Disorder in a Merged D.C. School

"Instead of acknowledging the extent of this problem, DCPS officials ignore and cover it up," he said.

There are no reliable statistics on attacks against teachers. D.C. police and school officials say they don't break down data on school crime victims to differentiate between students and staff. Washington Teachers' Union officials said the anecdotal evidence is persistent and alarming. They said that they encourage teachers to report attacks to the police but that instructors are often pressured by administrators to remain silent. Some quit instead, they said.

D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes said several incidents at Woodson are under investigation but declined to comment further.

Slade, a former Baltimore school administrator who was retained by Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee last year as she was turning over a significant portion of the principal corps, said he and his team are constantly patrolling the hallways and stand ready to assist any instructor who needs help. But he said teachers are also expected to pursue other steps before ejection, including calling parents and employing "various behavior modification strategies." He also offers cash rewards, as much as $100, to students who provide information about crimes and rules infractions, saying it has made the school safer and helped break through street culture taboos against "snitching."

"This is done to support teachers," Slade said, adding that the money comes out of his own pocket. He declined to say how much he has spent this school year.

Lack of space for unruly students is one of the reasons administrators discourage frequent ejections. The District is revising the school disciplinary code with an eye toward providing more alternative settings for those students.

Teachers said crowding at the school has also fueled behavior problems. February attendance records show that enrollment in math and English classes at the academy averages 35 students, exceeding the contract-established limit of 25. (That cap can be broken for space or staff shortage reasons.) Slade said the records are not correct.

"They're smart. They're not dumb kids. But they're angry because they are 40 to a class, which is totally disrespectful to them," said Brown, a fiftyish, soft-spoken former sculptor whose master's thesis at Howard University was on Virginia Woolf's novel "The Waves." This is his first year in D.C. schools, and he acknowledges that establishing control in his classroom has been a struggle.

Colleagues of Brown and Pow's, while not excusing the attacks, said disorder in the classroom comes from the failures to build a foundation of trust, consistent daily routine and lesson plans that keep students busy and engaged.

"You don't have books flying around in my room," said Brandi Drummonds, a ninth-grade history teacher who remembers counseling Brown on lesson plans to keep students focused. "You have to create a plan and stick with it."

Pow, 53, came to teaching several years ago in Fairfax County after a long career in IT. "I want [Woodson] to be a safe place to work so that I can do my job there," he said. "When Mayor Fenty took over the school system and hired Michelle Rhee, and I read what those two were saying, I decided I wanted to be a part of that."

Another teacher, a 35-year veteran of the D.C. school system, said a student was suspended for just one day after shoving her into a desk. "I ended up going to the doctor the next day with black-and-blue bruises on my thigh. There's no real discipline at the school and no consequences for bad behavior," she said.