For Real, For Real: The Entirely True Story of a First-Time Teacher and an Inner-City School

"You tryin' to change us?" A few seconds into my first class ever, a student asked a question that had no answer. Then, he walked out. It was a fitting introduction to City High, inner-city education, and what would soon become the most challenging experience of my entire life. I was a white, middle-class, Midwestern man thrown into a Philadelphia school that had performed so poorly it was surrendered to state control. My next two years as a teacher at City High were hectic, heartbreaking, ...