TOUGH SHELL.(The Talk of the Town)(DonorsChoose funds public schools)

Publication: The New Yorker

Publication Date: 24-NOV-03

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2003 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.

Bill Gates may have donated fifty-one million dollars to the New York City public-school system this fall, but Amy Wallace's first graders still can't afford a new home for their pet crab, Clifford. Wallace, who is twenty-seven, teaches at P.S. 184, in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, a school that is unable to provide her even with pencils and paper. A few days ago, she announced to her students, who were sitting cross-legged on the scuffed brown linoleum at the back of Room 201, "Today, we're going to be learning about hermit crabs. What do you know about crabs?"

Hands shot...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.