“Her stories and advice are invaluable. This is a must buy!”
Dr. Harry Wong, author of the The First Days of School

When twenty-five-year-old Christina Asquith leaves her job with The Philadelphia Inquirer to teach, she aspires to “make a difference in a child’s life,” or so promises the School District of Philadelphia’s marketing brochure. Without certification or training—an “emergency teacher”—Ms. Asquith is hired on the spot and (unknowingly) assigned to the classroom that few veteran teachers would take: sixth grade in the city’s oldest school building, in a crime-infested neighborhood known as The Badlands. “Sink or swim,” Ms. Asquith is told on her first day.
Cleverly written and fast-paced, the true story of Ms. Asquith’s baptism into teaching is a how-to (and how-not-to) guide for teachers across the nation. As an outsider who has long yearned to do something about urban public schools, Ms. Asquith promises herself on the first day of school to answer two questions quintessential to her generation:
*Why are American inner-city public schools failing?
*Can one young, motivated person make a difference?

Her journey takes her into the school’s racist history, and to current school board policies intended to help but which often have the opposite effect. Yet, in charge of thirty-three students, she must keep her classroom together while searching for answers. The challenges of teaching pale when compared to the antics of the corrupt principal, the reams of special education paperwork, and the administration’s insistence that teachers maintain a façade of success—even when this requires inflating students’ grades.

Employing humor and honesty reminiscent of Luanne Johnson’s Dangerous Minds, Ms. Asquith, through her students, including “pipe-cleaner” Jovani and “Queen-bee” Vanessa, tells a classic story of trying to succeed against the odds. Are good intentions enough? Ms. Asquith detailed account doesn’t gloss over the Herculean task. “More than ten percent of new teachers in Philadelphia quit within the first month of school,” she laments. The Emergency Teacher offers inspiration and guidance to new teachers across America so they will stay in the profession and truly “make a difference.”

As the number of untrained, “emergency-certified” teachers grows nationwide, The Emergency Teacher is more relevant than ever.