But in Philadelphia, schools are witnessingfamily members are increasingly coming to schools not to help calm situationsbut to seek retribution, either against school staff, students, or other parents.
Family members are not threatening or harming school staff or students every day, Bethel said, but it is “happening on a regular basis, and we’re worried. There’s an increased tension, an increased level of activity from parents. Increasingly we find that we can’t even get the parents to come to the table, and then there’s an expectation that this lands on the feet of the school district.
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan last week approved transferring a teacher to another school after a student used their cell phone to alert family members after the student had assaulted the teacher. Robin Cooper, a longtime Philadelphia principal who’s now president of the union that represents district principals and other administrators, has seen incidents of
“Why would I act appropriately if there’s nothing in it for me, if I know I can come up and act a fool and my kid still gets to terrorize a school?” said Cooper. “Our schools are not bad if the supports are there to hold people accountable for behavior. You’ve got to be able to call out poor behavior.”“And I don’t know a principal who doesn’t have a story like this,” the principal said. “Administrators and teachers have been attacked and assaulted by parents.
“No one is supposed to endure that behavior,” said Braxton. “We have made it very clear that it is unacceptable for school district employees to be subjected to physical violence, or to be harassed.”