Crazy to teach inner city? (pay, writing, kindergarten, public school)

[Jazzii]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

Mentoring is a great thing, but going into any teaching setting expecting to be "a savior," if you will, is setting yourself up for disappointment, and it's condescending, besides.

Expect to learn from your students, not "save" them.

I have no intentions of "saving" my students- People (not you in specific just in general) seem to think that I am very naive and dreaming unrealistically, I cannot count how many people have told me to not start out in an inner city school and I was just insane but I have a pretty realistic idea of what goes on- even behind the scenes. (due to volunteer work)

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by Jazzii

I have no intentions of "saving" my students- People (not you in specific just in general) seem to think that I am very naive and dreaming unrealistically, I cannot count how many people have told me to not start out in an inner city school and I was just insane but I have a pretty realistic idea of what goes on- even behind the scenes. (due to volunteer work)

I should have noted that the above post quoted was not directed specifically at you, but directed at thread respondents/readers in general.

I couldn't say whether you are naive or unrealistic. I only speak from my own personal experience in inner-city youth work and education.

[jasper12]

It is not unlike when I went into my career of teaching SPED. My family thought that was crazy...I had no hopes of being the next "Annie Sullivan". I just was very committed to making a change. I did a good job. And that is enough.

And that is the correct attitude towards teaching in schools that need change.

I know I changed the direction of some student's lives. I am sure you will make an impact.

But..I also got burned out a few times...and left education for a few years...then went back...

[Lizita]

Just curious, is there anyone here that have taught in rural, low income schools, like in Appalachia? If so, are those kids any easier?

[psr13]

Originally Posted by Clevelander17

Really? That's not the case here. Most of the suburban public school districts in this part of Ohio pay significantly more (10-15%) than the urban districts do. The urban districts really don't have the money and it's not like the state has had the foresight to subsidize any policy to try to attract better teachers into urban districts through compensation.

Out here, low-income districts usually pay more. It's how they attract teachers. However, the money is not kept locally as it is in most states. The state doles out the money, and low-income schools actually receive more.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by Lizita

Just curious, is there anyone here that have taught in rural, low income schools, like in Appalachia? If so, are those kids any easier?

How about rural low-income BFE NC? I have heard that actually being in Appalachian schools cannot be compared to many places in America.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by Lizita

Just curious, is there anyone here that have taught in rural, low income schools, like in Appalachia? If so, are those kids any easier?

I've done rural, low-income as well as inner city.

The challenges are very similar and in some cases, the same. The details may be different in some cases, but the end result is the same. In both instances, you are faced with a large percentage of the population you are educating where home life obstacles tend to bleed into school performance. In both instances, you are dealing with limited funding for schools and the snowballing that occurs due to that. In both cases, you are dealing with a good deal of generational poverty and all the hurdles that entails.

[greenvillebuckeye]

Originally Posted by harrison21

That's regional. I'm originally from OH. The job market is so bad they don't have to "attract" teachers to inner city schools. They may not have quite as many applicants as the suburban schools, but they're still getting hundreds per job. Here in CO, I have noticed that many of the "rough" districts pay more because they actually do have trouble recruiting teachers, especially within certain certification areas.

i can speak for Northwest ohio more so than Cleveland in that Toledo Public was the place to try to get into due to it's very high starting salary for first year teachers and for the fact that by the time you retired with 30 years and a masters you'd be making close to 70 grand.

i remember interviewing for a job in kansas, Ohio (small town outside fremont, ohio) and the starting pay was $25,000 compared to $32,000 in Toledo Public.

[jasper12]

The oddest thing I found about working with inner city kids...was...the "attitude". Education is not valued by many of the families or the kids. They either think they can make more money without education, or working a job is foolish...because then you lose your benefits.

I taught SPED, and the only goals the parents wanted was to get their kids eligible for SSI.

[TabulaRasa]

Honestly, parental apathy and questionable ulterior motives ALWAY sucks, but short of abusive parents, I will take inner city "attitude" over that of the attitude coming from a few of the affluent suburbanites I've dealt with, any day.