As a general rule, I would hope that we could limit comments that fall in the category of gossip about individuals, even about teachers who become public figures because of their accomplishments or because the press picks up their accomplishments. I would be more comfortable talking about - critiquing or supporting - Escalante's ideas without letting his "larger-than-life" status make him subject for talk about how he is behaving in his professional life now. As someone who is not a mathematician but values the math standards and other tools to realize stronger student achievement, especially that of students who are often denied access to valued knowledge, the contribution of Escalante is that he made the teaching of math as appealing and romantic as any profession could be and boosted the status of math teaching in the process. His love of math and his work with his students in a particular time and place - whatever came before or since - makes a lot of my work more conceivable than it would be without his experience.
Anne Wheelock email@example.com Boston, Massachusetts, USA