Math Teacher Jamie Escalante?

Question

In 1974, Mr. Escalante was hired as a basic mathematics teacher at Garfield High School, a troubled inner-city school in East Los Angeles. He attracted national attention with his spectacular success teaching advanced mathematics to gang members and other students who had been considered "unteachable."

What are your thoughts about this great math teacher who made high school math easy for ghetto students?

Your view?

Answer 1

first of all african americans are not ghetto im white and thats very racist  black people should be treated with respect

Answer 2

That is great and his teaching style should be emulated nationwide.

Answer 3

wicked

Answer 4

Impressive story. I wish all of the teachers in Baltimore were like this!! We need more teachers like this and Obama understands this!

Answer 5

I think Stand and Deliver is a great movie!

Answer 6

first  - the use of ghetto is considered a slur.

The area around Garfield high school includes single family homes and the families there would have a hard time with the word ghetto.

It was a movie. No disrespect to Mr Escalante - he is an important part of our history here. But it was a movie.

The key to remember is that he was a hard working, dedicated teacher who would not settle for the status quo. He pushed his administration for things that they thought were only for "better" schools. That thinking was rampant at the time. 11 years before he started - the East LA walkouts were a signal that there was something seriously wrong with the system in LA Unified.

It wasnt easy! those *kids* worked their tails off.

It took Mr Escalante 5 years to even get a calculus class he wanted - and it was a special program with limited students still.

The way I try to honor Mr Escalante is to not put him on a pedestal - It wasnt a fluke! There are hundreds of thousands of dedicated and impressive teachers that advocate for their own students. Every single student deserves as much. I don't listen to anyone who says that my students are inferior (or live in a ghetto - just another way some use to patronize)