Saving the School: One Woman's Fight for the Kids That Education Reform Left Behind

by Michael Brick

In the race to save a failing public high school, one principal finds that making the numbers is only the beginning   Being principal of Reagan High in Austin, Texas, was no dream assignment. Test scores were low, dropout rates were high, and poverty was endemic. But when Anabel Garza took the job, she started something no one expected. Racing against a deadline just to make the numbers, she set out to rebuild the kind of school that once unified neighborhoods across America. By her side, a basketball coach showed kids they could be winners, a young science teacher showed them they could learn, and a community rallied around a treasured institution. In this powerful rejoinder to the prevailing winds of education policy, Michael Brick takes readers inside the high-pressure world of a school on the brink. Paying overdue tribute to a vital American tradition—the great American high school— Saving the School exposes the flaws of a broken system but also tells an inspiring story of faith, hope, and perseverance.

Genres: Education

288 pages, Paperback

Published July 30, 2013

About the author

Michael Brick, a former reporter and sportswriter for The New York Times, is the author of "Saving the School" and "The Big Race."

Reviews

[Jenifer Calandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting entire chapters of discussions on Christianity via a church unaffiliated with a public school, and I could have done without the chapters that seemed to be a play-by-play of high school basketball games. Overall, it was pretty inspiring and left me feeling optimistic.