The Battle for Room 314
My Year of Hope and Despair in a New York City High School
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"In the tradition of the classic Up The Down Staircase comes an unforgettable book about a year inside a troubled New York City school. In a fit of idealism, Ed Boland left a twenty-year career as a non-profit executive to teach in a tough New York City public high school. But his hopes quickly collided headlong with the appalling reality of his students' lives and a hobbled education system unable to help them: Jay runs a drug ring for his incarcerated brother; Nee-cole is homeschooled on the subway by her brilliant homeless mother; and Byron's Ivy League dream is dashed because he is undocumented. In the end, Boland isn't hoisted on his students' shoulders and no one passes AP anything. This is no urban fairy tale of at-risk kids saved by a Hollywood hero, but a searing indictment of reform-minded schools that claim to be progressive but still fail their students. Told with compassion, humor, and a keen eye, Boland's story will resonate deeply with anyone who cares about the future of education. "--
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Let me start by telling you the ending....
**SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!**
...he quits.
Yes, he gives it a year, one year, and he tosses in the towel.
But I will tell you that after I read chapter one I doubted he'd make it through the first semester. Those kids are difficult. Exhausting. (Almost?) impossible.
This book just left me with lots of questions for the Powers That Be. What could have been done to keep this teacher in the classroom? What support did he need that he didn't get? Is this what goes on in lots of schools? Should we just give up on some schools? Are there teachers who are doing well in schools like these?
The author, in the final chapter, runs across a fellow who has been given an exceptional education and now has opportunities to either go into a lucrative career or teaching. The author writes up a wonderful letter to this fellow, sharing thoughts about ways his teaching could have been better. It's quite wise for a man who gave it a year in the trenches.
It's a downer, but it's a story you need to hear, whether you are a teacher in a similar situation or just a member of our American society. It's a story you need to hear and think about. We have to do better. We just do.
