Book Description

The Least of These speaks directly to the hearts of those who truly care about children. It is a tribute to those who dedicate their lives to education. Mary Van Cleave tells her story from the perspective of an elementary school principal whose school is located in a poor, urban neighborhood. Van Cleave shares a fictionalized, yet all-too-real, year in the life of the school. The daily struggles of the children, teachers, and principal come alive as Van Cleave details the stories of chaos and violence, the battles with bureaucracy and unions, and the sad acceptance that inevitably comes to educators forced to face limitations, both personal and external. Readers will probably recognize their own schools, their own students. Van Cleave's poignant story is a metaphor for the frustrations and triumphs common to most urban schools. Here, in this unusual and elegantly written book, the true gravity of our schools' problems and the imperative need for reform become acutely apparent. Advocates of school reform will rejoice in Van Cleave's effort. She exposes the issues at the heart of our school system's troubles. She reveals those elements that work against our educational goals and compellingly brings before us the one element in the educational equation we can least afford to ignore - The Least of These, the children. Van Cleave puts the "human factor" - students, teachers, and principals - back into the concept of school reform. Along with the pain of Van Cleave's message comes a promise and a reaffirmation of the reasons educators choose their profession in the first place. There is hope for our educational system, and The Least of These is a brilliant spark.