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In my time as a teacher, I experienced what many who have worked in lower-income schools experienced. When I student taught in the high-SES school I had graduated from, and then later a neighboring district that was fairly affluent, people were impressed: I was viewed as a great and capable teacher. But when I taught at the low-income alternative school, people usually just fell back to “well you must be really passionate even to bother.” 

In reading a past article on Education Weekly about the lack of respect for teachers at lower-income schools, I was reminded of that feeling. Whenever I used to reveal the type of school I worked in – one with students who had been kicked out of their other schools, had experiences with our legal system, and were very behind academically – I could see the look on people’s faces shift. I was not the caliber of teacher they were assuming; instead, I was simply babysitting kids and sometimes “teaching” low-level material.

But this could not be further from the truth, and sadly it reveals a more significant societal issue with education. There are “good” schools and “bad” with no real effort to reframe that narrative or improve the “bad” ones. There are assumptions about the students at these schools that are frankly untrue and have racial and xenophobic undertones. 

When people outside education learned where I worked, they would naively ask if I only worked there for the higher pay they must be providing a brave soul like myself. Despite schools like mine having the most difficulty filling positions, there were no extra incentives to working there. Some would even ask me why I didn’t go work at the “great” district down the road – the one that served students of high SES. There was an air to this as if it was something I had not considered myself qualified for, and they were assuring me I could indeed prove myself worthy. 

There was never anyone who considered that I had chosen where I worked carefully. Like many other teachers who work in underserved schools, I wanted to work with those students. I had previously worked for a high SES district and fled it! All schools and districts are unique, but I was not the type of teacher who fit in well in those school systems. All that to say, I walked into my alternative teaching position knowing full well what I was passing up and what I would be stepping into each day. 

Schools like mine were considered holding cells for the students’ other schools didn’t want to (or know how to) support. While there, my students used to ask me what I had done to be punished with having to teach at their campus. This is what many people assume when they think of low-income and high-stress schools, assuming they are failing. But why are they failing, and by whose standards? What resources do these schools, teachers, and families even receive?

I attended the “great” district for high school that so many recommended I work in as a teacher. That school was an excellent environment for me as a student. We had a vast library that served as one of the local branches in the county. There were numerous computer labs throughout the school, plus plenty of laptop carts for teachers to utilize in their classes. We had a vast college and career center with two full-time staff to support students filling out applications, writing essays, and getting waivers. The school had a large cafeteria with different restaurant choices, various seating options, and plenty of room to move around. They also provided free specialized tutoring during lunch and after school for challenging courses and core classes.

The school I ended up teaching in had no library or computer lab, and our laptop carts contained slow devices that barely worked half the time, which created difficulties in the classroom. Our cafeteria was the only permanent building on our campus, we all taught in portables, and students only had one option for their lunch each day. My coworker and I established the first college and career center on our campus. We had to repurpose part of the teacher workroom, plus my coworker and I still had our regular jobs to do day to day. Due to our small staff, we couldn’t provide tutoring services – though we were granted smaller class sizes due to the nature of our school and the academic support the students needed. 

These realities can beat down even the most passionate teachers. Many get snatched up by high SES districts where they don’t have to deal with the same behavior, receive more respect, and often times are paid more by communities with cushier wallets. Additionally, they get the revel in the fact that they work in a highly rated school, their students’ academic success is partly attributed to them, and they don’t get bombarded with messages that their school is failing. Many of the teachers in low-income schools also quit teaching altogether because of the pressure and lack of resources. Our teachers deserve more, and the students they teach rely on it.

Madison is a former alternative school teacher now working in the EdTech industry. She remains an...

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