<p>My children attended an urban high school where the majority of students received free or reduced lunch.</p>
<p>When students signed for classes each year, physics was an option. However, whether school actually had a physics class depended on the number of students who registered for it. I think they needed a minimum of 24 students. And teacher would sometimes have to cajole a few more students into taking class when number was close, but not quite 24. </p>
<p>School board wanted to maximize class sizes so teachers weren’t being paid to teach only small numbers of students. Families who live in well funded school districts with lots of professional level parents have no idea of educational and economic challenges that go on in many urban high schools.</p>
<p>Of course, savy parents usually had a plan B of sending student to local junior college when class was not offered at high school. What I found sad though, was the number of students who intended to study sciences in college who didn’t take physics in high school. I think our school needed to do a better job of saying “Yes physics can be a demanding subject to study, but it provides a foundation for your college courses.” And “you should definitely take physics if you plan to study engineering or science in university.”</p>