Jaime Escalante

Jaime Escalante was born to two Bolivian schoolteachers who taught in a small Aymara Indian village. After 9 years of teaching in Bolivia, Escalante moved to the United States in 1964, and worked as a busboy, a cook, and an electronics factory technician. He attended the Universidad de Puerto Rico, later moving to California and studying at Pasadena City College, earning a degree in Electronics. In 1976 he began teaching at Garfield High School, in east Los Angeles, California, where drugs, gangs and violence were facts of daily life. Despite these obstacles, Escalante was able to motivate a small group of students to take the AP calculus exam. In 1979, two of his students passed the A.P. test. In 1980, seven of his students passed the test. A year later, 14 students passed the test. In 1982, so many students passed that the Educational Testing Service invalidated the scores, believing that the students had cheated. Most of the pupils retook the test and passed, making Escalante a national hero. In recognition of his incredible achievements, Escalante was awarded the United States Presidential Medal and the Andres Bello award by the Organization of American States. By 1987, Garfield High's A.P. calculus program had outpaced Beverly High's. In 1991, he left Garfield High, citing faculty politics and petty jealousies. He taught in Sacramento for several years, but later retired to his native Bolivia. He is living in his wife's hometown and teaching part time at the local university. He returns to the United States frequently to visit his children.