$1.00! [speaking spanish] [music blaring] typewritersor transcripts-- is thereanything missing? the key tothe ladies' room. [police radio chatter] now, exactly where wasthe fecal material found? back therein the corner.
you'll know whenyou're near it. excuse me.this was mailed to me-- just a minute, please.excuse me, sir. if you don't havea telephone, could you bring ina gas bill? we just need proof that you livein the district. excuse me.my name is jaime escalante, and i was supposedto teach computer science.
we don't havecomputers. mr. escalante. we were supposedto get computers last year and the year before and there'sno funding again this year. [bell rings] let's get out of here.i'm raquel ortega. i'm the chairman ofthe math department. we'll be working together.nice to know you. but you don't seemto understand.
i was supposedto teach computers. where were youlast night? what do you mean,where was i? what do you mean?i was waiting. you the new teacher,man? you the teacher? please find a seat. hey, teacher! what are we goingto do today?
will everyone pleasetry to find a seat? for those of youthat cannot find a seat, please stand againstthe wall. let's put our chairsin a circle and discussour feelings, huh? one body to a desk. uh, could we talkabout sex? [students shoutingagreement] if we discuss sex,
i have to give sexfor homework. [cheering] all right! stand back,everybody, please. girl: i could get youfired for saying that. could you move back? que dice? entienden ingles? sometimes.
todos los que no entienden ingles, por favor, levanten la mano. please move forwardif you do not speak english. todos que no hablan ingles, por favor, pasen para enfrente. this front row, pleasestand up, please, move out. i wasthe first one here. i'll find youanother seat, ok? [jeering] [wolf whistle]
[shouting] please, be careful. this is math 1-a. boy:i don't need no math. i got a solar calculatorwith my dozen doughnuts. the bus is exact change.no big deal. quiet. quiet! teacher: false alarm. everyone backin the classroom!
it was a false alarm. everyone backin the class! it wasa premature bell. back in the class. that wasa premature bell. girl: premature bell?i thought we weren't supposed to discusssex in class. teacher: all right,sit down! stop talking! sit down!
they rigged the bell. those little bastards. tricky. [student shouts] she's looking good, joe. jaime. when youcoming aboard? i get seasickin the rain. you seen my boy? yeah, i saw him ridingaround here somewhere.
i hear your company'spushing whole hog into pcs. i don't workthere anymore. jaime's teachinghigh school now. here's your thingy. why didn't youcome to me if you got laid off? we're paying kids right outof college 30 gs to start. i didn't getlaid off, joe. i want to teach.
high school teacher. well, good. that's great. this is your job. i don't want tohave to tell you. i was going to do it. why do you thinki was hurrying home? you're not evenbreathing hard, you're hurryinghome so fast.
have a goodnight, joe. boy:i want a burger! hold the french fries,onions, and pickles! he looks likejulia child, man! what you got? it's an apple. [laughter] how much? what do you mean?
half. gut. excuse me,my german accent. [whispering]it's missing 25%. what? it's missing 25% that's right. missing 25%. is it true
intelligent peoplemake better lovers? i got a core. you owe me 100%. and i'll see you in the people's court. everyone, pleaseopen your book, chapter 2, page 26. multiplicationof fractions... and percentages. 25%.
50%. 75%. and 100%. who's calling the shots, ese? you got a slip? ok. you'll have tostand in the back until i can getanother desk. you sitright here. ok? everyone, please readthe first paragraph
for a second. where's your equipment? don't got any. you got to cometo this class prepared. i do the workin my head. oh. you knowthe times tables? i know the 1s, the 2s...
the 3s... finger man.i heard about you. are youthe finger man? i'm the finger man,too. you knowwhat i can do? i know howto multiply by 9. 9 x 3. 1, 2, 3. what do you got? 27.
6 x 9. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. what have you got? 54. yeah. you want a hard one?how about 8 x 9? 1, 2, 3, 4,5, 6, 7, 8. what have you got?72. want to talk to you.wait a minute.
please make sure you doproblems 1 through 20. page 26. can i have my book,mr. escalante? don't bring itto class again. sabes que, ese? don't get excited. you know? cut me a "d" like the other profes. i'll readmy funny books,
count the holesin the ceiling. kick back. first thing, i canteach you some manners. i wouldn't do thatif i was you. might lose a finger and won't be ableto count to 10. we've seen vatos like you before. you'll behurting soon. ponte trucha, huh?
i was so worried that the kids wouldknow more than me that i'd wake up at 5 a.m., i downed my coffee, and i didthe math tests. i finally gotevery chapter down, and this semester, theychange the book on me. math you eitherlove or hate. you got some problems,come see me after school.
thanks, jaime.see you later. girl: leave the ticketsat the door, ok? bye. can i havemy shades? you're in love, huh? which one, huh?let me know. no, that's all right. come on, johnny.don't be afraid. i'm not johnny, man. i know, tito.
tito grande. angel! angel, help us! stay out of it! go get a teacher! it's frank gar-cia. but when i say garcia,you answer, ok? are your friendsauditing? i audited themto come with me.
