Two stories published yesterday by the Examiner make D.C. Public Schools sound like a slugfest between teachers and students.

Continue reading

In the 2010-2011 school year, students assaulted teachers and administrators on 48 occasions. Not to be outdone, the teachers themselves attacked students 64 times, a notable increase from the 36 substantiated attacks during the 2009-2010 school year.

Enough of the numbers, let's hear some details.

In June, Saunders wrote a letter to Mayor Vincent Gray, Chancellor Kaya Henderson and other school officials describing a Springarn Senior High School teacher attacked so violently by a student that she 'will likely need reconstructive surgery to repair the damage done to her face.'

But not all teachers are saints, either: 

In one incident, Pamela Ransome, the principal of Johnson Middle School in Southeast, was removed from the school system this year after an investigation proved she committed corporal punishment. The mother of a victim told the Washington Post that Ransome grabbed her daughter's arm, pushed her against the blackboard, grabbed her by the hair, and punched her in the face — all because the girl refused to surrender her cell phone.

Now, we can all agree that violence between students and teachers is an awful thing that should never happen. But let's have some perspective. There are 6,500 teachers, principals, and other staffers in DCPS, and some 45,000 students, so that's still a pretty low rate of assaults — and one well below the  rate for D.C. at large.