A SENSITIVE AND CARING BRITISH "COMPREHENSIVE" SCHOOL

Bullying a fatty to death sounds OK to them. For non-British readers, "Comprehensive" schools are the usual form of government schooling in Britain. They are definitely safer than Los Angeles public schools but there is not much more that you could say for them.

The parents of a girl who killed herself after being bullied may sue her school after learning that a member of staff said that their daughter "must accept the blame" for being victimised. Mike and Yvonne Rhodes have consulted lawyers about legal action after being handed school records showing that staff held their daughter, Laura, 13, responsible for being bullied. The couple said that they were astonished and angered at the response of the school, Cefn Saeson, in South Wales, to their daughter's death. Social workers have also expressed outrage at the insensitivity of some staff and their failure to tackle persistent bullying.

Laura Rhodes, of Neath, died last year in a suicide pact with Rebecca Ling, 14, a friend she had met through an internet chat room. Rebecca, from Birmingham, survived after telling Mrs Rhodes that the two of them had taken an overdose of prescription pills. Laura died in hospital a few hours later. Since the death of their daughter, Mr and Mrs Rhodes have been trying to find out to what extent the school authorities accept that they were responsible for failing to prevent her from being bullied. In papers obtained by the family and seen by The Times, Laura's progress at Cefn Saeson and comments about the bullying are charted in detail. They reveal that Laura was regarded as being the author of her own misfortune and that the school authorities felt that the bullying allegations were best dealt with by exiling her to a pupil referral unit. Her parents said they were furious at the way she was treated and a "blame the victim" attitude from authorities that sent out the wrong message to bullies.

When Laura left primary school she was a happy child who thrived in class but by the end of her first day at Cefn Saeson secondary school in Cimla, Neath, she was already complaining of being bullied. Instead of taking every measure to stamp out the bullying, her parents said, the school had within three weeks decided that the problem lay with her and had requested a psychiatric assessment. During the first term she befriended another girl and sent her affectionate messages. They were interpreted wrongly, Laura said later, as declarations of lesbian love and she was branded the "school dyke".

After this Laura was held responsible for further outbreaks of abuse. Helen Langford, the education welfare officer, wrote: "Name calling will take a while to stop because of Laura's verbal indiscretion. Laura fully realises and appreciates she must accept the blame for the current situation." By the end of the first year Laura was told to attend the Bryncoch pupil-referral unit instead of Cefn Saeson. The head of Cefn Saeson, Alun Griffiths, later suggested that Laura was merely the subject of schoolgirl "squabbling", yet a written record of a meeting to discuss her background states: "Mrs Langford outlined the difficulties Laura had to face at school. She explained that she had suffered some very nasty forms of verbal bullying

Mr Rhodes said that his daughter was happier at the referral unit because she could go there knowing that she would not be bullied. Angered by the school attaching blame to Laura, Mr Rhodes said: "It's the injustice of it. How can they get away with doing this to children? How many more children will die because of schools not dealing with bullying?" Mr Griffiths maintains that his staff did all they could to help Laura, often in the face of her refusal to report bullying immediately or to name the protagonists. ....

Delwyn Tattum, director of the Countering Bullying Unit at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, said that the family was right to be concerned about Laura's treatment. After seeing the documents, he said of the school blaming Laura for being bullied: "It's most unacceptable. It's blaming the victim for the bullies' behaviour."

The school refused to comment in detail about the bullying claims until after the inquest next month but was praised last year by school inspectors for "outstanding" standards of pupil welfare, including bullying.

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THE CALIFORNIA DISASTER (1)

California's public schools, once among the best in the nation, now lag behind almost every other state in student achievement, funding, teacher quality and facilities. The state's urban high schools have become "dropout factories," saddled with some of the lowest graduation rates in the United States. And the pay disparity among California teachers means that the best-paid teachers in 42 of the 50 largest districts work in schools that serve the fewest number of black and Hispanic students. Those are just a few of the findings outlined in several recent reports which together paint a grim picture of the sorry state of California schools. The conclusions by organizations including the Rand Corporation, Education Trust-West and the Harvard University Civil Rights Project suggest that a combination of factors - from budget cuts to rapidly changing demographics to lack of political will - have contributed to an alarming degradation of the state's schools over time. The problems have disproportionately affected low-income and minority students, who make up a majority of the state's public school students.

