It isn't very common that a teenager from the "ghetto" gets accepted into prestigious a four year institution, while that's the norm for wealthy teenagers. For example, the School Accountability Report Card for Richmond high school only had thirty one percent of students complete the courses required for CSU/UC admission. Richmond high school only offers eleven AP courses, unlike Miramonte high school which offers 34. It would be surprising to hear of a Richmond high school student get accepted into a school such as Stanford with a lack of AP course experience. Some students just have more chances and help to succeed than others.
Although effort and hard work are key factors for success, they are not the only factors. The teaching standards and expectations for students deteriorates going down the social ladder. The resources that the schools have aren't as different as the teaching that goes on. Anyon categorized the schools she went to into five different categories: working class, middle-class, affluent professional and executive elite. In working class schools, "work is following the steps of a procedure" (Anyon 167), in middle-class schools, "work is getting the right answer" (170), in affluent professional schools, "work is creative activity carried out independently" (172), and in executive elite schools, "work is developing one's analytical intellectual powers"(175). Students are taught differently at every social class. The teachers in the lower classes don't care about the children or their future, but instead, are just there to get their paychecks. The teachers for the executive elite, on the other hand, give as much help as they possibly can to their students and give them the freedom to broaden their learning. Critics have pointed out that "knowledge and skills leading to social power and regard are made available to the advantaged social groups but are withheld from the working classes"(Anyon 164).