Quote

The principal did not like the fact that the teachers would take my side. I always left an impression when I left the school - not for who I was but for what I did there.

I was told that I had to give grades to the students, which I wasn't particularly interested in doing.

My parents made it clear that I should never display even the slightest disrespect to individuals who had the power to let me skip a half grade or move into more challenging classes. While it was all right for me to know more about a topic than my sixth-grade teacher had ever learned, questioning her facts could only lead to trouble.

Most of my teachers probably found I made less trouble if they let me read.

I was going to show my kids that no matter what happened with their parents, parole officers and other teachers, I wouldn't give up on them. I let them know it matters to me that you come to class, it matters to me that you try, it matters to me when you succeed.

Teachers didn't like me very much. They thought I was just this punk kid and they always wanted to kick me out.

I could never let the teacher down. I always worked hard, too scared to get in trouble.

Classrooms cannot and should not be coerced into adopting federal academic standards. That's not just my belief; it's federal law.

Most of my teachers didn't like me. I didn't get good grades because I pretty much lived at the public access studio. I tried to be the class clown, so I spent a lot of time in detention.

My second grade teacher told me I would never graduate high school. That I was going to be a juvenile delinquent.