Local author Michael Haussler will have a book signing and discussion tonight at Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeehouse, 1010 Foothill Blvd., La Canada Flintridge.
He'll be talking about his first novel, Results May Vary. Now a Glendale resident, Haussler has been local for many years: a graduate of Muir High School, he's also taught at Marshall for 14 years, and was a high school teacher in Los Angeles, as well as teaching for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese schools.
As for his novel, he says: "I've always wanted to write a novel, and i wanted to write about what I know about ... I decided to make it a story about the two main characters in public education: about a student and a teacher -- and I decided to make it take place in a single day."
Much of the inspiration was drawn from living and working in Altadena and Pasadena, Haussler said, and a career spent in inner city schools.
The major points, he says: inner city schools are overcrowded and inefficient, and lack resources, which crushes the creativity of students; and an emphasis on state achievement tests "sows a culture of failure."
"Kids don't have a stake [in tests]; schools do, kids don't. Kids don't take them seriously.
"Despite those obstacles, kids are so creative ... kids succeed anyway ... KIds bring the creativity and flexibility of adolescence to the table, and those things are hard to suppress. Kids want to learn, kids are willing to learn."
Now an adjunct professor at California State University-Los Angeles in the charter college of education, Haussler teaches teachers.
"I see good teadhers can help students overcome ... I think good teacher are the greatest resource. I will be so bold to say that that's an interesting observation to make, because if you look at the dialogue that's taking place, teachers are being blamed for the problems in schools. I'd say teachers are one of the only things that are holding schools together."
