Britney Callahan: ‘High poverty’ doesn’t mean failure

The Oct. 13 news article “Year-round calendar mulled for 12 schools” left me concerned for Wake County students rather than focused on the topic of year-round schools.

I was left with the impression that because a school is considered “high poverty” it must also have students with low achievement rates.

As someone who attended a “high-poverty” school for many years, I can say that achievement is not based on wealth. Achievement is based on hard work and the amount of support someone receives, not the amount of money a family has.

The purpose of school is to develop a love for learning, not for kids to be told that they need to be wealthy in order to achieve greatness. If this has become the purpose of school, then our system has failed.

This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Britney Callahan: ‘High poverty’ doesn’t mean failure."