Jaime Escalante

Jaime Alfonso Escalante Gutiérrez (December 31, 1930 – March 30, 2010) was a Bolivian-American educator known for teaching students calculus from 1974 to 1991 at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. Escalante was the subject of the 1988 film Stand and Deliver, in which he is portrayed by Edward James Olmos.

Early life

Escalante was born in 1930 in La Paz, Bolivia. Both of his parents were teachers. Escalante was proud of his Aymara heritage.

Early career

Escalante taught mathematics and physics for 12 years in Bolivia before he immigrated to the United States.

In 1974, he began to teach at Garfield High School. Escalante was initially so disheartened by the lack of preparation of his students that he called his former employer and asked for his old job back. Escalante eventually changed his mind about returning to work when he found twelve students willing to take an algebra class.

Shortly after Escalante came to Garfield High School, its accreditation became threatened. Instead of gearing classes to poorly performing students, Escalante offered AP Calculus. He had already earned the criticism of an administrator, who disapproved of his requiring the students to answer a homework question before being allowed into the classroom: "He said to 'Just get them inside.' I said, 'There is no teaching, no learning going on here. We are just baby-sitting.'"

Determined to change the status quo, Escalante persuaded a few students that they could control their futures with the right education. He promised them that they could get jobs in engineering, electronics, and computers if they would learn math: "I'll teach you math and that's your language. With that, you're going to make it. You're going to college and sit in the first row, not the back because you're going to know more than anybody."

thumb|250px|[[Westlake, Los Angeles|Westlake Theatre building, side wall mural of Jaime Escalante and Edward James Olmos.]]

In 1983, the number of students enrolling and passing the calculus test more than doubled. That year, 33 students took the exam, and 30 passed. That year, he also started to teach calculus at East Los Angeles College.

In 1988, a book, Escalante: The Best Teacher in America by Jay Mathews, and a film, Stand and Deliver, were released based on the events of 1982. Teachers and other interested observers asked to sit in on his classes. He shared with them: "The key to my success with youngsters is a very simple and time-honored tradition: hard work for teacher and student alike." Escalante received visits from political leaders and celebrities, including President Ronald Reagan and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Escalante has described the film "Stand and Deliver" as "90% truth, 10% drama." He stated that several points were left out of the film:

It took him several years to achieve the kind of success shown in the film.
No student who did not know multiplication tables or fractions was ever taught calculus in a single year.
Escalante suffered inflammation of the gallbladder, not a heart attack.

Over the next few years, Escalante's calculus program continued to grow.

Departure from Garfield

In his final years at Garfield, Escalante received threats and hate mail.

In 2001, after many years of preparing teenagers for the AP calculus exam, Escalante returned to his native Bolivia. He lived in his wife's hometown, Cochabamba, and taught at Universidad Privada del Valle. He returned to the United States frequently to visit his children.

In early 2010 Escalante made a final trip to the United States to pursue treatment for bladder cancer. As he faced financial difficulties from the cost of his cancer treatment, cast members from Stand and Deliver, including Edward James Olmos, and some of Escalante's former pupils, raised funds to help pay for his medical bills.

On April 1, 2010, a memorial service honoring Escalante was held at the Garfield High School. Students observed a moment of silence on the front steps of the campus. A wake was also held on April 17, 2010, in a classroom at Garfield.

Escalante is buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier Lakeside Gardens. In 2016, the United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in his likeness.

Awards and honors

1988 – Presidential Medal for Excellence in Education – President Ronald Reagan
1988 – Honoree – Hispanic Heritage Awards
1990 – Honorary Doctor of Humanities – California State University, Los Angeles
1990 – Honorary Doctor of Laws – Concordia University, Montreal
1990 – Honorary Doctor of Laws – University of Northern Colorado
1990 – Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged – Jefferson Awards
1991 – Honorary Doctor of Science – University of Massachusetts Boston
1993 – Honorary Asteroid (5095 Escalante) – International Astronomical Union
1998 – Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters – Wittenberg University
1998 – Free Spirit Award – Freedom Forum
1998 – Andrés Bello prize – Organization of American States
1999 – Inductee – National Teachers Hall of Fame
2002 – Member – President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
2005 – The Highest Office Award – Center for Youth Citizenship
2005 – Best teacher in North America – Freedom Forum
2014 – Foundational Award Winner, posthumously given to Fabiola Escalante (together with Henry Gradillas and Angelo Villavicencio) – Escalante–Gradillas Best in Education Prize
2016 – The United States Postal Service issued a 1st Class Forever "Jaime Escalante" stamp to honor "the East Los Angeles teacher whose inspirational methods led supposedly 'unteachable' high school students to master calculus."

References

External links

Hall of Fame profile
Jamie Escalante and the Lancaster Amish An MP3 of a talk by John Taylor Gatto
Jaime Escalante documented his techniques in