Title: Jaime Escalante | Encyclopedia.com
Headings: Escalante, Jaime: 1930—: Educator
Escalante, Jaime: 1930—: Educator
Jaime Escalante: 1930 —: Educator
Early Teaching Experience
At a Glance . . .
Immigrated to the United States
Challenged Students to Excel
Became a National Hero
Joined English for Children Initiative
Sources
Books
Periodicals
On-line
Jaime Escalante
Jaime Escalante
Public Acclaim
Program Continues
Further Reading

Content: In 1969 his second son, Fernando, was born, so his job and family were his first priorities. In 1973 Escalante earned a bachelor of arts degree from California State University. He also won a National Science Foundation scholarship, which allowed him to go to school full-time and complete his teaching certificate in just one year. In 1974 Escalante interviewed for teaching jobs with the Los Angeles Unified School District. He accepted a job as a computer teacher at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. The student body at Garfield was 95% Latino and 80% poor. When Escalante arrived, he quickly learned that there were no computers and that he would be teaching math instead. That was not his only disappointment at Garfield. The students were unruly, poorly educated, disrespectful, and sometimes violent, which was not what Escalante was accustomed to. " They were using their fingers adding stuff at the board," Escalante told People Weekly in April of 1988. "