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger travels the state to promote several initiatives to reform state government, only one - a proposal to pay teachers according to merit, rather than seniority - even touches on the state's exploding education crisis. Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger's engaged in a pitched battle with teachers who are still steamed over his decision to withhold about $2 billion they say is owed to them under Proposition 98, a voter-approved initiative that guarantees a funding formula for public schools.

As lawmakers and advocates argue over the value of the merit-pay proposal, even some Schwarzenegger advisers say it only scratches the surface of the problem. Both sides agree that dealing with the state's most intractable challenges, such as its burgeoning population of non-native English speakers, will require new ways of thinking about an education system that has remained stubbornly resistant to change.

"We need merit pay, and it's a great step in the right direction. But it's only a step," said Richard Riordan, Schwarzenegger's education secretary. "The major piece is doing some very, very systematic changes in the way schools are governed." Among other things, Riordan supports the work of Eli Broad, the southern California philanthropist whose Broad Foundation helps to fund innovative programs in public school systems around the country. Broad has advocated improving local management in education and reducing the control of unions. He also believes big city mayors should wrest control of urban school districts from seemingly unaccountable school boards.

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THE CALIFORNIA DISASTER (2)

When teacher Bonnie Taylor swung open the gym doors of El Cerrito High School last week, she expected to take the stage at an assembly -- not take one on the chin. The 56-year-old came home bruised, bandaged and outraged after a 17-year-old girl punched her in the face and jabbed a pencil at her hand. The student faces suspension and possible expulsion. That doesn't make Taylor, a teacher of 33 years, feel any better about returning to work. "Physically, I'm fine. Mentally, I'm still upset and angry," she said.

Student assaults are becoming more frequent in California, statistics from the state Department of Education show. Growing concerns in the West Contra Costa school district have prompted new demands from the United Teachers of Richmond to more strongly discipline unruly students and to protect teachers. "They don't mind giving their life for education, but it should be a figurative thing, not a physical thing," said union President Gail Mendes.

According to a 2004 report, an estimated 90,000 violent crimes were committed against teachers on campuses nationwide from 1998 to 2002. About 4 percent of teachers surveyed nationally in 1999-2000 said they had been attacked by students, according to the 2004 Indicators of School Crime and Safety report. Male teachers, city teachers and those at middle or high schools were more likely to be targets. The magnitude of the problem is difficult to track. Like many states, California's data includes all school employees without separate statistics for teachers.

Recommended expulsions stemming from student assaults or batteries on school employees has grown steadily from 668 in 2000-01 to 1,053 last school year, according to the state Department of Education. However, those figures count students punished for violence against employees, not the attacks themselves. "Who knows how many didn't get reported," said Chuck Nichols, a safety consultant for the state Department of Education.

In the 33,000-student West Contra Costa school district, the union recently added new safety proposals during contract negotiations. The teachers want the district to pursue legal action if a student injures a teacher or damages property. The district would also reimburse teachers for injuries or repairs caused by campus assault or vandalism. The union, which represents about 2,000 teachers, also wants stiffer punishment for students who break the rules. Teachers can banish students from their classroom the day of an offense and the next day. The union wants to expand classroom suspensions for up to five days to prevent what Mendes calls "the revolving door." When students violate a rule, such as using profanity, teachers send them to the principal's office from where they often return during the same period. "All the kids around them see that and they think, 'Gee, if you can get away with it, I can too,'" Mendes said.

Swearing does not amount to homicide. But lax punishment for minor infractions encourages more aggressive acts, Mendes said. "It starts with children being verbally disrespectful to teachers. It moves into using foul language. And it escalates" to physical attacks, she said.

The district has rejected the safety proposals. Lengthening classroom suspensions might violate student legal rights, said Laurie Juengert, lawyer and member of the district bargaining team. "The district believes that proper disciplinary action should be taken against students who injure teachers," Juengert said. "However, we have to follow the due process requirement for state and federal law."....

To meet federal reporting requirements, California schools report expulsions related to Education Code violations that include disrupting school events, carrying a weapon and assaulting or battering a school employee. But few want to admit their schools are violent, and chalking up more expulsions offers little reward for a principal looking for approval from higher-ups. "They see that as a bad thing," Mendes said. "Well, it is a bad thing that the children are out of school and aren't learning. But it's a good thing for other students who are in the classroom and are learning."

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

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