This paper reports the results of a research study on educational authority in schools with a population of students of low socioeconomic status. The study's main objective is to characterise, from students' perspectives, teachers who have more authority, identifying differences by school. The study sample were 514 secondary school students, from six schools in the city of Santiago. The results indicate that students agree that teachers who exert greater authority are characterised for developing excellent teaching, establishing affective bonds with them, and applying strict behaviour norms. Finally, the study concludes by discussing the new meanings of authority that these students from poor areas of Chile are developing.