Germantown High School teacher Frank Burd - whose neck was broken after a student attack last month - knows what people are saying:
He's a catalyst, a poster boy, and possibly a turning point in the violence against teachers in Philadelphia public schools that has persisted for years.
It's not a role he ever wanted, or imagined.
He wanted to be a catalyst for his neediest students. "They're lost. They're hurt. . . . I try to give them something. I try to give them me. "
Now, as the math teacher recovers from surgery and faces the process of rehabilitation, he is coming to terms with his new role, "if it's a cause that keeps people safe. "
Burd's injuries drew national media attention and ignited complaints from Philadelphia teachers and their union, who contended that violence against teachers was on the rise in the 174,000-student district and underreported by some principals who want to make their schools look good.
District officials and city police last week announced more stringent penalties for students who attack school personnel and took away discretion from principals in reporting them.
Whether the problem really is any worse today remains debatable, although observers say an upswing in violence in schools would be no surprise considering the city's escalating homicide rate and violence.
District numbers show a 4 percent increase in assaults on teachers and administrators this school year, many of them committed by children in kindergarten through fourth grade.
On average last school year, three or four of the district's more than 11,000 teachers and administrators were assaulted on any given school day.
Philadelphia has had a slightly higher victimization rate than the national average for urban districts. In 2003-04, 5.5 percent of urban public school teachers reported being assaulted, compared with 8 percent in Philadelphia that year.
Numbers aside, Burd's case stands out for its severity. District veterans called Burd's life-threatening injury the worst case of violence against a teacher in decades. The news of the attack on Burd prompted West Philadelphia High School teacher Ed Klein to go public 10 days ago about a November assault that broke his jaw.
"People were so stunned. It reminded us that we haven't solved our problems yet, that we still have incredible problems," Paul Vallas, the district's chief executive officer, acknowledged in an interview Friday.
