I've had these kids in my classes and reading this article was really painful. I don't know how they make it through the day most of the time and I can certainly understand any "lack of interest" they might show about classwork. It's amazing how much press the "evil" and "useless" teachers get and the "awful" and "poorly run" schools get, but how little serious conversation the impact of students' lives outside of school on their education gets. Standards and testing and accountability and even more school funding aren't going to solve these societal issues and help guide these kids to ANY kind of future.
http://graphics.latimes.com/san-bernardino-motel/?src=longreads