Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I agree it’s better to compare DC to cities rather than states. It is also not a fair comparison to look at low income students as all the same. It has to be a different environment when everyone is poor (VW) than to be poor in a city with some of the highest incomes in the nation. Your poverty is so much more pronounced and in your face.
I just talked about this in my post, but I would argue that being poor in a city has big advantages because you are more likely to get access to high quality public resources. Being poor in a very rural area means that you may have extremely limited access to libraries, museums, educational enrichment, the arts, or even being able to see and interact with highly educated people.
In DC public schools, even the most at risk kids get opportunities like touring Smithsonian museums, meeting Supreme Court justices, attending performances at the Kennedy Center, going to career days with lawyers and scientists and teachers and medical professionals, etc. Even the teachers themselves in DCPS are generally much higher educated than they would be in a rural area, with a high percentage having advanced degrees.
Yes, it's hard to be a have not surrounded by haves. But sometimes it's worse to be a have not surrounded by have nots, it you have any hopes of ever having more.