Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/48466
a student at Riverside Community College and a member of Student CTA. Herrin has recently divorced and is rent- ing rooms from relatives. She has applied for financial assistance. If her car breaks down, she fears, she won't be able to commute to campus, an hour away. "The only way I can support myself and my children is by getting a degree. It's tak- ing longer than I thought it would take. But I'm hoping that once I transfer and earn a bachelor's degree, I'll get a job." OBSTACLES CREATED BY POVERTY Poor children are just as capable of suc- cess as affluent students, but they face more obstacles. "They are not read to aloud as often or exposed to complex language and large vocabularies," says Richard Rothstein, a for- mer research associate of Economic Policy Institute and an education author. "Their parents have low-wage jobs and are more ABOVE: Jaime Ramirez works one-on-one with Victor Torres at Mann School in Anaheim. frequently laid off, causing family stress and more arbitrary discipline. The neighbor- hoods through which these children walk to school and in which they play have more crime and drugs and fewer adult role mod- els with professional careers. Such children are more often in single-parent families and so get less adult attention. They have fewer cross-country trips, visits to museums and zoos, music or dance lessons, and organized sports leagues to develop their ambition, cultural awareness and self-confidence. Each of these disadvantages makes only a small contribution to the achievement gap, but cumulatively, they explain a lot." Multiple studies show children living in poverty are at greater risk of emotional problems including anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. Chronic stress has been shown to adversely affect concentration and memory in children, which can impact their ability to learn. "Our kids feel more stress," says Ana- heim Elementary Education Association member Sara Camm, a sixth-grade teacher at Orange Grove Elementary School, which serves low-socioeconomic students. "Stu- dents come to school upset. They say their parents are fighting all the time. Parents are trying to make ends meet and don't intend for their actions to stress out their kids, but it happens." Children in low-income families are LOW-INCOME STUDENTS DEPRIVED OF EQUAL EDUCATION A report from UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access shows that California's low-income students suf- fer disproportionately compared to more affluent students. Among findings: California schools serving 90 percent more Latino, African American and Native American students are the most likely to be critically overcrowded. High-poverty schools are almost three times as likely as low-poverty schools to eliminate summer school outright. Teacher layoffs are more than four times as likely to be reported at high- poverty schools as low-poverty schools. Budget cuts affect access to learning materials, which parents of poor stu- dents can't afford. Programs outside the instructional core (of reading and math) have been cut back or eliminated, with many costs shifted to parents. Local strategies aimed at filling budget gaps are likely to exacerbate inequali- ties. On average, low-poverty schools in the study have received $167,797 in donations, or roughly eight times as much as high-poverty schools, which have received $21,319. more prone to asthma, resulting in sleep- lessness, irritability and lack of exercise, which can result in obesity, say studies. As a result, they are absent more. "Poverty clearly affects children's readi- ness to learn and their success on standard- 18 California Educator / November 2011 ABOVE: Janine Ranes helps student Adrian Preciado at Paul Revere Elementary School in Anaheim.