It's hard not to agree with the notion presented by Jill Tucker in this SF Chronicle article that "there is a particular type of teacher who wants to work in an urban environment," and that many teachers who are great "in schools with few challenges" would not make it in the inner city." That is why we have such a shortage of teaching talent in the toughest schools. That also explains why so many great teachers work their hearts out in the toughest schools for a certain time period and then use seniority rights to transfer to schools where better conditions allow for great teaching over a sustainable career. In my experience, those dedicated educators fret through months of