i'm el cyclonefrom bolivia. one-man gang. this is my domain. don't give me no gas. i'll jump on your face,tattoo your chromosomes. this is basic math, but basic mathis too easy for you burros, so i'm going to teach youalgebra because i'm the champ. and if all you know how to dois add and subtract,
you'll only be preparedto do one thing--pump gas. ripping offa gas station is better than workingin one, que no? orale. i'm a tough guy. tough guys don't do math. tough guys deep-fry chickenfor a living. so orale.you want a wing or a leg, man? who ever heard of negativeand positive numbers? anybody. yeah. negative numbersare like unemployment. 10 million peopleout of work.
that'sa negative number. we're gonna needa lot of kleenex 'cause there's going to be a lot of bloodshed. you ever been to the beach? you everplay with the sand? finger man. come on, finger man. you ever dig a hole? the sand that comesout of the hole,
that's a positive. the hole is a negative. that's it. simple. anybody can do. -2 + 2 = ... net head. orale. answer it. come on.you know the answer. -2 + 2.fill the hole.
if i hadthat on my hands, i wouldn'traise it either. orale. come on. a negative 2 + 2 = ... anybody can do it. fill the hole. come on.just fill the hole. you can do it. you going to let these burros laugh at you? i'll break your necklike a toothpick.
orale. zero. zero. you're right.simple. that's it. -2 + 2 = 0. he just filled the hole. did you know neitherthe greeks nor the romans were capable of usingthe concept of zero? it was your ancestors,the mayas,
who firstcontemplated the zero-- the absence of value. true story. you burros have mathin your blood. hey, kemo sabe todo. the man knows everything. orale. kemo sabe. orale. ok. parenthesesmeans multiply.
every time you see this,you multiply. a negative x a negative= a positive. a negative x a negative = a positive. say it. a negative x a negative= a positive. say it. again. i can't hear you. louder! a negative x a negative = a positive!
a negative x a negative= a positive! why? mrs. ortega, i don'twant to be the principal of the first school inthe history of los angeles to loseits accreditation. raquel: i'm the lastperson to say that this math departmentcouldn't improve, but if you wanthigher test scores, start by changingthe economic level
of this community. the purposeof this meeting is to reviewthe recommendations for accreditation. any suggestions? anybody? yeah. i don't think i should be teachingmath next semester. i was hired to bea phys ed instructor.
as i said before, we lack the resources to implement the changesthe district demands. mr. sanzaki, you must haveat least one comment. this may not be the right time,to say this, but... i'm sorry, but i won't becoming back after christmas. i got a job with aerospace. [quietly] how much moneywill you be making? look, we havethe remainder of the year
before we'reput on probation. now, if we fail, we'lllose our accreditation. if we fail? you can't teach logarithmsto illiterates. these kids come to us with barelya seventh-grade education. now, there isn'ta teacher in this room who isn't doing everythingthey possibly can. i'm not.i could teach more.
i'm sure mr. escalantehas good intentions, but he's onlybeen here a few months. students will riseto the level of expectations,seã‘or molina. what do you need,mr. escalante? ganas. that's all we needis ganas. what's ganas? we will begin each classwith a quiz.
aw! come on,what are you doin'? there will beno free rides, no excuses. you already have2 strikes against you. there are some peoplein this world who will assume thatyou know less than you do because of your nameand your complexion. but mathis the great equalizer.
when you go for a job,the person giving you that job will not want to hearyour problems, and neither do i. you're gonna work harder thanyou've ever worked before. and the only thingi ask from you is ganas. desire. haircut. if you don't have ganas,i will give it to you, because i am an expert. today is monday.tomorrow's wednesday.
friday is payday--the weekly test. there will beno diagonal vision. keep your eyeson your own paper. you have 10 minutesto finish the quiz. if you finish early, pleasework on the assignment on the board.no questions? good. angel. vamanos. i was saidto go here.
[chair scrapes] nice knowing you. have a good day. arrivederci. you're in luck. take the seat. relax. take sominex, but don't sleepin my class. i take that as an insult.
hello. hey, kemo, man. i want to talk to youabout the class. you ain't got a seat.don't give me no gas. yeah, i know about that. that was a mistake.i want to fly straight. i got a little problem,though. yeah. me. no. seriously, man.books.
can't have the homiessee me haul them around. you wouldn'twant anyone to think you'reintelligent, huh? so maybe i can have 2 books,keep one stashed at home, huh? i'll cut you a deal. i'll give you 3 books. one you take one home. one for your class. this one's broken.
one for your locker so nobody sees youcarrying them around. easily understood?what do i get? protection, kemo. proteccion. understand? i understand. the only reason i'mstill in kemo's class is because of that, man. just don't ever let her knowthat you dig her.
