> Just curious - what kind of school? <
Oh, sorry. I should have been more descriptive there. I taught in an urban (big city) public school district, high schools only. As I gained seniority, I was able to bid on better teaching positions. So I was in three different schools total.
Two were majority black. The other one was somewhat racially balanced. All of the students were poor. Student behavior and attendance was a serious problem.
But here’s the thing. The honors kids (black and white) were great, as good as any students at a fancy suburban school. So of course my district is shutting down the honors classes - those classes just don’t have the proper demographic mix.
As I noted earlier, urban schools are hopeless.
I'm not a teacher, but Its my pet peeve as well, as I watch developments, and attend school meetings regularly here in NY State. In the black/poor areas, they destroy the honors programs, which is at least a model for the all students and refuge for a few. And after that is destroyed, will try to restart one at a charter school.
My own kids' school, which is 96% white / Asian higher incomes and fewer discipline problems and strong parental input - even there, advanced programs are under assault around the edges from LAZY, STUPID and IDEOLOGICAL union/karen administrators who have wormed their way into positions of power. Another peeve is that most of these suburban parents are worried more about SPORTS, while my allies on the advanced programs are invariably the Chinese/Korean/Indian parents.