The Battle for Room 314
Page 23
Not necessarily. In a compelling twist, many of the most effective steps we can take to alleviate poverty will not require higher taxes, and in some cases could even reduce them. Take, for example, passing living wage legislation, reforming immigration policy, or addressing the fact that we have the largest incarcerated population in the history of the world (the majority of whom are nonviolent). Other initiatives such as universal pre-K and broader health-care coverage would require more tax dollars, but there are compelling arguments that they would pay for themselves in relatively short order. And even if it does cost money, somehow we found the funds to spend $3 trillion on two recent wars of doubtful legitimacy and efficacy and last year racked up $60 billion in prison expenses.
Let me add a little international inspiration to the mix. Much has been written about Finland, widely considered to have one of the world’s most successful and rigorous educational systems. It has been first among nations—or close to first—in several key global assessments including the vaunted PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) test. Despite outspending nearly every other country in education, the United States is very much in the middle of the pack in PISA results. But what is less well known about Finland is that only sixty years ago it had a lackluster record in education. In post–World War II Finland, just 10 percent of students graduated from high school. With a concerted national will, thoughtful education policy, and a strong social safety net, they have risen to the top. South Korea, another leader in several key measures, has made a similar meteoric rise during roughly the same period of time. In short, nations can and have drastically changed their educational destinies in short order, and so can we. (It’s worth noting that when you break down the PISA results, it’s America’s poverty that is bringing its results down: Higher-income American students and states score right near the top of the global heap.)
All this might sound like tired, lefty hippie talk, but it’s true. Simply put, the American Dream, the truest manifestation of a functioning democracy, has never been more at risk, and only the twin movements of poverty eradication and education reform will revive it.
If we are proactive, informed, and realistic, if we give up our childish hopes for silver bullets and quick fixes, if we move beyond lip service and really make these movements a central part of the national agenda, there is surely hope that we can achieve the full promise of our democracy.
I realize that all these things are infinitely easier said than done, but what endeavor is more worthy or critical? Every great social movement—abolition, suffrage, and the early civil rights movement—has seemed ludicrously unrealistic at its outset, but utterly inevitable at its attainment. We are the richest and most powerful nation on earth, and we can enlist some of the most gifted problem solvers in the world in the struggle. If we choose, we can create an ethical and effective educational system that can be our greatest and most lasting legacy.
It can, and it must, be done.
Acknowledgments
I have many people to thank for making this memoir a reality. Its creation was improbable, lengthy, and complicated.
Mindy Lewis was the loving midwife of its birth. She taught me when to push, how to breathe, and when to scream. Because of her, I walked into the Writer’s Voice classroom at the West Side Y never having written a single word and walked out a published author.
Tricia Boczkowski has been a tireless champion of the book, even when it was little more than a random string of frantically told anecdotes on the beach on Fire Island. Her hand holding, advocacy, and keen eye at every step made the book possible. Similarly, Piper Kerman showed me how memoir writing is done and offered great encouragement all along the way.
I am endlessly grateful to my agent, Jim Levine, of Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary Agency, whose passionate interest in education led him to see the promise of this project where others only saw doubt. We were connected by the late Peter Workman, not only a giant in the field of publishing, but a true mensch.
My deepest thanks go to my editor at Grand Central Publishing, Emily Griffin, for her perpetual encouragement, patience, and tireless work on every aspect of this book. Throughout the process, she was true to her word that she is a writer’s editor. I appreciate Jamie Raab’s and Rick Wolff’s willingness to take a risk on a first-time author, and Sonya Cheuse for her early advocacy.
I am grateful for the deep thinking of Professor Meira Levinson of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, who knocked quite a bit of sense into both my final chapter and me. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Andrew Solomon and James Ryan for being early and vocal champions of the project. Sheila Adams, Franchesca Diaz, James Ding, Leslie-Bernard Joseph, Dan-el Padilla Peralta, Milly Silva, and Jennifer Wynn were thoughtful readers and sources of inspiration from “Project Advance.” My colleagues, in particular my terrifically supportive boss, were with me throughout this long journey and offered tremendous encouragement. My fellow students at the Writer’s Voice served up the perfect blend of critique and reassurance at the early stages of the book. The gang at Above and Beyoncè were my tireless cheerleaders.
