Book description
Searching for Hope is a gripping account of life in a once-great high
school in a rough Indianapolis neighborhood. Granted unfiltered access
to Manual High throughout an entire school year, award-winning
journalist Matthew Tully tells the complex story of the everyday
drama, failures, and triumphs in one of the nation's many troubled
urban public high schools. He walks readers into classrooms, offices,
and hallways, painting a vivid picture of the profound academic
problems, deep frustrations, and apathy that absorb and sometimes
consume students, teachers, and administrators. Yet this intimate view
also reveals the hopes, dreams, and untapped talents of some amazing
individuals. Providing insights into the challenges confronting those
who seek to improve the quality of America's schools, Tully argues
that school leaders and policy makers must rally communities to
heartfelt engagement with their schools if the crippling social and
economic threats to cities such as Indianapolis are to be averted.
"[W]hile the book offers no unfamiliar insight into the
plight of urban schools, it does give a powerful, ultimately genuine
voice to the complicated, imperfect individuals whose victories and
hopes are often unreported." -Publishers Weekly
Matthew Tully is the political columnist for the Indianapolis
Star. His columns on public schools have helped drive debate over
education reform in Indiana. Tully's commentary has appeared in the
Wall Street Journal and Education Week, and he has appeared on MSNBC,
NPR, and numerous other national media outlets. He was named Indiana
Journalist of the Year in 2008 and won the Casey Medal for Meritorious
Journalism in 2010.
