By Martha Woodall, The Philadelphia Inquirer Mar. 12--There was a slight uptick in violence reported in and around Philadelphia public schools during the first six months of this academic year.

By Elmer Smith, Philadelphia Daily News Mar. 13--NOTHING GETS you thrown out of a Philadelphia public school faster than an assault on a teacher. Nothing gets you thrown out faster, that is, if you are a principal in a school where the assault happens.

By Susan Snyder and Martha Woodall, The Philadelphia Inquirer Mar.

By Mari A. Schaefer, The Philadelphia Inquirer Feb. 25--Hooked up to tubes and monitors, a metal brace drilled into his skull to immobilize his broken neck, Frank Burd worried how his students would fare on state tests next month now that he could not be there to help them.

PHILADELPHIA - A high school teacher was assaulted by two students and hospitalized with broken vertebrae after he took an iPod away from one of them during class, officials said. Frank Burd, 60, was in a hallway at Germantown High School shortly after 11 a.m.