Each of these trusted and incisive readers prodded me to a better book: Adina Popescu Berk, David Boyer, Lisa Cashin, Doris Davis, Lou and Maggie DiFabio, Heidi Dorow, Rachel Ehrlich, Ivelys Figueroa, Doni Gewirtzman, Diana Y. Greiner, Sara Gurwitch, Holly Link, Glenn Mason, Lissa Perlman, Tashi Ridley, Larry Smith, David Suisman, David Thorpe, Nutty Trimarco, Julie Veltman, and Chandler Wells.
Other champions of the project include: Rose Arce, Susie Bartlett, Jake Bowers, April Salazar Froncek, Jeff Lee, Robert Levy, Arlene Malave-Vazquez, Christoph Marshall, Lisa Martin, Alberto Orso, Francesca Ryan, Erin Shigaki, Sherry Susiman, Ellen Umansky, and Rhonda Zapatka.
I appreciate the students, teachers, and staff from my time teaching for lending me their lives, stories, and voices in the hope of bringing greater awareness to the state of education and the American underclass today, particularly my students J. and S. To my own teachers, stretching from first grade with Sister Concepta to college with Dr. Irma Jaffe, I am indebted.
To my loving family—both immediate and extended, including the Alexanders, Attis, Kantors, Herbies, and Zalutskys—whose genes crackle with storytelling DNA, thank you. My parents, Julie and Dave, have been behind me every step of the way, and my sisters have it made their lives’ work to help the disenfranchised; they deserve far more credit than I do. And finally, to Sam, to whom this book is dedicated, for just about everything.
About the Author
ED BOLAND has dedicated his entire professional life to nonprofit causes as a fundraiser and communications expert. He has worked predominantly for educational institutions, but also for arts and social service organizations. Boland was an admissions officer at his alma mater, Fordham, and later at Yale, and taught in China as a Princeton in Asia fellow. An avid volleyball player and cook, he lives in New York with his husband, filmmaker Sam Zalutsky.
Reading Group Guide
Questions for Further Discussion
What was your immediate feeling upon finishing the book? Did you feel angry, inspired to create change, or hopeless? Or did you find things to be hopeful about in Ed Boland’s letter to a young teacher?
Boland received so much contradictory advice about teaching. What is the secret to being a great teacher? Who was the most transformative teacher you had, and why?
To what extent do you think we can hold schools accountable for solving broader social problems?
What did you find to be the hardest part of Boland’s experience at the school?
Why do you think so many teachers burn out? What can schools be doing to attract and retain great teachers?
Boland was very different from his students in terms of age, race, and sexual orientation, each of which presented challenges for him. Do these categories matter in teaching? How would you have dealt with those kind of barriers?
Did Boland leave teaching too early? Would you have stuck it
out?
If you had to design a reform-minded school, what elements would you put in place? Why?
How is being a high school student different today than it was a generation ago? What kind of experience did you have in school?
What do you hope for next for the students in the book?
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Epigraph
Prologue: Chantay
Chapter 1: The Good Ol’ Days
Chapter 2: Best Practices
Chapter 3: Nemesis
Chapter 4: Nowhere Over the Rainbow
Chapter 5: Powers of Ten
Chapter 6: Sweet Jesús
Chapter 7: Lord Byron
Chapter 8: Free Freddy!
Chapter 9: My Funny Valentina
Chapter 10: Old School
Chapter 11: Lil’ Mickey, a Disciple of Soul
Chapter 12: The Ivy Curtain
Chapter 13: Massacre of the Innocents
Chapter 14: Point of No Return
Chapter 15: Pomp and Circumstance
Epilogue: A Message to Charles
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Reading Group Guide
Newsletters
Copyright
Names and identifying characteristics have been changed. Some individuals are composites and certain events have been reordered and/or consolidated.
Copyright © 2016 by Edward Boland
Reading Group Guide Copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Cover design by Brian Christopher King
Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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ISBN 978-1-4555-6060-8
E3-20160627-PC-DA