Confessions of a Novice Math Teacher in the Bronx

When Ric Klass closed his private equity firm in affluent Greenwich, Connecticut, to become a math teacher at an unnamed New York City school he refers to as Central Bronx High, he wanted to live the whole movie—the one in which an idealistic teacher triumphs over the odds to transform the dead-end lives of inner city kids. A week before he started teaching, he actually watched Blackboard Jungle ; To Sir, With Love; and Stand and Deliver to pump himself up. And Klass did get his movie, but it wasn’t To Sir, With Love . It wasn’t even Goodbye, Mr. Chips . It was Armageddon .

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