In fact, the reality in most cities is that poor and minority youngsters are systematically taught by least qualified teachers. Teachers from struggling schools admit that their limited education and experience leaves them unprepared for teaching these complex student populations.

In Seattle, the data indicate that the students who are hurt by the uneven distributions of teachers are students in poverty, minorities and students with lower reading scores. Our analysis shows that in Seattle, high-performing elementary schools (with reading scores above the 60th percentile) average $41,100 per teacher. Low-performing schools (scores below 45th percentile) average $38,000. The same gaps in salary exist between schools with high and low concentrations of minorities and student poverty.

(Source: Marguerite Roza, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 9/24/00)