Race and class often marginalize students in impoverished urban neighborhoods, and this reality is evident in consistently low student achievement in many of the schools in these neighborhoods. This study examines how a teacher's sense of agency can help mediate the detrimental impact of poverty on student achievement. Teachers in a large Northeastern urban school district (N = 1,019) were surveyed about how they perceive obstacles to student learning. The study shows that the ways in which teachers think about obstacles to student learning are strong predictors of student achievement regardless of poverty level. The study suggests ways teachers can achieve a greater sense of agency in the classroom.