April 2, 2010 12:50PM 

# The Most Fitting Tribute to Jaime Escalante 

By [Andrew J. Coulson](https://www.cato.org/people/andrew-coulson) 

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Jaime Escalante, the brilliant teacher immortalized in the 1988 film *[Stand and Deliver](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094027/)*, died this week at the age of 79. I write today in the [*Wall Street Journal*](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=11653) about his incredible achievements and the scandalous way that he was treated by the American education system.

I argue that the most fitting tribute we can offer Escalante is to ensure that, in the future, other great educators are recognized and rewarded for their service, and helped to reach a mass audience of pupils instead of being demoted and pushed out of the system, as he was.

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) 

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