The recent attention brought to the plight of poor students attending poor inner-city schools seems largely to have focused on poor quality teachers, unions, and lack of accountability. The notion that there are many poor teachers being protected by unions or unmotivated administrators has been planted in the collective mind of the public. I do not like the generalizations and assumptions.
Here is a recent Washington Post article describing the change that occurs when poor students from poor schools are integrated into suburban schools. Performance improves. So what might be assumed about the problem. Does it seem reasonable that poor teachers purposefully congretate in schools filled with poor students? How would this make sense? Perhaps it might be that expectations and support are provided by peers as well as teachers. Maybe it is not about charter schools after all. Maybe it is about everyday public schools with an integrated population of students.