Garfield’s Honor Teacher Supports Bush

Garfield High calculus teacher Jaime Escalante, whose classroom success at the predominantly Latino East Los Angeles school has been spotlighted by Hollywood and lauded by both presidential campaigns, said Thursday that he plans to deliver his vote in November to George Bush.

But the hero of the film “Stand and Deliver” said he has no plans to chair a national Bush campaign committee, even though the Bush campaign lists Escalante as the “National Honorary Chairman of Hispanics for Bush.” The celebrated math teacher said he has not even been asked to lead the committee and is endorsing Bush only as “a private citizen.”

What’s more, Escalante said, he has no plans to hit the campaign trail for his favorite candidate because, “I don’t have the time. My duty is in the classroom.”

In an interview in that classroom Thursday, as he sat below pictures of heroes ranging from George Washington to Albert Einstein to Magic Johnson, Escalante said he favors the Vice President because “(Bush) is in favor of education.

“I know if I ask him to help me out, he’s going to do it,” said Escalante, the subject of intense publicity since the March release of the critically acclaimed movie, which highlighted the stunning success of his class on the advanced placement calculus test, the toughest high school math exam in the country.

The Bolivian-born Escalante, bucking the trend of endorsements for Democrat Michael S. Dukakis by national Latino leaders, said he has written a letter of support to the Vice President. Over the years, Escalante explained, he has met personally with Bush on at least three occasions and has reached the conclusion that Bush would “do a good job.”

Escalante added that he is unfamiliar with Dukakis’ education proposals, saying that he was apparently on vacation in Bolivia when the Democratic candidate was articulating his educational goals in public addresses.

Earlier this week, Escalante, in Washington to receive an award at the White House, briefly attended a Congressional Hispanic Caucus dinner at which Dukakis was the guest of honor.

But because of a steady stream of public appearances, he said, he missed Dukakis’ address there, too. In his remarks, which Escalante said were delivered before he arrived at the event, the Massachusetts Democrat paid tribute to Escalante’s inspirational teaching methods.

Dukakis’ Praise Pointed Out

Following Dukakis’ address, Bush campaign officials pointed out to the New York Times that the math teacher that Dukakis praised is the National Honorary Chairman of Hispanics for Bush. Bush spokeswoman Donna Lucas confirmed late Thursday that Escalante is indeed listed as the honorary chairman.

In May, Bush visited Escalante’s classroom, heaping praise on the teacher, but also drawing criticism for remarking that some young people “don’t have to go to college to achieve success. . . . We need those people who build our buildings, who send them soaring to the sky.”

Those comments, Escalante said Thursday, were taken out of context. Bush, he said, “has good vision.”