He has ensured that the school district supports the needs of students living in poverty, students facing trauma, special education students, undocumented students, LGBT students, English Learners, standard English learners and foster children.
But challenges posed by a high-poverty student population remain daunting, no matter the sauce.
During his tenure, he's also had to deal with a high-poverty student population and declining enrollment, which has shown signs of a small reversal.
In math, Michigan's students in 2015 showed no improvement at all over students from 2000, and while the gap between White and Black students did narrow from 45 points in 2000 to 35 points in 2015, the gap between students in poverty and student not in poverty was essentially unchanged in the same period.
Joel I. Klein, the chancellor of the New York City school system, which is competing for Race to the Top money, said Congress should save the $800 million elsewhere, even if it meant cutting federal aid for schools with high-poverty students.
It cuts across socioeconomic divides, exemplified by impressive performances of high-poverty students in Brownsville, Tex., who have whipped privileged Manhattan rivals — "kids who get individual lessons from grandmasters," she said — and shown how "a boost in self-confidence can change lives".
Why should high-poverty students deserve anything less?
What "choice" really means for K-12 education takes school funding, resources and services away from high-poverty students.
Chronic absenteeism -- defined as missing at least 10percentt of school days -- is more prevalent among high-poverty students.
One preschool chain specifically caters to high-poverty students under age 3. A New York nonprofit gives educators access to social workers and training to work with struggling students.
