Chain Gang Elementary
�In the first place, God created idiots. This was for practice. Then he created School Boards.� �Mark Twain

After a murder at Bonaire Elementary, Richard and Anna Lee Gray seek a good school for their son Nick in a safe neighborhood. Their search leads them to Malliford, a �school of excellence.� When redistricting sends scores of minority students to Malliford, iron-willed Principal Estelle Rutherford declares war on kids to raise test scores and save her reputation. Dissident parents revolt, electing Richard to head the Parent-Teacher Organization, and tensions explode. Welcome to Chain Gang Elementary, home to vast right-wing conspiracies, 3rd-grade gangsters,testing scandals, and bake sale embezzlers�where toxic childhood secrets boil over, reformers go stark raving mad, and culture wars escalate into armed conflict. A tale of war that is poignant, timely, and brutally funny, Chain Gang Elementary is a One Flew over the Cuckoo�s Nest for the K-6 world.

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�ON HONORS DAY, Alicia Rodriguez sobbed and searched the crowd for a friendly face. She found Richard Gray and gazed at him plaintively. They both knew the deal. He had coaxed her off the bus on the first day of school. Malliford was great, he told her. She would make lots of friends. But those were lies. Now the seven-year-old was in tears, publicly humiliated. How could he allow this after making such promises?

And there he had it: The little girl was a human sacrifice to test scores, and her treatment was a brutal refutation to Miz Rutherford�s clich�s about diversity. This was wrong, and Richard had to do something, even if it was loud and stupid.

It was a Popeye moment. Richard couldn�t stand any more. If he�d had a can of spinach, he would have swallowed it in one gulp. Instead of a whistle blast from a corncob pipe, there was a scratchy squeak of chair legs as he stood. Three hundred people in the auditorium turned to stare at the PTO president, wondering what the crazy fool who used a yo-yofor a gavel would do next.�
1102676851
Chain Gang Elementary
�In the first place, God created idiots. This was for practice. Then he created School Boards.� �Mark Twain

After a murder at Bonaire Elementary, Richard and Anna Lee Gray seek a good school for their son Nick in a safe neighborhood. Their search leads them to Malliford, a �school of excellence.� When redistricting sends scores of minority students to Malliford, iron-willed Principal Estelle Rutherford declares war on kids to raise test scores and save her reputation. Dissident parents revolt, electing Richard to head the Parent-Teacher Organization, and tensions explode. Welcome to Chain Gang Elementary, home to vast right-wing conspiracies, 3rd-grade gangsters,testing scandals, and bake sale embezzlers�where toxic childhood secrets boil over, reformers go stark raving mad, and culture wars escalate into armed conflict. A tale of war that is poignant, timely, and brutally funny, Chain Gang Elementary is a One Flew over the Cuckoo�s Nest for the K-6 world.

-----------------------------------
�ON HONORS DAY, Alicia Rodriguez sobbed and searched the crowd for a friendly face. She found Richard Gray and gazed at him plaintively. They both knew the deal. He had coaxed her off the bus on the first day of school. Malliford was great, he told her. She would make lots of friends. But those were lies. Now the seven-year-old was in tears, publicly humiliated. How could he allow this after making such promises?

And there he had it: The little girl was a human sacrifice to test scores, and her treatment was a brutal refutation to Miz Rutherford�s clich�s about diversity. This was wrong, and Richard had to do something, even if it was loud and stupid.

It was a Popeye moment. Richard couldn�t stand any more. If he�d had a can of spinach, he would have swallowed it in one gulp. Instead of a whistle blast from a corncob pipe, there was a scratchy squeak of chair legs as he stood. Three hundred people in the auditorium turned to stare at the PTO president, wondering what the crazy fool who used a yo-yofor a gavel would do next.�
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Chain Gang Elementary

Chain Gang Elementary

by Jonathan Grant
Chain Gang Elementary

Chain Gang Elementary

by Jonathan Grant

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Overview

�In the first place, God created idiots. This was for practice. Then he created School Boards.� �Mark Twain

After a murder at Bonaire Elementary, Richard and Anna Lee Gray seek a good school for their son Nick in a safe neighborhood. Their search leads them to Malliford, a �school of excellence.� When redistricting sends scores of minority students to Malliford, iron-willed Principal Estelle Rutherford declares war on kids to raise test scores and save her reputation. Dissident parents revolt, electing Richard to head the Parent-Teacher Organization, and tensions explode. Welcome to Chain Gang Elementary, home to vast right-wing conspiracies, 3rd-grade gangsters,testing scandals, and bake sale embezzlers�where toxic childhood secrets boil over, reformers go stark raving mad, and culture wars escalate into armed conflict. A tale of war that is poignant, timely, and brutally funny, Chain Gang Elementary is a One Flew over the Cuckoo�s Nest for the K-6 world.

-----------------------------------
�ON HONORS DAY, Alicia Rodriguez sobbed and searched the crowd for a friendly face. She found Richard Gray and gazed at him plaintively. They both knew the deal. He had coaxed her off the bus on the first day of school. Malliford was great, he told her. She would make lots of friends. But those were lies. Now the seven-year-old was in tears, publicly humiliated. How could he allow this after making such promises?

And there he had it: The little girl was a human sacrifice to test scores, and her treatment was a brutal refutation to Miz Rutherford�s clich�s about diversity. This was wrong, and Richard had to do something, even if it was loud and stupid.

It was a Popeye moment. Richard couldn�t stand any more. If he�d had a can of spinach, he would have swallowed it in one gulp. Instead of a whistle blast from a corncob pipe, there was a scratchy squeak of chair legs as he stood. Three hundred people in the auditorium turned to stare at the PTO president, wondering what the crazy fool who used a yo-yofor a gavel would do next.�

Product Details

BN ID: 2940013612259
Publisher: Thornbriar Press
Publication date: 07/15/2011
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 346 KB

About the Author

Jonathan Grant is an award-winning writer and editor (The Way It Was in the South: The Black Experience in Georgia). He publishes Georgia Colleges (www.georgiacollegesblog.com), a news website covering educational issues.

His new novel, Chain Gang Elementary (Thornbriar Press), tells the tragicomic story of a war between a reform-minded PTA president and an authoritarian principal. A Thousand Miles to Freedom, his screenplay based on the real-life adventures of escaped slaves William and Ellen Craft, was recently optioned to a Hollywood producer.

Grant grew up on a Midwestern farm and graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English. He is a former newspaper journalist and served for several years as a Georgia state government spokesman. He lives in suburban Atlanta with his wife and two children. Actively involved in community affairs, he has been a PTA president at a five-star School of Excellence, an elected member of his local school council, and a soccer coach for twelve seasons.

You may contact him at
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