Hope Realized

Four students Bryant Estrada, Guillermo Ronquillo, Theresa Agonia, and George Carle graduated in 2009 from a small poverty stricken, low performing urban city high school on the outskirts of Providence, Rhode Island, and attended four different colleges. Fifty-two percent of their classmates had dropped out at Central Falls High, and after a union dispute in 2010 caused by a federal and state mandate, all high school teachers were fired. This action resulted in the school becoming the national poster child for high school "drop-out factories." In a press conference, even President Obama weighed in and supported the mass teacher firing. Hope Realized goes beyond the research and rhetoric as the students describe the highs and lows of their college journeys.Teachers and school reformers can learn much from their compelling and insightful stories.