that's the worst thingyou can do with a woman. i'm pretty fed up with this pelonwe got for a teacher. it's like escalante'sgot a bug up his ass. dude's fromsouth america, man. he's probably some nazicome out of hiding. don't you guys knowwhat's happening? garfield's having a problemwith accreditation. yeah, only teacherswho act like assholes
are gonna keep their jobs. what if we all decidenot to take this test? he can'tfail the whole class. mutiny.that's cool. [horn honks] see you guys later. camejo thinksshe's so hot just 'cause she dates gabachos. if we don't do better today,
heads are gonna roll. i've nevergotten anything more than a b-plusin my life. that's because you takethose mickey mouse classes. always get an "a." here you got a chancefor a solid "d." you got 10 minutes. [quietly] what'sthe matter with you? i'm not taking the quiz.
you didn't turn inyour homework either. the goat ate it. don't do your homework, don't got a ticketto watch the show. give her the chair, man. chair. the chair. chair! chair! chair! chair!
all right. uh-uh.the chair. shut up! ok, get back to your test. you got lessthan 9 minutes. now you're the show. what's the matterwith you? you're a top student. come on.
3:00. you're gonna have todo it anyway. [spanish languagetv playing] [coughing] te vas a quedar calvo si no te metes la camisa adentro de los pantalones. si. si. mira, huh? woman: mi lindo juanito, hijo, dinner's ready.
come inside. hurry up! dad? [children shouting] vamos todos a la cama. come on. come on. let's go. let's go. come on.let's go. let's go.let's go.
in the bed. juanito! hi, mom. kids go to bed? papa go to work? you want me to fix yousomething to eat? mi hija, could you please turn off that light? [glass breaks] aah! ha ha ha!
orale, homeboy. teacher time, ese. oh, yeah. angel? what? tell kemo i said, " que hubo, ese?" oh, shit, man. hey! [writing on board]
factoring. ok. green light, red light. anybody. ana. [door closes] late! ok, ok, ok. ok, ok. ok, ok.go see the counselor. come on, kemo.
go find another class.go to woodshop. make yourselfa shoeshine box. you'll need it. ok, kemo. you're the man,you know? why don't youput them in college, huh? so dumbtaco benders like me can picktheir vegetables for them, collect their garbage,
clip theirpoodles' toenails. i may be a sinner, but i'm willingto pay for my sins. one-shot deal.go on, sit down. see you at 3:00. go to hell. i got more badnews for you, profe. i know what i'm gonna say is really gonnatrip you out.
mr. escalante,i forgot my pencil. he can have mine. today's my last day. no, no, no, no. gracias. bueno, did you enjoyyour taquitos? muy bien, seã‘or. muy, muy bien todo... except for one thing--
someone doesn'tknow how to add. she should be goingback to school. anita, ven aca, por favor. despierta, mi hija. mira, no mas. te equivocaste otra vez. papa, this is mr. escalante,my math teacher. mr. delgado,how are you? mucho gusto. it's a pleasure.my wife fabiola.
can yousit with us? sure. anita, bring usa couple of beers, please. you should getanother waitress. ana can be the first onein your family to graduatefrom high school, go to college. thank youfor your concern. her mother works here.
her sisters,her brothers. this isa family business. she's needed. well, she could helpthe family more by gettingan education. probably get pregnant,wouldn't finish college. anita, go help your momin the kitchen, huh? she talks about goingto medical school. no.
i don't think so. she should makeher own choices. un momento. yo soy el padre de la niã‘a, no usted. she'll just get fat. she'll waste her lifeaway in a restaurant. she's top kid! i started washing dishesfor a nickel an hour. now i own this place.
did i waste my life? i washed dishes, too, when i cameto this country. good! why don't you put on an apronand give us a hand? your husband comesinto my restaurant, eats, then he insults me. excuse my husband,mr. delgado. he just wantswhat's best for ana.
she could go to college,come back, and teach youhow to run the place. professor... i don't want your money, and i don't needyour business. skip it. tip. he puts hot chili in his dip to sell extra beer. iora! iora! iora!
kawasaki! yeow! dog, dog, dog, dog. ok... everybody look at the board. will someone pleaseread for me what's on the board?anybody. "juan has 5 times as manygirlfriends as pedro. "carlos has one girlfriendless than pedro.
"the total numberof girlfriends between them "is 20. how many doeseach gigolo have?" late! late! late! ok, ok, ok, ok. how manygirlfriends does each gigolohave? anybody. you think you got it,einstein? you think you gonna do it?
juan is x. carlos is y. pedro is x + y. is pedro bisexual,or what? escalante: i have a terriblefeeling about you. kemo,5x = juan's girlfriends? you're good now, but you're gonna end upbarefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. can you get negativegirlfriends?
no, justnegative boyfriends. please forgive them, for they know notwhat they do. carlos has x-5 girlfriends. que no? que no? is right. que no. the answerto my prayers! may i goto the restroom, please? in 10 minutes. hold it. seã‘or maya. hit it.
it's a trick problem,mr. kemo. you can't solve itunless you know how many girlfriendsthey have in common. right? it's notthat they're stupid, it's just they don'tknow anything. i'm wrong? x = pedro's girlfriends, 5x = juan's girlfriends. x - 1 =carlos' girlfriends.
