‘Master Teacher, Envious System’ is the article I read with students every year. In the article, Gary North goes into great detail how the taxpayer funded public school system conspired to end all of the amazing things Escalante had accomplished at Garfield High School. The power of envy, as well as the System’s inability to handle a hard worker and high performer like Escalante, pushed him out.
The movie, “Stand and Deliver”, came out in 1988. By 1992, Escalante resigned.
In this episode, I discuss some of the details. Escalante was an amazing coach / teacher who not only inspired his students, but also got great long term results. The hurdles he overcame are not mentioned anywhere except in the linked biography.
The connection between funding and performance is exploded, but not mentioned directly, in the movie. The chairwoman of the Math department laments that the students can’t learn until the socioeconomic status of the neighborhood is raised first. Escalante’s words and deeds show that to be pure nonsense. Funding has nothing to do with intelligence or school performance. Culture, expectations, consequences, attitude, consistency, all seem to have more of a role than per pupil spending, or socioeconomics. Thomas Sowell has shown repeatedly that the poor Jewish neighborhoods of the lower east side in Manhattan, as well as the poor black neighborhood in Harlem vied for excellent academic performance before the 1960’s.
Escalante’s teaching instincts were fabulous. He was against bilingual education, after being for it. He realized that camaraderie, discipline and caring could all be mixed together in a classroom. He got results. I know it sounds conspiratorial, but he did the thing that the Top of the Pyramid hates. He showed that intelligence is everywhere. Our leaders, who try to convince us that they are the “best and the brightest”, are no better or smarter than any of us.
Escalante showed us that the emperors have no clothes. That simply could not stand.
Escalante Every Year