Class Struggle by Steven Verrier

The teacher in my wanted to read this book.  I have my degree in EL. ED.  and I just had to see what it was like from the point-of-view of the teacher.  I have in the past substituted in the public school system about 20 years ago.  However, since having my own children I've been out of the loop.  We have homeschooled both our girls and so I thought maybe I'd get my eyes opened to what the school system was like and that I did.  Verrier has compiled in his book, Class Struggle, a full year of his teaching records, call it a journal, diary, memoirs, or whatever you like; he tells it like it is.  He gives you a Monday - Friday and sometimes Sat. and Sunday look at his year as a teacher in the Webster High School in San Antoion.  Class Struggle has been correctly titled, because you see the struggles that he and his colleagues go through every day and sometimes even every class period in the day.   Though Verrier does use a few words that I would choose not to use (see my language statement here) it wasn't so offensive that I couldn't stomach it and had to stop reading his book as has been the case in some books I've read in the past.  Verrier really opens the readers eyes to what it really like to be a teacher in this school system.  I really did enjoy this book

Class Struggle: Journal of a Teacher In Up to His Ears takes readers deep into the heart of San Antonio’s “Webster High School” (fictional name), an institution that seems to revel in dysfunction. Told from the point of view of a bemused teacher, Class Struggle is a guided tour through the landscapes and minefields of modern urban education.

Readers will meet intriguing characters – the brilliant student “on a quest to kill,” the barking boy, the substitute teacher who won’t shut up, and many others – who’ll make them laugh, cry, and scream. As author Brian Crosby says, “Class Struggle is an engrossing book that spotlights the ongoing obstacles teachers face on a daily basis in trying to teach in today’s climate at an urban school. The eye-opening challenges Mr. Verrier faces should sound an alarm about what is happening in America’s public schools.”

Steven Verrier has been a teacher for over two decades. From 2007-2010 he taught English at “Webster High School,” an institution in San Antonio, Texas, that seemed to revel in dysfunction. Class Struggle: Journal of a Teacher In Up to His Ears is Steve’s account of his third and final year at “Webster” – which turned out to be even wackier than Steve dared expect.

Steve’s previous books include Plan B (fiction, Saga Books), Tough Love, Tender Heart (fiction, Saga Books), several short plays (Brooklyn Publishers), and the prizewinning Raising a Child to be Bilingual and Bicultural (nonfiction, Hira-Tai Books, Japan).

For further information, please visit www.stevenverrier.com.


A copy of this book was provided for review by Pump up your Book tours