x + 5x + x - 1 = 20. so x = 3. good to see you. kemo, this stuffdon't make no sense unless you show ushow it works in the real world? do you thinkwould it be possible to get a couple of gigolos for a practicaldemonstration?
no, no, no, stop. just kidding,just kidding. wow! check it out! get out of here. please! what kind of mathis this? this particular one that's up right nowis calculus.
you'll get itin college. my daughter uses thisprogram in her high school. i want to teach calculusnext year. boy, that's a jump. that's ridiculous. they haven't had trigor math analysis. they can take them bothduring the summer. you expect our best studentsto go to summer school? from 7:00 to 12:00...every day,
including saturdays. yep. that'll do it. our summer classrooms arereserved for remedial courses. if you want toturn this school around, you're gonna have tostart from the top. mr. escalante,don't lecture us. our kids can'thandle calculus. we don't evenhave the books. if they passthe advanced placement test,
they get college credit. there are some teachersin this room who would have trouble passing the advancedplacement test. you really thinkyou can make this fly? i teach calculus or... have a good day. well, if this mancan walk in here and... dictate his own termsover my objections...
i see no reason for me to continueas department chair. raquel, don't takethis personally. i'm thinkingabout those kids. if they tryand don't succeed, you'll shatter what littleself-confidence they have. these aren't the typesthat, uh, bounce back. thanks, man. kemo, it stinkslike last year in here.
somebody give claudiaan orange. ok, ok, ok. sit down. you thinki want to do this? the japanese pay meto do this. they're tiredof making everything. they want you guys to pull your own weight so they can take vacationson mount fuji. kemo, i thoughtthis room was supposed to beair-conditioned, man.
you should think... cool. think... out of the blue, i get a lettersaying i was fired becauseof proposition 13. i'm down to $936. i invest 100in resumes, and i boughtthis suit.
i hit every insurancecompany in the city. my wife wants us to moveinto her parents' rec room. then 2 weeks lateri get another letter in the mail telling meto report back to work. how do youlike the suit? fabulous. how about the color? welcome back, pelon! you ok?
yeah, i'm ok. you sure? yes. i said i was fine. [rip] uh-oh. we'll go step by step,inch by inch. calculus was not madeto be easy. it already is. remember the good timeswe had last summer?
do you remember when thingswere really jumping good? ♪ yeah ♪ well, the good timesare gone with the wind. it's now the good,the bad, and the ugly. oh, come on.a contract? you mean, you can'ttrust us by now? for those of youmaking the commitment, you will be preparing yourselvesfor the advanced placement test. make sure it's signed beforeyou come to class tomorrow.
we come an hour before school,take your class 2 periods, and stay until 5:00? believe itor don't. we got to comeon saturdays? and no vacation? pass the a.p. exam,get college credit. big deal. we're seniors. it's our yearto slack off.
how about you, johnny? will you be able to makeit saturday morning, playing in your bandfriday night? look, you love scaring usinto doing stuff, man, but that gets oldreal fast. hey, kemo. you proud of me? i'm the first dude here. what's cal-cu-lus?
mom... calculus is math thatsir isaac newton invented so he could figure outplanet orbits, but he never botheredto tell anybody about his discovery until this otherscientist guy told everybody he had invented calculus. but the guywas so stupid that he got itall wrong,
and so newtonhad to go public and correct his mistakes. don't you thinkthat's neat? for a genius,newton was an idiot. don't worry, mom. if i invent something,i'll make sure to get paid. i hope this is notan excuse to stay out all hours? trust me, mom.sign it.
boys don't likeif you're too smart. mom, i'm doing this so i don't have todepend on some dumb guy the rest of my life. thank you. thank you very much. you don'tgot it signed, you got no ticketto watch the show. good morning.good morning.
mr. blue eyes,thank very much. elizabeth,my taylor. sophia, my loren. get a haircut. get a new jacket. thank you. thank youvery much. clint,you forget your gun? unfold it. hep!
get outof the way. here. you didn't sign it. i gotta put schoolon hold. go backuntil you sign it. my uncle offered me a joboperating a forklift. saturdays and sundaysi get time and a half. so what? 2 years in the union and i'llbe making more than you. kemo, i don't wantto let you down,
but the money i'll be makingwill buy me a new trans am. no one cruisesthrough life, pancho. wouldn't you rather bedesigning these things than repairing them? you can't even do that.they got fuel injection. [grinding noise] you're gonna strip my gears. orale, kemo. don't panic, johnny.
just watch outfor the other guy. right or left? where are we going? go right! go right! [horn honks,tires squeal] all you seeis the turn. you don't seethe road ahead. orale, buey. open the gate.we'll be late.
what are you guysdoing here so early? we're in escalante'sclass, remember? wake up. drinksome coffee, man. one, you got the graph,right here. two, this strip, the mostimportant part is right here. it's the radius of rotation. anybody got any questions? anybody can do it as long as you rememberone basic element,
and that isthe element of surprise. stay awakeas you're waking up. wake up this morning.how are you? bring toothpicksto pinch open your eyes. you understandwhat i mean? i was swimmingwith dolphins, whisperingimaginary numbers, looking forthe fourth dimension. good! go back to sleep.that's very good.
