Many urban districts have a lethal combination of bad administrators, jaded teachers, poor students, and parents who simply don't value or understand education in the way that is needed to adequately support what is happening at the school.jafs wrote: I'd have to look into Baltimore to understand what's happening there.
But, one example isn't enough to disprove a general relationship. For example, we know there's a general connection between smoking and lung cancer. The fact that some people may get lung cancer without smoking, or that some people who smoke won't get lung cancer doesn't negate that relationship.
That's why studies are useful.
I had hoped you had some studies that countered the ones I'd seen.
I couldn't read the wsj article, because I'm not a subscriber.
I don't see how money could significantly impact any of those factors.
One big factor is that good teachers don't want to teach in the ghetto. Another big factor is that academic achievement doesn't give you much street cred in many poor neighborhoods, whereas in middle class neighborhoods academic achievement is often the ONLY measure of street cred.
The skillset it takes to be a good teacher in a poor urban environment is often totally different than what it takes to be a good teacher in a middle class suburb. An outstanding teacher in a middle class suburban school might be a terrible teacher in the ghetto because the students would just flatten him/her.
In high school one year I took a summer school class at an all black inner city high school. The first thing the African-American teacher said on the first day of class as her head bounced around on her shoulders and her eyes got big was: "Now look here. I want you all to know I'm not going to take any shit. Got it? You give me any shit and I'm going to be on the phone with your mamas, aunts and uncles." It was understood that there weren't many dads that she could call. You wouldn't hear that on the first day in a middle class suburban school.
As a sidenote, although I was an expert at giving teachers shit in high school, I was a model pupil in that summer school class. I respected the teacher and worked hard for her. When she saw my attitude and effort, she loved me right back.
