7. Stop Ignoring Poverty: My school will never rank in the top 100 of Washington State. Were a school of awesome teachers, innovative programs, high expectations, and we lead our region in test scores and student performance. Yet we arent a good school and never will be. The reason is simple: poverty. My school has poor kids, a lot of them. They dont all have computers, they dont have a place to study, they dont have parents who can help them with Algebra, they dont have spare money for tutors (or gas to get to one), they dont always get breakfast, and they didnt grow up with piles of books in their home. That doesnt mean my students arent hardworking, passionate, and devoted to their studies, but it puts them, and our work at school, at a disadvantage.
This is especially true for funding. Olympia pays every teacher the same and funds every school the same. One of the things I teach my students is that fair is not always equal. We dont have a rich community to pull levey money from to pay for new computers or updated textbooks. Olympia needs to consider the resources of the communities in the state, and learn to fund accordingly.