As the first period bell rang for classes to change, students filled the corridor with the distinct sounds of screaming, running, playing, varied conversations with colorful language (a lot of swearing), and teachers on hall duty vocally encouraging students to quickly return to their classrooms. This morning was typical for Sedgefield Middle School [pseudonym], which serves approximately 500 students and has a reputation as an educational war zone. I walked down the hallway toward the classroom feeling like a ball in a pinball machine wedged between energetic students.As I came around the corner, the click of the antiquated school intercom made a screeching noise as the assistant principal, in her proper and professional voice, began to speak. Mrs. Jenkins demanded silence and attention from the school as she made the announcements. Students, Sedgefield Middle School will have a faculty versus students basketball game on Wednesday, and the cost of admission will be four dollars. As she continued to make announcements, I thought to myself, Wow, four dollars is a lot of ... .Before my thought was completed, it was interrupted by a loud and intense conversation between two teachers, Mr. Taylor and Ms. Barnes. By this time, my stride had slowed as I stopped to hear the basis of the disagreement. Mr. Taylor, a middle-aged African American male, had taught at Sedgefield for 20 years and was often looked upon as the daddy of the school. He argued that the tickets for the basketball game were entirely too expensive, and a majority of students could not afford it. He felt the administration should have been more sensitive to the situations of students who could not afford to attend and would be penalized as a result of their economic situation. In addition, Mr. Taylor passionately exclaimed, price of tickets might as well have been 40 dollars.Ms. Barnes, also African American, had taught for three years at Sedgefield Middle School and had a reputation for being a very mean and nosy teacher. Ms. Barnes said students came to school daily with new hairdos, designer clothing and shoes, plenty of candy and snacks; if they could afford to buy such items, then spending four dollars on a basketball game should not be an issue. Ms. Barnes continued, We (faculty) should not feel sorry for these kids, because many of them attempt to con teachers out of money, and most students live better than we do ... often they're receiving food stamps and other government assistance.As I listened to both arguments, I made an effort to avoid judgment of either teacher, because I had understood both perspectives during my tenure as a teacher. However, I did want to understand the clear differences of opinion from these two teachers who taught the same population of students and spent the same amount of time with students. In particular, I wanted to know what factors contributed to the divergent thinking of each individual. The conversation between the teachers reflected prevalent attitudes that I have observed among middle-class African American teachers who educate poor African American students. The conversation also reminded me that, despite efforts to try to be sympathetic toward the plight of students who come from poverty, there are times when we are influenced by societal assumptions and stereotypes associated with poverty.Until a few years ago, I would have argued that many social injustices occurring in public schools were associated primarily with race. My argument concerning social injustice began to shifttoward social class because of the resource disparities I observed as an African American middle school teacher working with a large population of economically disadvantaged students. In his forecast for the future of U.S. educational equality in the new millennium, Adam Gamoran (2008) predicted a substantial decline in the effect of racial inequality on educational outcomes but, he contended that social class inequality would continue at the same rate it had in the past. …