IF YOU HAVE BEEN IN AN URBAN PUBLIC SCHOOL in any capacity, these are stories and voices that will be all too familiar. Henry’s stories of urban public schools are hilarious, insightful, and emotional. In an age of standardized testing, expanding technology, and politics of education, these stories remind us of the fundamental goals of education.

Don Luong

8th Grade History Teacher

Greetings, loved ones and curious Internet surfers.

The Foreword, which you can read by clicking on the “read a sample” link, explains how this book came into being. But here’s why it came into being: I wanted to celebrate the students I taught and give people a glimpse into life in an urban classroom. As I put the book together, I kept in mind the words of one of the greatest teachers and administrators I ever met, Anne Nixon, who said this when she left our school to go on to greener pastures: “Please, teachers, never forget that you are in a noble profession. Remember that when things get you down.”

As I was writing the book I ran my plan by a Big Time Literary Agent, who said that what I had in mind was unlike just about every other education book out there; she suggested that I write a “normal” education book, which meant including sections about the problems facing public education and the solutions to those problems, with another section on what really happens in the classroom (this book).

I got most of that done, and it was not a book I wanted to read. I’ve read several books like that, and I always came to the same conclusion: no one outside the education world reads these books and they don’t bring about any change. (To be fair, that’s probably because turning the Titanic with a paddle is not going to avoid the iceberg.) Writers of most books about education are mostly writing to hear themselves talk, preaching to the choir, and whatever other mangled metaphor that makes a little sense.

Okay, since you asked, here is the single biggest problem facing urban public education:

By and large, the movers and shakers in the largest American cities don’t send their children to public schools, so the idea of meaningfully transforming – or even improving – education is given lip service, at best.

I have no clue how to change that, but it’s true.

When the book—this book—was done, I showed it to my friend Ed Springer, who taught in the Vancouver (BC) public schools for over 20 years, and he gave the book what is, to me, ultimate praise.

Ed: I read your book.
Me: And?
Ed: Loved it. I honestly think it should be required reading in every teacher training program. It’s the only book I’ve seen that shows what a classroom is really like.

And he said that with sincerity and earnestness and without me asking for a cool blurb for this website.

So there you go.

What People Are Saying