Is it politics? Teachers unions? Getting good admin people? What's holding back these places from getting ahead?
As a comparison, my sister lives on the outskirts of a large metro area and their school has been teaching STEM for almost 10 years now.
Politics is involved through school boards where an understanding of education is not really considered a job requirement. And at state and national levels it's difficult to fix problems that are uniquely local.
Teachers Unions can create the wrong incentives in a district.
Good Admin people are hard to find and bad ones make the working environment unplatable for good teachers.
Add in money as well for some districts.
Personally, I think the problem is that the public school system can't work well enough in poor areas. I think those children need a completely different education system to work for them (longer hours, after school programs, school uniforms!, etc).
There is no motivation for someone to teach in inner cities beyond a sense of civic duty. I live in a city with terrible (unaccredited) schools. Students in those schools are often openly hostile to teachers and faculty. Administration is often on the verge of a breakdown due to the pressure to "turn things around." Why would anyone want to teach there? I know I didn't want to.
If you think it's a travesty that talented and bright teachers want to avoid inner cities then you should do it yourself. That's what I say to anyone who brings this up. Often I will be told, "But that's where you're needed!"
"So are you," is my response.
>>> If you think it's a travesty that talented and bright teachers want to avoid inner cities then you should do it yourself.
I can't argue with you there.
They also are learning about programming and other really technical stuff I was surprised to hear about. The other thing which was nice to hear is how they foster kids to learn and enjoy math - something I missed out on until I was in college and had a professor who really gave me a sense of how wonderful mathematics can be, not just a means to an end.