"schools are not "traumatized by poverty" to some unprecedented degree. recent decades have had the least poverty in american history." I don't know where cats like you live, but there is a poverty problem here in the United States. Blox has hands on experience and makes some very good points. I'm not even a teacher but I could imagine and understand how difficult and sad it would be to try and teach anything to a classroom full of kids where probably half of them live under the constant anxiety of financially stressed out parents. The reason I am pointing this out is because it is always a subject that is overlooked in education.