Inquirer Investigative Team Digs Deep on School Violence

For the past two years, Philadelphia has been ranked the most violent city in America, according to FBI statistics. And the scourge of that violence chillingly extends to the city's public schools, where beatings, extortion, bullying, robberies and sexual assaults are daily occurrences.

A year-long investigation being published this week in the Philadelphia Inquirer reveals that in 2010 there were 4,541 acts of violence in the city's public schools, perpetrated on an average of 25 students, teachers and staff members each day. And that's only the  number of reported incidents. According to the investigative team of John Sullivan, Kristin A. Graham, Dylan Purcell and 2007 Dart Ochberg Fellow Susan Snyder, there are many more. Part Three of the series, published today, examines acts of violence by children aged five to ten – assaults, weapons and sex offenses – that never resulted in formal charges, due to the perpetrators' young age. 

To report the story, the Inquirer team conducted more than 300 interviews and constructed a searchable database to analyze more than 30,000 serious incidents that have occurred over the past five years – a great public service for parents, educators and community activists tackling this issue. They examined police reports, court records, transcripts and security videos. The newspaper also commissioned Temple University researchers to conduct an independent survey of 13,000 teachers and aides. More than two-thirds of those who responded reported that the violence and disruption in their building hindered their students' ability to learn. And more than half said violence had worsened during the last three years. 

The number-crunching reporting team also challenged claims by the Philadelphia School District that serious incidents have actually declined by 29 percent over the past two years. 

Philadelphia is just one example: In cities across America, school violence is becoming a public health issue, traumatizing victims, frustrating administrators and shaking educators' faith in their ability to protect and instruct their students. Kudos to the Inquirer team, for shining light on a growing national problem.