Smoke One For...

...Jaime Escalante, who brought a philosophy of "Determination. Plus discipline. Plus hard work" to an East L.A. classroom while teaching advanced math to kids who had been practically abandoned by the government-run public school system. A teacher who put the kids before the administration or unions is rare in today's education system and many teachers would do well to use him as a role model. His story was features in the movie Stand and Deliver and Michelle Malkin wrote a moving tribute to him on her blog. Mr. Escalante died today in Reno while undergoing cancer treatment. He was 79.