.

It also found fault with the district's Comprehensive Student Assistance Process - the primary intervention program for students with academic and behavioral problems - and showed that the district failed to foster successful violence prevention programs throughout the district.

State legislators said they were disturbed and alarmed to read about the level and kind of violence in the schools.

State Rep. Paul Clymer (R., Bucks), the majority chairman of the House Education Committee, said he would hold hearings on violence in Philadelphia's public schools.

"From what I read, this can't go on. It has to stop," Clymer said.

There will likely be multiple hearings, he said, to explore not only the extent of the problem but how to solve it. Clymer said he also planned to visit the city's public schools to look at conditions firsthand.

The hearings likely will be held in May, he said.

"It's very distressing to say the least to read about the violence, not only the attacks on students and on teachers, but also the number of incidents that have taken place," Clymer said. "We recognize that Philadelphia is the largest public school system in the commonwealth, but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be civility and discipline in the classroom."

State Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R., Dauphin), chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said he would like to join Clymer at the violence hearings, or at least closely monitor them.

He said he had heard from other legislators that charter schools and the demand for school choice were growing in Philadelphia largely because of safety and discipline issues in the schools.

"Philadelphia will continue to see the demand for [school] choice until they solve the safety issue," Piccola said.

State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams (D., Phila.), a proponent of charter schools and vouchers, said he often fielded requests for help from constituents desperate to get their children out of violent schools.

"Children should not be required to go to a place where they could get the heck beat out of them," he said. "There should be other options."

Of the violence reported in the series, he said: "We shouldn't be shocked, we should be ashamed that we've allowed it to go on for so long. This has gone on for a long time, and people turn their heads to it."

Williams said the district must share the burden with the entire community.

Auditor General Jack Wagner reiterated his call for the reinstatement of an independent watchdog to monitor safety in the district.

"That should be a no-brainer, and we all should be supporting this and not resisting it," said Wagner, who asserted that the district's violence problem stemmed from a lack of strong leadership on the issue.

State legislators created the position of safe-schools advocate in 2000 after years of frustration over the district's handling of violence. The state Department of Education discontinued funding of the office in 2009, citing budget woes.

The Education Department, Wagner said, also has lacked leadership on the issue, even though the district was taken over by the state in 2001. The school district is overseen by the School Reform Commission, of which three of five members are appointed by the governor. The other two positions are chosen by the mayor.

Acting State Education Secretary Ron Tomalis said he would meet with district officials to discuss the violence problem.

"I'm very concerned about the level of violence in the Philadelphia district. This is an issue that has to be addressed by the local leadership," he said. "That doesn't mean that I won't be having very serious conversations to see what actions they are taking to address this problem."

State Sen. Andrew Dinniman, (D., Chester and Montgomery), minority chairman of the Senate Education Committee, also called for reinstatement of the advocate's position. He admired the work of Jack Stollsteimer, the former assistant U.S. attorney who held the position before it was eliminated.

"In my judgment, Jack was telling the truth about the level of violence, and the truth [The] Inquirer documented," he said, "and no one wanted to hear the truth. But after this story, the facts are out there, and we have a responsibility to act."

Piccola agreed that a safe-schools advocate was a necessary position, but he was not convinced the state should pay for it.

"In my mind, we shouldn't have had to do that for Philadelphia," Piccola said. "Philadelphia should have had enough interest in having safe schools that they would have it in and of itself."

Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said the series highlighted concerns that teachers have had for years and that he hoped those issues would get attention.

"It's a real opportunity for the district and the union and the community to embrace this problem. I think we can all come up with solutions in order to make sure these schools are safe and orderly," Jordan said.