Kristof On Poverty – And Implications For Schools

Strong Nicholas Kristof column about poverty and the implicit issue that many people don’t like to acknowledge how much luck plays a role in life. In education, though, we seem to have an acutely hard time talking about the role that schools can play to help address these issues.

7 Replies to “Kristof On Poverty – And Implications For Schools”

  1. Glad to see a post on this article, which I hope prompts further discussion of the right and wrong ways to evaluate teachers and the need to improve social conditions that exist upstream of schools. I’m a teacher, and I see ominous trends in both regards.

  2. We are not a nation of stupid people so I always knew it was just a matter of time before we recognized the elephant in the classroom, which of course is poverty or, more precisely, the effects of poverty on achievement.

    Now that the pendulum is finally swinging towards reality, as opposed to smoke and mirror attempts to siphon school tax money into private pockets, I wonder if the “reformers” are quietly slipping their fingers into the early childhood pot of gold.

    Shame, shame on the people who blamed and humiliated the teachers of the poor.

  3. Linda / RT … Do you believe that the author of this blog (Andy)is attempting to siphon tax money into private pockets or that his guest authors are doing so? And do you believe Andy blames and humiliates teachers of the poor or that his guest authors do so? If you believe these things, can you give an example of where he or his guest authors have done so?

  4. Yikes! I remember that string. But my question still stands. Does that heat reflect only a privatization agenda and an assault on teachers of poor children, or is it arising from strongly held beliefs about important and difficult subjects that, frankly, the system needs prodding on?

  5. It is no accident that most of those saying poverty matters little, or that schools can counter act the effects of poverty, are not, as Mr. Rothman, in the classroom. Do they contend that teachers in wealthy districts have just as great a challenge as those in poor districts? I have worked in Beverly Hills, LAUSD, Orleans Parish and Sacramento City Unified. Believe me, teachers in wealthy districts have it easy: Little or no gangs, crime vilolence, fights, child neglect, hunger and on and on. And yet many of the teachers I worked with in Beverly Hills looked down upon innercity teachers.

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