Violence in Philadelphia public schools is as complicated a subject as they come. Recent Inquirer stories vividly describe how students acting out against teachers (and other students) are sabotaging classroom learning and injuring the very people trying to give kids that education.

It's hard to say for sure whether more assaults on teachers are occurring; spotty incident reporting makes statistics unreliable. But anecdotal evidence from teachers suggests the number and severity of attacks are rising.

Even scarier, verbal and physical outbursts are coming from younger kids. Last week, a second-grader kicked and scratched a teacher who was trying to stop the child from leaving the classroom, said a Philadelphia Federation of Teachers spokeswoman.

Teacher assaults are not just a school problem. They are connected with what is going on in children's homes and communities, with government services and with funding.

Here then is a catalog of who and what can play a role in reducing teacher assaults and what each participant can do. Some suggestions are general and imply long-term effort. Others require immediate action.

Parents. No question about it: Mothers and fathers bear the greatest responsibility for teaching their children what is respectful and appropriate behavior in school and in public, and what is unacceptable. Most parents in Philadelphia seem to be imparting those lessons. But too many aren't.

Children. No matter what their home is like, students need to follow the rules at school. Yes, that is an easy ideal to spout, but children should know they are expected to try their best every day to achieve that ideal.

School officials and principals. The school district has a good disciplinary code. But erratic reporting and documentation of incidents undercut that code. Children will have trouble following the rules - and think they can get away with breaking them - if the code is weakly enforced.

Last week, school district CEO Paul Vallas made it harder for principals to ignore incidents. He established a teacher hotline in the office of the state advocate for safe schools to report assaults. Those calls will be checked against what has been reported to the central administration.

Vallas also said older students who assault teachers will be immediately suspended pending expulsion to an alternative school.

The big, comprehensive high schools always have had the most trouble - leading Vallas to break up many of them. West Philadelphia High School is the poster child this year for chaos in the district.

It took more teacher assaults and unrest last week for Vallas to accelerate plans to turn nearby middle schools into small high schools that next year should reduce the population at West Philadelphia High. He should make a priority of breaking up all of the remaining large high schools.

The district has many programs that teach children to solve problems nonviolently. But individual attention may be what some kids need - and that requires more psychologists and counselors who spend all of their time counseling to serve children.

Successful violence prevention programs also include close communication between the district and local mental-health resources. Vallas should review that connection and make sure it is strong.

All of this would cost more money in a district that is having financial trouble. Some dollars might be saved by Vallas and the School Reform Commission cutting non-classroom costs, but a broader issue is involved.

City and state government.    

Despite popular stereotypes, the School District of Philadelphia does not get an exorbitant amount of per-pupil funding.

The district gets an average of $11,486 in per-pupil funding from local, state and federal sources, a schools spokeman said. That is less than most suburbs in our region and urban districts around the country.

If government officials like the academic programs that have helped raise students' test scores in Philadelphia, and if they want to help keep teachers and students safe, part of the answer is more money.

The city needs to increase its contribution if it wants the schools to produce an educated workforce of tomorrow.

Gov. Rendell deserves credit for giving Pennsylvania's public schools much more money. But school funding should not depend upon who is governor or whether the state controls a troubled district.

That's why it is good that Harrisburg is planning a study on how to adequately fund primary and secondary education statewide.

These comments are not meant to sound like a Sunday morning sermon. The intent simply is to show how everyone, including churches and community groups, must work together if teachers are to teach and children to learn without getting bloodied in the process.