I know poverty. I’ve been on welfare. I’ve worked on the factory floor. I’ve been laid off. And I’ve had some breaks: I got encouragement from a great caseworker at the welfare office and wound up getting a good education, including an Associate’s Degree, a BA, and an MA. I’m not poor now, but through the years I have continued to learn from people in low-income communities who have a lot to teach us all about fighting poverty. In fact, I learned a lesson that is relevant to addressing the effects of poverty in classrooms all over the country. That lesson came from parents in the low-income community of Lawrence, Massachusetts.
