Teachers in low-income communities put up with a lot, including low pay that barely puts them above the poverty level.

But sometimes it's the little things -- like a lack of staples and other school supplies -- that push these teachers over the edge and away from schools with such frustrating working conditions.

``At my other school, I couldn't make any copies myself,'' recalled Jesse Robinson, now a high school math teacher at San Jose's Downtown College Prep. Two years ago, Robinson left a low-income school in New York's South Bronx where getting homework assignments and even exams photocopied for her 100 students seemed to depend on the goodwill of the guardian of the Xerox machine.

But Robinson made a commitment to educating America's poor population, so she traded one under-resourced school for another. Luckily, she wound up at one that provides teachers with open access to the photocopier.

Resources for Indispensable Schools and Educators -- or RISE, as the San Francisco-based non-profit organization is known -- is trying to help teachers like Robinson find supportive work environments and stay there. Since its establishment three years ago, RISE has built up a referral network of 25 public schools serving poor communities in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Chicago. Late last week, it added Redwood City's Aurora High School and San Jose's Escuela Popular to the list.

``We must recognize that teacher shortages are selective,'' said Temp Keller, a former East Palo Alto Charter School teacher who founded RISE -- then called CharterTeach -- three years ago. ``They're selective by community. There's not a teacher shortage in Palo Alto. There is a teacher shortage in East Palo Alto.''

Robinson said RISE is an important resource for teachers like her, who struggle to follow through on their good intentions because they ``don't really know how to find a good environment.''

The annual teacher turnover rate at public schools where most students qualify for free- or reduced-lunch -- a marker of poverty -- is 20 percent, compared with 15 percent at all public schools, according to 2000-2001 national data cited by Richard M. Ingersoll, a University of Pennsylvania education professor who has been studying the issue for more than a decade.

Ingersoll believes RISE is ``a promising outfit.'' In fact, he joined its advisory board last year to work with one of the few efforts aimed at retention, rather than recruitment.

RISE aims to raise retention rates by providing its network of teachers with professional support and financial resources. For example, it puts like-minded teachers in touch with one another so they can swap stories and ideas, and offers 10 percent off purchases at Target. Perhaps most importantly, the organization screens schools to weed out frustrating workplaces.

``It's hard to last and be positive and proactive in public schools that are dysfunctional,'' Robinson said.

To get on RISE's list of gold-star public schools, the principal must submit an application detailing how teachers are supported on-site and included in decision-making. RISE asks about the school's enrollment and financial viability. It usually conducts one-on-one interviews with half of the school staff, according to Kristin Groos, the vice president of programs and development.

Then there's a site inspection, where RISE executives take note of chaotic passing periods between classes, excessive litter on campus and unprofessional demeanor among the office staff.

``They don't sound like the biggest things in the world, but they kind of give you a hint about the operations of the schools,'' said Jon Garcia, RISE's vice president of marketing.

However, none of those details -- good or bad -- are disclosed to teachers who look for reviews of RISE's recommended schools. Garcia acknowledged that the school profiles on RISE's Web site are self-descriptions -- often written by the principals and always untouched by RISE.

``We try to make people aware of the situation, but we haven't disclosed every possible thing,'' Garcia said.

While he noted that teachers ``for the most part have been very satisfied with the schools they are connected with,'' Garcia acknowledged that ``in some ways, we're not completely independent and objective. We want to help the schools.''

And in return, the schools help RISE by paying a $750 annual fee, which was reduced from $950 in April. That allows the schools to post jobs on RISE's Web site and cull the organization's database of teachers who have at least one year of experience teaching in a low-income community where they have raised student achievement (usually measured by test results). The database currently contains profiles of 127 teachers, who join for free.

RISE seeks schools where principals have hiring authority, which is one reason its network contains mostly charter schools. School districts usually handle the hiring process for traditional public schools.

Rosa Plaza, associate director of the charter school Escuela Popular, said tapping into RISE's network reduces her costs and headaches.

``We're not experts in recruiting, so it's really difficult for us to find the time and know where to go,'' said Plaza, who had been posting job openings on Monster.com and recently hired a consultant for about $75 an hour to help fill eight teaching positions by Aug. 18.

RISE hopes to have 360 schools in a national network by 2007. But not everyone makes the cut. The organization said it has turned away nine schools, including the Aurora charter school, which was under different leadership when it applied in 2001. Back then, it appeared to RISE that the school ``literally had people just punching the clock'' and its staff ``didn't seem to be super-motivated,'' Garcia said.

But now that the school is under new management, RISE took a second look. Aurora is in ``a turn-around situation'' and has a better chance of fostering a good environment, Garcia said.

It may be a bit early to judge RISE's effectiveness, especially since it has placed only 24 teachers. Still, the overall attrition rate for those teachers was 20 percent over the past three years -- far better than the national rate of 20 percent each year.