Born on December 31, 1930 in Bolivia. Came to America in the 1960's to seek a better life. Took a teaching job in 1974 at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. This school was considered "run down" and was known for violence and drugs. The math class he was assigned to were the kids who were deemed "unteachable." He did his best to teach them anyway.
In 1984, his largest class took an advanced Calculus test. Because of the students backgrounds and race, many of their tests were considered "invalid" because the company believed they cheated. Escalante protested and a few months later, the students took the test again and passed, proving that they didn't cheat.
After Garfield High School, Escalante went on to teach at another high school in Sacremento, but did not find the same level of success. In 1998, he retired from teaching. In March of 2010, Escalante died after a long struggle with cancer.
Many consider Escalante one of the best teachers in history. A book called Jaime Escalante: The Best Teacher in America was published in 1988. A movie called Stand and Deliver, starring Edward James Olmos, was also made about him.
Good work!
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