Jaime Escalante
...s in the United States he decided to enroll at Pasadena City College, a college known for offering the tools of success to new immigrants. He took the entrance exams and finished the two-hour math placement test, which included calculus and trigonometry, in 30 minutes. He got 100 percent (Santana 2). He began taking classes in the evening after he finished work. “After class were over, I always stayed either in the library or in the classroom until security asked me to leave,” Escalante said. “That was the only time I had for homework.” After attending evening classes for four years Escalante graduated from PCC. Immediately after graduating, Burroughs Corp., in Pasadena offered him a supervisor’s job in a new plant in Guadalajara, Mexico (Santana 3). Escalante declined the offer and furthered his education at Cal State Los Angeles, and in 1974, he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in math and electronics. The Los Angeles Unified School District officials offered him three different teaching jobs in Latino communities. He was offered to teach computers at Garfield High School however due to the schools recent budget cuts he was forced to teach Remedial math instead. Escalante was so discouraged by his students’ poor preparations that after only two hours in class he called his former employer and asked for his old job back. Escalante decided not to return back to his old computer factory job after he found a dozen basic math students who were willing to take algebra. He then decided to share some of his “ganas” and after his fifth year of teaching at Garfield he decided to try to teach inner city students calculus (Jesness 3). With support from the principal and a few faculty members he was able to create a successful math department. Escalante allowed open enrollment. If students wanted to take his classes, he let them. Escalante felt that every student was ‘gifted’ and through hard work and desire Escalante prepared his students for the AP calculus exam. He offered 7-week accelerated summer courses, tutoring and volunteered his time to teach algebra to eighth and ninth grade middle school students. Escalante was sometimes criticized for being too strict. One assistant principal threatened to have him dismissed, on the grounds that he was coming in too early (a janitor had complained), keeping students too late, and raising funds without permission (Jesness 5). The principal supported Escalante and gave him keys to the school and full control over the math department. He had only five calculus students in 1979, two passed the A.P test. The second year, he had nine calculus students, seven passed the A.P test. The number of successful students began to rise and his critics began to quiet. However, in 1982 when sixteen of his sixteen students passed the A.P calculus exam with multiple, similar wrong answers, the eternity of himself and his students was questioned by the school district and government. Escalante’s s...