Wonderful account of a beginning teacher

books:

	• Taught by America: A Story of Struggle and Hope in Compton Sarah Sentilles Beacon Press, 2006 - 196 pages average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Back to School

First Yale, then a little Peace Corps work in the jungles of America, and back to school. She left Compton in 1995 and has been in graduate school ever since. This emphasis on "White" troubles me. I doubt that the TFA teachers' problems stem from their being white. The biggest gap I ever witnessed between a teacher and her students was between a haughty middle-class black woman and her ill-behaved charges. She wasn't a guilt-ridden white, full of caring, but a proud black woman who was righteously appalled that the ghetto kids were being enabled by a slack administration looking to make excuses for the lazy kids. The White Ivy League snots who work in the ghetto were never in the school; they were visitors, giving teaching a shot. Why in the world would parents send their kids to Yale to see them become teachers? You can get a teaching credential at the local state college. No. TFA is designed to add sainthood to one's resume, so one will forever be described not only as sexy, rich and smart, but also as caring, compassionate and, above all else, not racist. This is the only reason mom and dad, after paying $40,000 per year for four years, would tolerate seeing their child waste two or three years fooling around with blacks and browns in America's urban jungles. M & D can dine out with stories from their son or daughter's acts of heroism for years and years. Ms Sentilles doesn't let a day go by, I'm sure, that she doesn't tell someone about her work in Compton, a town amusingly described as poor (think Biafra) when in fact the houses there, on palm tree-lined streets, sell for $400,000. The kids come to school with their pockets filled with pickles, potato chips, and candy because they won't eat the "cafeteria food" which they consider too "nasty" for their delicate palates. Each and every one a Zsa Zsa Gabor, the kids have never done a chore in their lives. Their parents demand to see a counselor of their child's race, insisting that one of another race would be prejudiced. Hence, the "understaffed" schools, according to Ms Sentilles, in fact, have entire offices filled with bi-lingual aides, counselors, vice-principals, coordinators, and translators. The kids are trained in this system of victim-hood and privilege, so they stay home in droves on rainy days so as not to get wet, demand to see their counselor when told to turn off their phones, and walk out of the classroom when refused. I worked in LAUSD for over ten years. The sad tale of desperate kids trying to make do in under-funded schools is an insult to the California tax-payers who are taxed to death to pay for well-staffed schools, with huge federal bonus funds which are squandered on text book orders made at mid-year and end-of-year due to damage and waste. Where I taught, kids would throw so much food away, on to the floor, mind you, that staff used snow shovels to scoop up the waste. This on a daily basis. Feeling sorry for these lower-middle-class "poor" is itself an industry, one which the author exploits, despite her sincerity and integrity.

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Very realistic

I enjoyed this book. The author is very realistic and authentic in her discussions. I found it to be very thought-provoking.

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Wonderful account of a beginning teacher

This is a beginning teacher in the "Teach for America" program that starts her career in the Compton, CA area better known as the Watts area in LA. Since I have been a teacher for 36 years and live in LA, I relate to this book and her many disappointments and joys. Read it--you'll love it, especially if you are or have been a teacher.

Book is new , arrived promptly

The book is excellent and appears to be new and arrived promptly

alarming...Taught by America

We used this book for a women's book club study. It was very interesting and yet startling information. well written and a good read for anyone.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

After graduating from Yale University, Sarah Sentilles joined Teach for America and was assigned to a rundown elementary school in Compton, California. Through moving portraits of inspiring children, Sentilles relates a heartbreaking journey, as she learns about a failing school system, the true meaning of poverty in America, and the strength children exhibit when they're just struggling to survive. Beautifully written, charged with love and indignation, Taught by America is a powerful tribute to the young lives Sentilles witnessed.

"This is a poignant, touching memoir from a natural-born teacher. The education of Sarah Sentilles is something we can all learn from."
?Geoffrey Canada, author of Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun and president of Harlem Children's Zone, Inc.

"Sentilles gives a stirring description of working in one of our poorest school systems . . . [A] profoundly moving book."
?Library Journal (starred review)

"Hauntingly eloquent, this memoir raises chilling questions about race, social privilege, failing schools, and the loss of innocence. Sentilles's reflections on her students, their families, and the education they (don't) receive stays with you long after her story ends. This is a wakeup call that we as a nation cannot afford to ignore."
?Janie Victoria Ward, author of The Skin We're In

Sarah Sentilles graduated from Yale University in 1995 and earned her master's in 2001 from Harvard Divinity School. She is currently working on her doctorate in theology. Sentilles lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This is her first book.

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