During my eleven years as a New York City public school teacher, I saw firsthand the impact that poverty has on the classroom. In low-income neighborhoods like Sunset Park, where I taught, students as young as five years old enter school affected by the stresses often created by poverty: domestic violence, drug abuse, gang activity.
![During my eleven years as a New York City public school teacher, During my eleven years as a New York City public school teacher, Image](https://www.idlehearts.com/images/during-my-eleven-years-as-a-new-york-city-public-school-teacher.jpg?x85372)