The Joys and Struggles of

Public School Teaching,

Discussed at Post Salon
About 70 people attended the Post newspapers most recent Salon to discuss
the joys of teaching in the public schools and the policy barriers facing U.S.
education.

<p>Speaker Francisco Ortiz is a popular teacher in Contra Costa County, the

same district where he attended school. He talked about his personal
difficulties of being a Spanish-speaking student without enough Latino
teachers.

He also talked about his curriculum, which includes the autobiographical

story, The Circuit, his love of teaching and his fathers encouragement to
pursue a career as an educator.

Kitty Kelly Epstein is a college professor, an author and an activist. Her

presentation focused on the built-in racism of the U.S. system and its early
roots in Oakland, the first place that used the racially biased group I.Q. tests
created in 1916 by Stanford professor and Eugenics supporter Lewis
Terman.

Dr. Epstein explored the growing movement of opposition to profit-oriented

educational companies and to the new breed of standardized tests they
promote.

Dr. Kimberly Mayfield is the chair of the Education Department at Holy

Names University and one of the authors of Diversifying the Teacher
Workforce. She encouraged potential new teachers to attend the Salon in
order to participate in the discussion and to hear about the Teacher
Apprentice Program, which recruits and supports local, diverse teachers as
they move into teaching.
Her presentation focused on the joy of teaching and the barriers facing
Black, Latino indigenous and Asian people attempting to enter the field.

Dr. Mayfield encouraged people interested in becoming teachers to find out

about the federally funded Teacher Apprenticeship Program (TAP), based at
Holy Names University, which helps prospective teachers overcome the
hurdles that keep them from entering the profession.

For information on the TAP program, call Stacy Johnson at (510) 436-1195
or email sjohnson@hnu.edu.