Poverty Sucks!

I am impacted everyday by poverty and it is absolutely devastating! Over 75% of the student body at Westwood High School receive free or reduced lunch. It is an extremely poor and transient neighborhood. The implications of poverty are very clear. Westwood High School is an under-achieving school when it comes to test scores, overall school grades, attitude, and self-concept. Most of this is clear only in comparison to other schools. But due to the diverse population of Westwood and the fact that there is an International Baccalaureate program on campus, the most drastic difference is the parental involvement. The high income, high achieving IB student families are super involved and interested in their child's education. The lower income, lower achieving student families are much less involved and seemingly not at all bought in to the value and importance of an education. One of the biggest tragedies I see is that many of the students have very little desire to pursue higher education. This impacts the students in that there is very little motivation to do their best in school, because as long as they get their diploma, nothing else matters to them.