ok, any questions?yes? no? nothing? ok. ok, you shouldhave it by now. ok, what's the answer?anybody. claudia? come on.we're going backwards. you're fooling aroundtoo much during the weekend. this girl's gotta do somework from the neck up. we're gonna have tostay late again.
ohh... of course, you know we havepizza, 'cause they deliver. we can get fried chicken,hamburgers with cheese. jeez, we'll need donations. no, really,you owe me money anyway. you don't deservethe grades you're getting. where are you going? you latefor another date? she's got more boyfriendsthan elizabeth taylor.
i don't appreciate youusing my personal life to entertain this class. claudia. everything isfalling apart right now. my boyfriend'sfreaking out... my mom...school sucks. i'm in that classroomall day, kemo. look at my clothes, and my hair--i can't even comb it.
i hate my life. so what's the problem? [laughs] kemo. ponla aqui en esta linea. en esta linea. no, no, no. aqui. calmate, mi hijo. esperame aqui.
si. yes. uh-huh.i understand that, but you're gonnahave to bring him in. no--ma'am,i'm not a doctor. there's no way. hey. i don't do diagnosis.uh-huh. look, i'm sorry.we'll have-- mira.
uh, could you holda moment, please? are we going to seethe doctor before next week? ok. hold on. seguro? no. medi-cal? no, tampoco. well, how are yougonna pay for this? look, if wecould pay for it, we would go toa regular hospital.
i just don't wantmy grandmother to catch pneumoniawaiting around. ok. take a seat.we'll call your number. ok, ma'am, is saidyou'll have to bring him in. there's no waywe can get around that. i understand that, butyou'll have to bring him in. mm-mmm. try the shortcut. this is easy.baby stuff for boy scouts.
my mind don'twork this way. tic-tac-toe. a piece of cake upside-down.watch for the green light. i've been withyou guys 2 years! everybody knowsi'm the dumbest! i can't handle calculus! these guyshave a better chance of making the a.p. testwithout me. don't laugh.
how could we laugh?you're breaking our hearts. don't do this, kemo. how noble--to sacrifice himself for the benefitof the team. do you have the ganas?do you have the desire? yes, i have the ganas! do you want meto do it for you? yes! you're supposedto say no!
i'm going tohave to get tough. we're goingto have to work right throughchristmas break. ok? the counselor was justhere looking for you. something about somecosmetology classes. he says there's3 different levels-- one for boys,one for girls, and one for--i don't know what kind. why don't yougo find out?
please, listen, man.it's cool. my grandmother... clock out. game's over. you lose. you never listento nobody, man. te crees el mas chingon. adios. why don't you, uh, send me some post cards,
or call meon the telephone. let me know howyou're doing. we love you. kemo sabe this, cabron, huh? i think that guy's gota bigger problem than you. tic... tac... toe...simple. she's a little sloppywith her homework. dad, get off the phoneso we can eat.
no, she'sa top student. your father works60 hours a week, then he volunteers to teachnight school for free. merry christmasto you, too. thank you. now he's visitingjunior high schools in his spare time. corn and potatoes? what happened to the lomo montado, pique a lo macho?
jaime, i don't want youto teach this holiday. no teaching... papa... there's a problemin my book i don't understand. you see what i mean? his own son hasproblems with math. give me that book,fernando. i don't want any booksat the table.
go wash your hands. [doorbell rings] i'll get it. oh, seã‘ora, como esta? muy bien. seã‘or escalante, angelito tiene que regresar a la escuela. el no puede perder su lonche. no se preocupe, seã‘ora.
pasele, por favor. mi esposa. i've seen you do a lotof underhanded tricks, but bringing your abuelita to my house at christmastime?come on. i need calculus to take meto a good career. somethingsmells good. icaray!
♪ on the first dayof christmas ♪ ♪ a cholo came to me... ♪ this is what's given. we're looking for the areain the first quadrant bounded by the curve. what are the limits?anybody. 0 to pi over 2. wrong. lupe. 0 to pi over 2?
what's wrong with you? this is review. kemo, i checkedmy work twice. i'm giving you the graph.check it again. i got the same answeras the gordita. don't call me gordita, pendejo. it's 0 to pi over 2, sir. yeah. i gotthe same thing. you should know this.no way!
this is review! you're acting likea blind man in a dark room looking for a black catthat isn't there! what's wrong with you guys? i don't believe it! you're giving mea shot from the back! no way. no way! [door slams] kemo finally blewa head gasket.
it's a pen. class: it's a pen. it's a pencil. class: it's a pencil. it's a chair. class: it's a chair. it's a light. class: it's a light. it's a window.
class: it's a window. it's in the room,on the table. it's 10:00. class: it's in the room,on the table. un momento, por favor. class: one moment, please. [labored breathing] [gasping] page 456, please.
