Reply #15: Lots of reasons [View All]

I don't know where you got the 30% figure but I'd bet that if you broke it down by income you'd find that most of these kids come from families in the lower 1/3 of income. No, I'm not saying that low income parents are bad parents. The sad truth is that many schools gauge how well they'll score over all in basic skills tests (required by NCLB) by how many kids are receiving free or reduced cost lunchs. I have seen this stated that bluntly in the local paper doing interviews with school principles. Students receiving this are expected to fail to the point that from kindergarten or first grade teachers know that they can "kick this kid to the curb" no one cares. In my experience I've seen teachers that will actually discourage these kids. One of my kids had a first grade teacher that punished her for writing in cursive the explanation I got was that she was not following the program (every thing for slow learners)this teacher had decided on for her. This teacher based this on the fact my daughter was bi-racial. On that fact the teacher also stated to me that obviously I was a single welfare mother who lived in a housing project and most likely was from out of state. I was none of the above. When I complained to school officials it was completely shrugged off. This was the kick off for more of the same for the next decade and counting. The conclusion is that teachers well meaning or not expect non-white or asian or low income kids not to do well and there expectations are met.