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Portrait of a Young Urban Teacher

By Ariel Sacks

Every city in America is host to a significant number of “under-resourced,” “high-needs,” “inner-city,” and “high-poverty” schools. These terms hang heavy in the air as we speak them and linger on our minds when we stop to imagine what they mean.

Teachers who work at these schools, like myself, don’t have to stop to imagine. Every morning at 6:45 a.m., unlike most of my peers from high school and college, I leave my New York City apartment and enter a public school that has been labeled “failing.” Having attended only middle class suburban public schools myself, some of the conditions I have taught in more closely resemble those of third world countries I have visited.

The basic needs of the school and its community may not be met from one day to the next, creating a constant sense of instability. Students, teachers, parents, and principals all have reason to be angry over what often feels like an unworkable situation. These undercurrents of anger, even violence, are constantly begging to be overcome. My colleagues and I struggle daily to be competent teachers in this environment and to provide the educational opportunities to our students that every child...