--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poverty is so significant that we can't…" description: "\"Poverty is so significant that we can't expect to overcome the impacts of poverty in schools.\" — Michelle Rhee" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cb/michelle-rhee-22574_education_poverty-is-so-significant-that-we-can-t_383659.jpg" --- # Poverty is so significant that we can't expect to overcome… ![“Poverty is so significant that we can't expect to overcome the impacts of poverty in schools.” quote by Michelle Rhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cb/michelle-rhee-22574_education_poverty-is-so-significant-that-we-can-t_383659.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cb/michelle-rhee-22574_education_poverty-is-so-significant-that-we-can-t_383659.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cb/michelle-rhee-22574_education_poverty-is-so-significant-that-we-can-t_383659.jpg) > “Poverty is so significant that we can't expect to overcome the impacts of poverty in schools.” [Michelle Rhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-rhee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poverty’s deep impact on schools makes it unrealistic to expect full recovery without broader change. **In simple terms:** Poverty heavily harms schools; recovery needs more than school fixes. Key Takeaway Address poverty to improve education. Themes education poverty systemic inequality Mood concerned urgent Type policy social When to use this quote - policy reform - community programs - parental support Key Concepts social determinants school funding Questions to Reflect On - How can schools mitigate poverty’s impact? - What broader policies are needed? A Different Perspective School reforms alone cannot erase poverty’s effects. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Overcoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overcoming/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) ## Related quotes > [I'm asking for the vote of every single African-American citizen. You're living in poverty. Your schools are no good. 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I sometimes do volunteer work with kids, and manage to help some people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shirley/i-do-try-to-be-of-some-use-in-the-world-i-sometimes-do-volunteer-work/) [John Shirley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shirley/) > [The most significant moment will be when we stop referring to the hiring of qualified women (and racial, ethnic and religious minorities) as significant.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-trask/the-most-significant-moment-will-be-when-we-stop-referring-to-the/) Amy Trask > [In 1953, the United States played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. 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It will take a significant effort and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-pena/i-do-not-underestimate-the-difficulty-of-the-challenge-that-global/) [Federico Pena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-pena/) > [All significant concepts of the modern theory of the state are secularized theological concepts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/all-significant-concepts-of-the-modern-theory-of-the-state-are/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [Men who have lived significant lives are men who never waited: not for money, security, ease, or women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-deida/men-who-have-lived-significant-lives-are-men-who-never-waited-not-for/) [David Deida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-deida/) > [You can't have a movie with a group of people that are significant players in the story, that push forward the plot, without introducing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evangeline-lilly/you-can-t-have-a-movie-with-a-group-of-people-that-are-significant/) [Evangeline Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evangeline-lilly/) > [Nature will eventually do what nature has always done. It will respond in a self-stabilizing manner over the long term with moderate variability over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-h-sununu/nature-will-eventually-do-what-nature-has-always-done-it-will-respond/) John H. Sununu ## More by Michelle Rhee > [In schools where parent involvement is greater, you do have higher achievement levels and better functioning, better performing schools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rhee/in-schools-where-parent-involvement-is-greater-you-do-have-higher/) [Michelle Rhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-rhee/) > [My grandfather was a teacher, my grandmother on my mom's side, four of my aunts, my sister-in-law, my best friend. So I've always, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rhee/my-grandfather-was-a-teacher-my-grandmother-on-my-mom-s-side-four-of/) [Michelle Rhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-rhee/) > [There’s a belief now that the problem with our schools is parents, that if we just had better parents we would have better performing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rhee/there-s-a-belief-now-that-the-problem-with-our-schools-is-parents/) [Michelle Rhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-rhee/) > [That should be the goal, is that every kid in every neighborhood, despite whatever challenges they may face, are getting a great education in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rhee/that-should-be-the-goal-is-that-every-kid-in-every-neighborhood/) [Michelle Rhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-rhee/) > [If you grew up in a lower-income community, or less well-off, the belief is that the way to change that circumstance is through education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rhee/if-you-grew-up-in-a-lower-income-community-or-less-well-off-the/) [Michelle Rhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-rhee/) > [If a country puts its entire focus on making sure that the education system improves, then that's the kind of progress that you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rhee/if-a-country-puts-its-entire-focus-on-making-sure-that-the-education/) [Michelle Rhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-rhee/) > [We need to identify the least effective or ineffective teachers and for those people we need to either quickly accelerate their practice or move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rhee/we-need-to-identify-the-least-effective-or-ineffective-teachers-and/) [Michelle Rhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-rhee/) > [ I think that one thing that people are missing is that we are never going to be able to fix this country's \[American\] economy… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rhee/i-think-that-one-thing-that-people-are-missing-is-that-we-are-never/) [Michelle Rhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-rhee/) > [I believe that the teachers unions are doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing. 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But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [There's no authoritarian structure at Reed College, but the education is conservative. So what you have is a lot of students who are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/there-s-no-authoritarian-structure-at-reed-college-but-the-education/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [“What's the best thing about being in college? Good teachers. They inspire you, they entertain you, and you end up learning a ton even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/what-s-the-best-thing-about-being-in-college-good-teachers-they/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [“If one has not a head of steel it will burst; if he has not within it a brain of liquid quicksilver, he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ioannes-amos-commenius/if-one-has-not-a-head-of-steel-it-will-burst-if-he-has-not-within-it/) Ioannes Amos Commenius > [“let us not teach / what we have learned badly / and not profited by”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-d-hilda-doolittle/let-us-not-teach-what-we-have-learned-badly-and-not-profited-by/) H.D. (Hilda Doolittle > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. Our soul has lived so many lives that we know everything. Teachers and education can only remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/according-to-plato-we-don-t-learn-anything-our-soul-has-lived-so-many/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“I only began to enjoy studying after I got through the educational system and became a so-called member of society. If something interested me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-only-began-to-enjoy-studying-after-i-got-through-the-educational/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [English teachers tend to put more thought in the books than the author did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/english-teachers-tend-to-put-more-thought-in-the-books-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/when-will-society-like-a-mother-take-care-of-all-her-children/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) [Browse all 37,666 Education quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poverty is so significant that we can't expect to overcome the impacts of poverty in schools.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michelle Rhee" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rhee/poverty-is-so-significant-that-we-can-t-expect-to-overcome-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rhee/poverty-is-so-significant-that-we-can-t-expect-to-overcome-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cb/michelle-rhee-22574_education_poverty-is-so-significant-that-we-can-t_383659.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cb/michelle-rhee-22574_education_poverty-is-so-significant-that-we-can-t_383659.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9cb/michelle-rhee-22574_education_poverty-is-so-significant-that-we-can-t_383659.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poverty is so significant that we can't expect to overcome the impacts of poverty in schools.” — Michelle Rhee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Michelle Rhee", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-rhee/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Poverty is so significant that we...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rhee/poverty-is-so-significant-that-we-can-t-expect-to-overcome-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-rhee/poverty-is-so-significant-that-we-can-t-expect-to-overcome-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```