As Bad as They Say? Three Decades of Teaching in the Bronx

As Bad as They Say? Three Decades of Teaching in the Bronx A riveting story about the resiliency of Bronx high school students through the eyes of a passionate Rundown, vermin-infested buildings.

rigid, slow-to-react bureaucratic systems. Children from broken homes and declining communities. How can a teacher succeed? How does a student not only survive but also come to thrive? It can happen, and As Bad as They Say? tells the heroic stories of Janet Mayer’s students during her 33-year tenure as a Bronx high school teacher. In 1995, Janet Mayer’s students began a pen-pal exchange with South African teenagers who, under apartheid, had been denied an education; almost uniformly, the South Africans asked, “Is the Bronx as bad as they say?” This dedicated teacher promised those students and all future ones that she would write a book to help change the stereotypical image of Bronx students and show that, in spite of overwhelming obstacles, they are outstanding young people, capable of the highest achievements. She walks the reader through the decrepit school building, describing in graphic detail the deplorable physical conditions that students and faculty navigate daily. Then, in eight chapters we meet eight amazing young people, a small sample of the more than 14,000 students the writer has felt honored to teach. She describes her own Bronx roots and the powerful influences that made her such a determined teacher. Finally, the veteran teacher sounds the alarm to stop the corruption and degradation of public education in the guise of what are euphemistically labeled “reforms” (No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top). She also expresses optimism that public education and our democracy can still be saved, urgently calling on all to become involved and help save our schools.

06/19/2019

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03/20/2012

My Recent Visit to Princeton University Offers Hope: Maybe Things are NOT as Bad as they Say! | As Bad As They Say? http://ow.ly/9M9A2

04/06/2011

The Fragile Success of School Reform in the Bronx - NYTimes.com http://ow.ly/4uHv3

03/28/2011
02/28/2011

Education Debate Continues Despite Oscar Snub - Redwood City, CA Patch http://ow.ly/44Mdr

02/22/2011

Penalty for New York City Principals Who Saved - NYTimes.com http://ow.ly/415C7

02/17/2011

New York City will need to fire 4,666 teachers to stay within budget: officials http://ht.ly/3YwKC

02/16/2011

Future of NY schools, teachers on line in budget - WSJ.com http://ht.ly/3XMVY

02/11/2011

Cuomo, Bloomberg Still Sparring on NYC School Funding - Mozilla Firefox http://ht.ly/3UVgW

Meet the author: Janet Grossbach Mayer has just completed her 50th year as an award-winning high school teacher of Engli...
01/07/2011

Meet the author: Janet Grossbach Mayer has just completed her 50th year as an award-winning high school teacher of English and reading. For 45 years, she taught in NYC schools, 33 of them in the Bronx, and for the past 5 years she has been a home instructor for Port Jervis, N.Y., schools.She has no plans to retire.

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