We mourn the passing of Jaime Escalante, one of America's foremost educators in the late 20th century, a classic "immigrant success story" in his own right, an inspiration for both KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) and TFA (Teach for America), the subject of a superb book and a??fine movie, and, above all, the teacher who--to the enormous consternation and resentment of his colleagues--demonstrated that, yes, poor inner-city minority kids can indeed??learn calculus and go to college, too, if??properly taught by instructors who know their stuff and care about their pupils. American education reform and reformers over the past three decades owe an enormous debt to his example and his inspiration. (Photograph from The Futures Channel)
--Chester E. Finn, Jr.
