Philadelphia Federation of Teachers chief Jerry Jordan recently called for greater prosecution over school violence cases, a drastically different stance than his endorsement of Democrat Larry Krasner for DA just months ago.
During a rally Friday on violence against teachers, Jordan demanded an increase in school safety, prosecution against adults harming teachers, and a potential revision of the Sandusky Act, which bars teachers from physically breaking-up a student fight, Philly.com reports.
“We also need programs, services, and more counselors to identify behaviors that a child might be on the wrong path,” Jordan said while joined with Democratic Councilwoman Helen Gym.
Jordan has also complained of “lack of follow-through on discipline” when teachers are assaulted.
But in October 2017, Jordan said, “There’s more to keeping our city safe than prosecuting criminals and adding to the prison population.”
“Real ‘justice’ means stopping the school-to-prison pipeline,” he said while endorsing Krasner for Philadelphia District Attorney, according to a press release.
The change comes during an increase in violence against school administrators. “In the 2015-16 school year, 5.8 percent of the nation’s 3.8 million teachers were physically attacked by a student,” Education Week reports, citing federal data. “Almost 10 percent were threatened with injury.”
The American Psychological Association deemed violence toward teachers “a silent national crisis.”