LA Teacher Who Inspired Stand and Deliver Dies

Jaime Escalante, 79, was suffering from bladder cancer
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 30, 2010 7:22 PM CDT

Jaime Escalante, the math teacher at a tough East Los Angeles high school who inspired the 1987 film Stand and Deliver, has died. He was 79. A family friend says Escalante died today in Reno, Nev., where he was undergoing treatment for bladder cancer.

An immigrant from Bolivia, he transformed Garfield High School by motivating struggling students to tackle and excel at advanced math and science. The school had more Advanced Placement calculus students than all but three other public high schools in the country. Edward James Olmos played Escalante in the film based on his story. (More Jaime Escalante stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X