Title I schools are absolutely essential for low-income neighborhoods. They ensure children are given the same opportunities across the board, no matter their background. When it comes to Title I funding, they’re supposed to be distributed to programs and teachers, ideally. However, one Georgia teacher points out the uniquely negative experiences Title I schools have. These kids are being left in the dust because they’re facing problems outside school, too.
TikToker Mrs. Williams (TikTok/Badlandshfk) was very forward and honest with her experience working in Title I schools. The hardships the students face are in part worsened by the poverty of their own home. And it’s because of students’ problems that Mrs. Williams doesn’t want to hear opinions on education from people who’ve never endured it themselves.
“I’m dealing with kids that are surviving poverty,” Mrs. Williams says, but also makes it clear it has nothing to do with who’s the better person. Rather, Mrs. Williams has seen the real issue first hand.
She claims a 16-year-old student has been prostituting herself at night, for example. Another student found her mother dead because she was “addicted to drugs.” Try dealing with that and getting at a passing grade.
Mrs. Williams says she’s speaking up because she wants politicians to understand what she and others deal with each day. She says politicians want to “control” public schools even though “they themselves never went to a public school.”
These are the politicians in charge of funding, and what gets priority. And as she adds, “Education is political, and racism and classism play a major role. I live in Georgia, where gerrymandering is a significant problem and disproportionately affects red states.”
Her classroom now is vastly different from her prior position at a boarding school in a wealthy area. According to Mrs. Williams, the kids would come to school “exceeding grade level” and she felt as if she had no purpose being there. Now, she feels like her “presence” matters more in Title I schools.
The comment section was abuzz with other teachers sharing their stories and the harm poverty causes.
One commenter bluntly stated, “Poverty is violence.” It’s hard to argue otherwise. Food stamps and social programs literally save lives.
“I currently have a student that has lived without electricity for months now,” shared one teacher. They also add they’re personally washing that student’s laundry, too.
These Title I schools aren’t a joke. It’s grim. Teachers like Mrs. Williams are making an incredible sacrifice, and they’re awesome for doing so, but they shouldn’t have to. They should be afforded higher education, the same as everyone else. You uplift so many people out of poverty that way.
