"Bullies are always cowards at heart..."

"Bullies are always cowards at heart and may be credited with a pretty safe instinct in scenting their prey." - Anna Julia Cooper

Is it just me, or does bullying seem to be on the rise? Yes, we're personally dealing with this in our family, but at my junior high age daughter's school, several students left the school this year due to bullying that the school couldn't stop. My daughter is a normal child but with no siblings at home, she isn't very experienced in arguing and disagreements. She was bullied by the class (girl) bully last year, but when I took it to the school, they called a meeting, and told all the girls to be nice. That was it... Seriously...
Now the bullying is happening this summer. I find my blood pressure REALLY high lately since at work my income is much less, so we're having to make changes in our lifestyle that are constantly making me angry and upset. And then you add this girl who has chosen my daughter to pick on for the last few months, then it makes life really crappy lately... The recent girl she bullied this last year, left in March and didn't even finish the year out. This girl manipulates the entire class; she is so aggressive that the teachers don't even respond as they should. She is also very aggressive with the boys, so she is 'most popular' with them, and then the girls will cow-tow to her, in desiring popularity with the boys. Behind her back, the girls all say they can't stand her, but in her presence, they buckle. She now lies and turns the rest of the girls (and boys) against my daughter, as she sees her as the one to beat. A new boy is starting the school for next year, and my daughter had met him at a baseball game and was interested, but the bully got wind of it and kept calling him a loser. Then she got his cell number, and starting texting him and flirting hard, and then has bragged all summer that they are now girl/boyfriend. She got her best friend to text and start World War III with my daughter over something she didn't even do, but you know if they say it enough, everyone believes them. We are so terribly sick of all this drama and bullying, but not sure how to handle it. If I get involved, it makes my daughter look weak and, as she says, like a loser. I would like for it to be fixed, and it is REALLY hard to watch. My daughter now just wants to switch schools rather than deal with this. The bully's parents are well-known in our small town, and I am just a divorced mom. The bully pulls out liquor at her sleepovers, and prank calls the entire town, and makes sexy photos to post on Facebook.

I wish she would just STOP....