Frank Thoms

“Teacher in the rye” comes from a news reporter who interviewed me in Leningrad when I was a US-Soviet exchange teacher at School Nº185. “Thoms gathers impressions of the Soviet Union like a real-life Holden Caulfield, the consummate social satirist. Nothing seems to escape his discerning eye. By watching and interacting, Thoms believes he is helping civilization from going over the cliff––a teacher in the rye.”

I did not consider myself a “consulate social satirist,” nor was I “helping civilization from going over the cliff.” In the last sentence in my Introduction I write, “I feel I’m helping civilization from going over the cliff doing what I can to prevent society from stealing education from the classroom.” A big task, an important one. I am doing all I can, now in my mid-80s, to let the world know what’s possible in the classroom and to support teachers in taking control of theirs and to intrigue readers to support public education.