As a former teacher in the deep south, it was much easier to teach in a classroom where the students come from similar cultures (in this sense, I meant values), so I see where Bostonian was going with his/her statement. That said, I don't disagree with you, Austin, in fact, quite the opposite. It's the reason I stopped teaching where I was - lack of parent/community support, no accountability for teachers (both for that which was bad and good) and horrible administration.