Teacher allocation policies and practices in many urban school districts result in inexperienced, poorly qualified, and unsatisfactory teachers being routinely placed in schools with large proportions of low-income students. This article addresses the limited attention that teacher assignment has received recently and suggests reasons why the topic has not been more prominent on the current educational reform agenda. Further research is called for in an effort to achieve a better understanding of the interests and structures associated with teacher allocation practices. Current initiatives and possible policy changes designed to mitigate the resulting inequities also are discussed.
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