come on,you guys. 456. will you shut upand sit down, man? we told himto take it easy. it's our fault.we just sit back and watchhim burn in. it's burn out. the man brought iton himself. he was askingfor trouble. how can yousay that?
you're a wannabe cholo asshole, man. [spits] oh, that's disgusting. you want me? i'll kick your ass! all right,break it up! pancho! just break it up. now, just settle down.
later. settle down, angel. now, mr. escalante is ok. he suffereda mild heart attack, and he'll be under observationfor the time being. mr. schlossis your substitute. now, out of respectto mr. escalante, please give himyour undivided attention. i don't want any moretrouble from this room.
all right, pancho,you come with me. angel, let's go. tito, take your seat. mr. molinahas informed me that you have your a.p.calculus exam in 2 weeks. i'll be honest with you. i've never taughtcalculus before. i'm really a music teacher. you mad at me,mommy?
if i thought it would help,i would be angry. dad... the doctor saysno stress. no job-related activityfor at least a month. i wantanother doctor. jaime, i have to go. i left fernandowith a neighbor. i'll stay with dad, mom. no. you gowith your mother.
don't forget to takeout the trash, ok? ok, dad. come on, mom. what time do youget out of work? hi! mr. escalante! i'm still alive. i'm a hard-dyingtype of guy. shouldn't you bein the hospital?
i should be herewith you. yaah! bulldogs! thank you very muchfor baby-sitting. how are you? hey, you should betaking it easy, man. no, i should be herewith you guys. i mean, you already forgotto stand up. everybody! no, against the walllike a snake. hurry!
we've been practicingfor this all year. you're the best! you guys are the best! this is gonna bea piece of cake! upside-down! and... step by step! all right!you got it now. open your eyes.
y = ln... quantity x - 1.what's the domain? x is greaterthan -1. no! to the endof the line. i've been gone 2 days,and you forget already. what's the domain? all real numbers greater than 1.x is greater than 1. i told youyou could do it. ok!
be sure each mark is black and completely fillsthe answer space. if you make an error, you may save timeby crossing it out, rather thantrying to erase it. it is not expected thateveryone will be able to answer all the multiple-choicequestions. when you're told to begin,open your booklet, carefully tear outthe green insert,
and start work. you may begin now. let's go! come on! get in! get in! oh, no,it's too cold! anita!come on, anita! i like to keep my pantsdry, you know, man? come on in!
come on! the water's great! ok, fine! fine! this is so stupid, man. i'm coming! [rooster crows] orale, grandpa. we, being teachers,
know the advanced placementtests are very difficult, especially in mathematics. less than 2% of allhigh school seniors nationwide even attempt the advancedplacement calculus test. you've been drinking. i am proud to announce that no other high schoolin southern california has more students passingthan garfield high school. no. he justwalks like that.
18 studentstook the test. 18 passed. many-- we have an announcementto make. it's all right. we, the a.p. calculus class, would like to presentthis plaque to our teacher... jaime a. escalante. come on up.
aah! [telephone rings] yes? this is guadalupe escobar. what is this,some kind of joke? wait, wait a minute.who is this? for reals? you're crazy, man. "it's standard procedureto grade the test
"with the identityof the students concealed. "only after theirregularities were found "was it determinedthe students in question were all from garfieldhigh school." you all receivedthe same letter? "based upon the unusualagreement of incorrect answers, "e.t.s. has no alternativebut to question the scores of all students withsuch unusual agreement." english. what does itmean in english?
they're saying thatwe copied from each other because we all hadthe same wrong answers. we're too stupid to knowhow to cheat correctly. why don't wejust sue them? "the board doubts thatthe grades are valid for you because of theseunusual circumstances." these people are human. they canmake mistakes, too. ana: kemo, these peopleare calling us cheaters.
all right, this is where we keepall confidential material, s.a.t. and a.p.tests included. i assure you,only my secretary and i know the combination. mr. molina,this controversy is officially between the educationaltesting service and the students.
it does not reflectupon your school or its administration. we would liketo resolve this with as littlepublicity as possible. i'd appreciate that. all right? yep. do you think they gotthe test ahead of time? well, claudia was havingemotional problems.
pancho was way behind. do you really thinkanyone cheated? no, but my father does. damn shit! look at this shit! if i'd have takenthat job with my uncle-- look at this, man-- i could have hada brand-new car by now! ok, it's all right.you can fix it.
come on, ok? you canfix it. just relax. hey, i didn't know you two were,like, a thing now. just somethingfor the summer. come on, lupe. you're suchan asshole, pancho. lupe, wait. [ice cream bell ringing] shit!
lots of stars up there,homey. not too polluted. stars aren't really there, ese. no, whatyou're looking at is where theyused to be, man. it takes the light a thousand yearsto reach the earth. for all we know, they burned outlong ago, man. god pulledthe plug on us.
he didn'ttell nobody. those starsare out there, homeboy. i don't carewhat you say. [car engine revs] hey, homeboy. ialli te llevo, mi hija! come on, throw mea kiss, baby! hey, tirame un beso. [siren wails]
that's right.that's right. that's all you know. what's the matter,you can't afford a knife? use a pencil,go to jail. can i havethis back now? you got a tough mouth.you better watch yourself. mucho gusto, officer. let's go, jack. that was real smart, ese.
