Dear Editor,

I am a teacher in  a public High School that belongs to a low-income community in the town of Alicante and I would like to reflect on educational unfair conditions nowadays happening due to socioeconomic and racial issues.

Specially with the increasing phenomenon of immigration, there is a remarkable number of kids growing up in poverty, and their families can’t afford living in other areas but the problematic ones.  This means we find a concentration of these people in these particular areas.  As a result, schools and High Schools located in low-income communities have to deal with a situation where teaching the kids the different contents and procedures of the Curriculum is not enough. Many of them are 2-3 levels behind the standards and everyday they face extra challenges such as inadequate health care, nutrition, housing or family problems.

As teachers, we do not do them any favour by trying to apply the procedures used in high-income communities or by just complaining and not doing anything to make a difference. I guess it is just a matter of finding a balance between being realistic (and so parting from the students’ level and sociocultural conditions) and being idealistic and optimistic (and so thinking that every kid in our classroom has the potential to achieve). It is not easy. 

Best Wishes,

Laura Vázquez