Q&A: Jaime Escalante stills stands, delivers advice

Jaime Escalante, whose success in teaching advanced mathematics to inner-city Los Angeles teenagers was immortalized in the movie "Stand and Deliver," will be honored today at the Capitol.

Escalante, 78, is one of 14 trailblazers receiving Latino Spirit Awards from the California Latino Legislative Caucus.

Escalante, now living and teaching college classes part time in Bolivia, taught for 17 years at Los Angeles' Garfield High School and for seven years at Sacramento's Hiram Johnson High School, retiring in 1998.

Here's what he had to say Friday in an interview with The Bee.

Q: If you were a young man, would you choose to become a teacher again?

A: Absolutely. That's the only thing I can do. Believe me, I had fun, especially when I used to deal with gang members or kids who weren't motivated.

Before class and after class, I'd talk to them, to make them believe they could do it. I used to tell them, "Remember this: No one is better than you."

Q: How do you feel about the term "hero"? Do you feel like a hero?

A: Not really. I'm just an honest man. An honorable man who did the assignment and the homework, because California gave me the chance.

Q: Do you have any regrets supporting Proposition 227 (the 1998 ballot measure that virtually ended bilingual education in public schools)?

A: I was in favor of monolingual language, and it was controversial in those days, because people thought I was going in the wrong direction. No. The tremendous success I had at Garfield High School was because I emphasized (English). I used to say, "Unfortunately, the test comes in one language, and you have to master that language."

Q: Do you support the concept of a high school exit examination?

A: Yeah, I would say so, because when kids graduate … I assume that in four years, they'll learn something. … What they have to do on the test is to emphasize their basic knowledge.

Q: Some say public education isn't getting enough money. Others say money is not spent wisely. What do you think?

A: Money is not the problem. … We have to know how to spend it. We put too much money (in programs) that don't achieve results. We waste a lot.

Q: What should California do about its dropout rate?

A: Schools alone cannot educate, they need the help of parents. … At Garfield High School, a high percentage of dropouts were kids who didn't want to come to school. So I made them sign a contract.

And before that, I got in communication with their mom – mom is the one who calls the shots. I said, "Mom, … this is what we're going to do, and you're going to help me out. … I need you to control him. I'll be calling you."

Q: Advice to teenagers?

A: Set your goals and go for it. You're going to have to go to college to be something. Otherwise, you're going to be pumping gas all the time – and today, there's no gas.

About the writer:

• Call Jim Sanders, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5538.