"This is an important and easy-to-read account of a subject we often think we know all about--how privilege influences our education. Howard has effectively combined a narrative account with an academic one to help us all relate to the subject. If only I could have read this forty years ago, before I began to tackle this subject in the Central Park East Schools of East Harlem." --Deborah Meier, currently senior scholar at New York University, author and for 40 years a teacher and principal at ground breaking K-12 public schools "Howard tells a compelling story of life in elite schools from the perspective of a teacher whose own K-12 experiences had been in rural, impoverished schools. Besides being a keen observer of classroom and school life, Howard documents how he carries out his own mission of challenging his affluent students to rethink their sheltered, elitist views and engage in social justice pursuits. The author balances astute personal reflections as a teacher in elite schools with a sensitive and caring portrayal of students who may come across as arrogant and selfish, yet still face the pain caused by school competition and excessively high parental expectations. " --Ellen Brantlinger, Professor Emeritus, Curriculum & Instruction Department, Indiana University-Bloomington rsonal reflections as a teacher in elite schools with a sensitive and caring portrayal of students who may come across as arrogant and selfish, yet still face the pain caused by school competition and excessively high parental expectations. " --Ellen Brantlinger, Professor Emeritus, Curriculum & Instruction Department, Indiana University-Bloomington.