get away from my ride! get up. come on, get up! come back. well... does anyone haveanything to say? ana... i've knownyour family for years. tell us the truth.
nothing happened. now, don't lie to me. nothing happened! why don't you justleave her alone? she didn't doanything wrong. then tell us who did. we're not cops. we're not here toput anybody behind bars. if you cheated,
let us knowso you can go home and enjoythe rest of your summer. permiso. i come fromthis neighborhood. yo vengo de este barrio. and i know thatsometimes we're tempted to take shortcuts. just tell me the truthwhat happened. dime la verdad.
we're busted.why don't we just admit it? how'd you do it? i got the testahead of time. i passed it out to everyone. how did youget the test? mailman. i strangled him. his body's decomposingin my locker. ha ha ha ha ha!
[all laughing] there's no sensein continuing if theywon't cooperate. do you know how thisgot in my box? a letterof resignation. anonymous. my guess is it could havesomething to do with the messthis school is in. do you thinkthe students cheated?
mr. escalante,you put these kids under an awful lotof pressure. they would have gone toany lengths to please you. you didn't answermy question. every nightwhen i go to bed, i watchthe television news. i see a lot of peoplego on trial. they deny everything, or their lawyers saythey were insane
at the time they did it. a lot of them get off. but i believethat most people who get caught todayare guilty. don't you? i knowwhat you mean. you betcha. have you seen my car? do you needa ride home?
[mutters] no, thank you. kemo, let metake you home! jaime? jaime... you want to talkabout it? i may havemade a mistake trying to teach themcalculus. regardless of whether
they passed that testor not, jaime... they learned. yeah, they learned if you try real hard,nothing changes. quit. if that's all youhave left to teach... you know what kills me? is that they lostthe confidence in the system that they're now finallyqualified to be a part of.
i don't know why i'mlosing sleep over this. i don't need it. i could make twicethe money in less hours and have peopletreat me with respect. respect? jaime,those kids love you. [honk honk honk] [honk] hey, kemo!
check out your ride, man.we fixed it up for you. going downtown, man, to take actionon those e.t.s. boys. hey, dad, check outyour new car. angel: we got to talkabout the payments. golly! gentlemen? my name isjaime escalante. i'm the a.p.calculus teacher
from garfieldhigh school. yes. yes. i'm dr. pearson. hello, doctor. this is dr. ramirez. que tal? un placer. es un gusto, seã‘or. i feel i havethe right to know why you thinkmy students cheated.
mr. escalante, i'm sorry you droveall the way out here, but we're not at libertyto discuss the controversy with you. i would just like to seethe test, that's all. i understand whatyou're going through here. but i repeat, the problem is betweenthe e.t.s. and the students. i would just like to see
what kind of mistakeswere made. once again,i'm their teacher. i know my kids. mr. escalante,have a seat. no. no, thank you. there weresome unorthodox, even illogicalcomputations for studentsof this caliber. mistakes in simple math.
maybe they all madethe same mistakes because they had the same teacher teaching themthe same program. i taught themstep by step, all the same way. look. your students averagedfewer than 4 wrong on the multiple choice, where other schoolsaverage, what? 14 to 18incorrect answers?
and most of your kidsfinished the test with time to spare. they should be rewarded,not punished. mr. escalante,the educational testing service does not act capriciously. every major universityin the united states subscribes to our service. i would just like to seethe proof of wrongdoing. i would liketo see the tests.
let me reiterate. there has been no proofof wrongdoing here, only a suspicionof cheating. in this country, one is innocentuntil proven guilty, not the otherway around. if you're so confident of your students'abilities, why not encourage themto retest?
why should i? if they don't, everyonewill assume they cheated. everyone will assumethey cheated if they do. i want to seethe tests, please. we're going aroundin circles here. mr. escalante,we're psychometricians, thorough to the pointof boring. we're not outto get anybody here. not so fast. if this wasa simple situation
of 2 students cheating,that's one thing. but by makinga blanket accusation, you're saying thatthere was a conspiracy. every conspiracyhas a leader. who better qualifiedto be the leader than the teacher? mr. escalante, nobody'saccusing you of anything. not only me. the school, the parents,the entire community.
scores this high,i guarantee you, would be questionedregardless of the school. yes, but if this wasbeverly hills high school, they wouldn't have sentyou two to investigate. mr. escalante, i hopeyou're not insinuating that we haven't earnedour position here, 'cause no one'sgiven me a damn thing. i suggest you'reletting your emotions get the best of you.
if no one has given youa damn thing, you should not be takingaway from my kids! the identity ofthe students were concealed until itwas determined that irregularitiesexisted. those scores would havenever been questioned if my kids did nothave spanish surnames and comefrom barrio schools! you know that!
