The Theme Of Poverty In The Wire And Hard Times

Central Theme: Poverty

A central theme that is evident about urban education is poverty. In both The Wire and Hard Times at Douglass High, the students, community, and schools all suffer from abject poverty. In Hard Times, the schools are not only understaffed; but two thirds of the teachers are non-certified and the remaining teachers are underqualified to teach the subjects assigned to them. The school is run down and overpopulated with not enough resources in the classroom for students to use and they don’t have enough funding to fix the school or run after school programs. This leads to the student’s destruction. In Hard Times, you have students who only show up to school because they have nowhere else to go, and on average, about three

Students who come from poverty stricken backgrounds typically do not have the opportunities in school or society that children from rich backgrounds do. In an area where poverty is an issue, you have schools who do not receive the same funding and resources that other institutions do. In addition, the teaching staff is typically underqualified. “Students in schools with high concentrations of low-income Black and Latino students are more likely to have inexperienced or unqualified teachers, fewer demanding college preparatory courses, more remedial courses, and higher teacher turnover (Lee, 2004).” Teachers are the background for student’s education. If the teachers do not care, then the students tend to give up easier as well. This leads to lower student achievement and a higher dropout rate. Students who are not being properly taught each individual subject are not only performing under their grade level, but they are failing standardized tests (Fergus). These students need extra help which the teachers are unable to give them and the schools being underfunded are unable to provide the extracurricular that certain students need. Children and families from poverty stricken backgrounds remain at a loss. Negative stereotyping of a family or child leads to educators creating a negative image of these families and therefore the students are already at a disadvantage not getting the attention they should from an educator. Every child is different and has different needs whether they come from a rich background, or abject poverty. Low- income and minority students are often viewed by school practitioners as “not ready” for school (Fergus). Before they even commit to an education, they are segregated based on demographics, not their learning