Jaime Escalante dies, inspired 1988 film 'Stand and Deliver'

Here's Jay Mathews's obit, which highlights how The Blob hated him:

Once Mr. Escalante became a national celebrity, rubbing shoulders with Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron on his own PBS series on careers for students who applied themselves in school, he faced resentment from other Garfield teachers. He was quick to tell Principal Henry Gradillas about colleagues selling real estate in the teachers lounge or calling in sick to get a head start on their weekend. He was painfully blunt about the flaws in the teaching methods of other teachers in the math department, which he chaired.

Much of Mr. Escalante's success with students stemmed from his ability to persuade them to work on lessons in his classroom after school each day, and to attend Saturday and summer classes to prepare for calculus. He rejected the usual markers of academic excellence and insisted that regardless of a student's GPA, he would let her take the AP course if she promised to work hard.

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Jaime Escalante dies, inspired 1988 film 'Stand and Deliver'

By Jay Mathews
Wednesday, March 31, 2010; B05

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/30/AR2010033003629_pf.html