all right. we've been patientlyexplaining our position and listening to your complaints. but nowour conversation is over. there's somethinggoing on here that nobody'stalking about, and you knowwhat it is! no one has the rightto accuse me of racism. no one has the right to accuse me of racism! i know well how to spelldiscrimination!
i thought this was over a long time ago. are you doing thisto my kids? there are 2 kindsof racism, mr. escalante-- singling out a group because they'remembers of a minority and not singling out a group because they'remembers of a minority. my kids could teachyou a thing or two. i'm calling security
if you can'tcontrol yourself. go for it. you didn'tshow me the test. you didn't prove anything. my kids didn'tdo anything. i'm gonna proveyou guys wrong. i hope you do, because this is notbetween you and me. maybe not,
but if i catchyou on the street, i'll kick the shitout of you. yeah, this isguadalupe escobar. i've decided to takethe test again. you're kidding. kemo, we only haveone day to study. ok. 8 a.m.on tuesday. thank you. why didn't youlet me talk to them? call collect. stickthem with a big bill.
i thought i'd seen this placefor the last time. we'll have to review the entire coursein one shot. you meanin one day? can't do it in less. maybe they'll give usthe same test. mm-mmm.it'll be harder. don't count on that. just go, step by step,and play defense.
don't bring anything. no pencils,no erasers, nothing. don't wear clotheswith too many pockets. don't letyour eyes wander. no spacing out. don't give themany opportunity to call you cheaters. you arethe true dreamers, and dreams accomplishwonderful things.
you're the best. tomorrow you'll provethat you're the champs. start with chapter one. kemo, what youmaking over there? you like brains? good. i was afraid you guys wouldn'tappreciate it. this food lastsfor 24 hours. you're afraid we'll screw up
tomorrow's justanother day, honey. i'm afraid you'll screw upthe rest of your lives. i'm fried. i don't careif i don't pass. sit down. we gotwork to do. i'm going home. sit down. i'm tired andi'm going home. ok?
you knowwhat you're doing? i'm going home.that's what i'm doing. this stuff's almost ready.who'd like some? kemo,let's order out, man. i was just kidding. hey, i had to see you. you can't expect meto be your girlfriend at your convenience. i'm an asshole.
sorry. i'm sureyou're all familiar with the procedure. you have 90 minutes to completethe multiple-choice section. do not fill in answersby guessing. wrong answers will becounted against you. you may begin part one... now.
ok. pencils down. to completethe free response section. don't spendtoo much time on any particular answer. credit will be issuedfor partial solutions. open the booklet. begin part 2.good luck. finished? no, i'm sorry. i cannotfinish the test.
what's wrong? i have an appointmentat usc. it's relatedto my scholarship. can't that wait? no, it can't. ok. did you fill outyour i.d. card? yes. thank you. pencils down. mr. escalante?
did you hearthe news? we gotthe computers. jaime, they want to goover the test again, make sure there'sno misunderstandings. estelle, i'm on my wayto the faculty meeting. misunderstandingagain? can you calldr. ramirez? he'll help us. he's going to tell methe same thing, jaime.
all right.i'll call him. yes, this is mr. molinacalling again. i'd like to speak to dr.-- yes, i did. oh, you do? yes. yes, i'dlike that very much. uh...uh...one moment. yes, uh, yes.i'm aware of the scoring. 3 is a passing grade.
5 is a perfect grade. yes. i'm ready.go ahead. diaz, maria. 4. sifuentes, mark. 5. nadar, jose. 4. i want the originalscores reinstated. santos, daniel. 4. escobar, guadalupe. 5. camejo, claudia. 4.
ana delgado. 4. garcia, francisco. 3. fuentes, rafaela. 4. javier perales. 5. guitaro, armando. 4. angel guzman... 5. estelle, tell themto hold the meeting. we're coming with great news.
pernajas, juliana. 5. hernandez, alejandro. 4. castro, monica. 4. ♪ some people hateand expect perfection ♪ ♪ some people lieand demand the truth ♪ ♪ gotta ask myselfif it's all deception ♪ ♪ is this a natural thing ♪ ♪ that we all just do? ♪ ♪ we takesuch pleasure from pain ♪
♪ i'm just tiredof playing that game ♪ ♪ some thingsyou've got to change ♪ ♪ you've got to standand deliver ♪ ♪ with your body and soul ♪ ♪ stand and deliver ♪ ♪ just give mesomething to hold ♪ ♪ if the truthcan be told ♪ ♪ we can make it together ♪ ♪ if you stand ♪
♪ sometimes my minddrives me to distraction ♪ ♪ i wanna shutall the windows ♪ ♪ and lock the doors ♪ ♪ every time i geta little bit of satisfaction ♪ ♪ i see our world cometumblin' to the floor ♪ ♪ i know in this life ♪ ♪ you gotta stand upfor what feels right ♪ ♪ each day and every night ♪ ♪ if we standand deliver ♪
♪ so the truth can be told ♪ ♪ if we stand ♪ ♪ if we stand and deliver ♪ ♪ we can make it together... ♪ captioning made possible bywarner bros. captioned by the nationalcaptioning institute--www.ncicap.org--
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