In a Class by Themselves

DateDecember 26 1990

Can DescriptionsMaster Specials X5636 In a Class By Themselves Air. 12/26/90

AbstractA Great Expectations: The Education Project special; Title: “In a Class by Themselves” with Mary Richardson; education reform, teacher morale and the state of teaching with budget and staff cuts in Whitman, MA; following Michael Voice, a teacher for 19 years, 14 years in Whitman; Voice also works two part time jobs; cut to black; workshop of past school teachers on the subject of career planning after leaving the field; low morale; lack of time and support; higher dropout rates for nonwhites; following Linda Nathen, a teacher of theater and humanities, as a method to reach out to minority students; following Angel Lopez, a student of Nathen, who has lost a lot but had support; cut to black; Rochester, New York, having the highest quality of life in America in 1985, but poor education; reform in Rochester fixed the education problem; Peter McWalters, Superintendent for Rochester Schools, on the subject; President of the Rochester Teachers Union, Adam Urbanski, on the subject; giving teachers the freedom to set agendas; Sonia Hernandez of the National Center on Education & the Economy, on the subject; home based guidance instead of homeroom; Marie Westerman, teacher in Rochester, house calls to discuss education; Jack Donovan on the subject of supporting fellow teachers and removing bad actors and deadwood; mediation sessions; Bill Johnson of the Rochester Urban League on the subject of higher tax costs and high salaries for teachers; cut to black; poverty and teaching in the South Bronx of New York City; Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, on the subject of teaching in poverty stricken schools; idealism in giving back to the education system; Ed Santos, teacher, on the subject; Eric Erikson on the subject; Sgt. Bruce Ehrenkrantz, N.Y.C. Housing Police on the subject of drug activities in school areas; Peace Corp teachers brought in to teach in poverty stricken areas; trend in shrinkage of minority teachers in the teaching sector; Lorne Bean, student at Central State College on the subject; Tina Taliaferro, student at Northwestern University, on the subject; Professor Charles Willie, of the Harvard Education School, on the subject; cut to black; what makes a good teacher good; Donald Burroughs, teacher, on the subject; cynicism on school reform; bureaucratic bosh, state mandated testing; Richardson conclusion and end credits;

OtherCredits; Producer/Writer: Stan Leven; Associate Producer: Ramsay Gifford.