Set in a junior-senior high school in the nineties, this story reveals what passes for standards and discipline and how a school administration, eager for national attention, can cook the books, shut down criticism, avoid critical evaluation and rid itself of whomever it cares to. The narrative, which spans four decades, touches on raising the mantel for women, introducing sports to girls and adapting to societal changes. It then follows a school district's efforts to rid itself of a thorn in its side.

As Ms. Feinman stands up to career ending challenges, readers will no longer believe that teaching is easy; teachers don't care; top-down management improves what goes on in classrooms; tenure protects teachers; and that a strong professional association is unnecessary if teachers are good at what they do.

This true story reads like a first class spy thriller. It is so surreal that Stephen King could not do a better job. The average person would not think things like this could possibly happen in a field that is supposed to be dedicated to educating our students. Instead, we find that solid professionalism takes a back seat to powerful individuals political agenda. I am a teacher and have seen some pretty strange things happen, but never on this scale. Read it and see what I mean. Howie Weiss
"Too Dangerous to Teach" is an absorbing and sometimes frightening account of the extreme dangers one is likely to face for daring to be truthful to one's beliefs in the face of the establishment. It is also a powerful indictment of a school system in which seeking revenge and personal political gain under the guise of concern for educational excellence and student safety is the order of the day. It's a story that needed to be told, and Ms Kleinman has done so with flying colors. - George Mandel

I am half way through this book and am shocked at the relationship of the union president and the superintendent. This book is a great learning tool for all union leadership. . . . I have been the president of the Martin County Education Association and . . . can relate to so many of the incidents in the book . - Jeanette Phillips, MCEA

I love your book. I am really caught up in the daily triumphs, struggles, disappointments and necessary adjustments of the narrator in pursuing her passion for teaching. - Steven McCrae

I am at the end of the chapter 19 (and) am ready to stomp the Glenda person into the ground. Had this woman ever taught before? Ever been in a school environment before? Any request you or anyone else had (Ellie) was turned into a battle for you and an insult for her. I don't think she saw the big picture by any means. I am really enjoying reading your book and feel like I'm in the hallway with you. Excellent descriptions keep it vibrant in my head. - Elizabeth Hitchcock

I find your book riveting, revealing, heart-breaking. The scenes you painted brought back so many memories. Your writing style is gripping. It's hard to put down. - Rosalia Gioia

"Too Dangerous To Teach" is too good to miss." This incredible story is so well told that it aroused anger, incredulity, disgust, empathy and pushed all my buttons. If you have an interest in how schools are run, students are being taught, teachers are asked to assume burdens beyond the classroom, this story will capture you. Elizabeth Feinman's struggle to be a great teacher while protecting her professional status makes a great read. - Renee Greene

Ms. Kleinman tells an incredible tale about her teaching experience. A well-qualified professional confronts an unyielding educational system, an administration that seems only interested in maintaining the status quo, and the hesitation of a union that supports her reluctantly. It is a sad yet enlightening tale brightened only by Ms. Kleinman's understanding of her students and her rapport with them. Her determined strength and her mission to teach sustains her. - Ginny Sixeas

I found "Too Dangerous to Teach" both exciting and shocking. Exciting for its page-turning vivid writing, shocking in its recounting of the story of a dedicated teacher who refuses to lower her standards and cheat her students in order to make her school look better. As an adjunct professor of Teaching and Learning at New York University, I find this troubling. Students graduate who are academically and ethically unprepared for college, for life, and for their role as aware, literate citizens in a democratic system. This is a book that anyone concerned about the education of our nation's children should read. - Joyce West

I get angry at the immoral way they disposed of a damned good teacher who became a perceived threat to their personal aspirations, just because she had a greater vision that encompassed giving priority to the needs of the children! What does "education" stand for, if not providing the best environment for learning? How can an "excellent record" of any administrator or school or system be applied in an arbitrary fashion to results based on the numbers of kids pushed through? - Val Drake

I loved your style of writing and your dedication to teaching. That you were able to perform, coach and supervise all the sporting activities with daily harassment was truly amazing. I need to read more after your last teaching assignment... Perhaps a sequel... - PASQUALE VILLANTE

I attended 2 of these "fictional" schools during the Camelot years of education on Long Island. Isobel Kleinman was my Phys. Ed. teacher. YOU WILL BE RIVETED by her story........I could not put the book down! The sacrificing of excellent teachers to maintain bogus grading, attendance, & behavioral statistics for financial gain, awards recognition, better budgets, & increased property values is a pathetic state of affairs for education. The district fear factor, outrageous ratio of non-tenured teachers, & growing number of retired good teachers will create the perfect environment for this corrupt district to reign. The fabrications & perjury of the students, faculty, & administration is astonishing! - June Cwiek Jordan

Your (hi)story remains so fascinating that I only reluctantly interrupt reading it to look up words in the dictionary. It took a while since it is not written in my native tongue but (it) is fascinating and (a book) one can hardly stop reading. You certainly are a gifted writer. The more I read the more I felt uneasy, annoyed (and) even disgusted by the behavior of some people you describe. If it were a story that (was) made up from a to z, OK, but when . . . everything really happened - well then it is almost a miracle that you are still the sound mind and pleasant, interesting, engaged and lively, well-balanced person friends love and appreciate. Congratulations. - Erwin Kaufmann

I am in the middle of your book; My God! My husband has observed me as reading it like a textbook, underlining, starring, commenting. Cannot wait to meet with you to talk about this. I cannot believe how bad it really could get! Glenda is an asshole, and Cross ought to just be brought up as incompetent! Perhaps he just needs a shrink! Anyway, I am immersed and will be in touch again. - Maria Testa

Isobel Kleinman told us how a school district with no standards can engineer a dedicated teacher's dismissal. Where was her union when the district set her up for failure and used the students to this end? Ms Kleinman describes how her naive support of the students and academic standards led to disaster. All teachers should read this book to learn how important it is to develop survival skills in a district that seems to support passing students just to pass them rather than educating them for their future benefit. Her dialogue was so engrossing and events so riveting that I couldn't put it down. A must read. - Marlene E. Natale

I was up until 2:30 A.M. last night because I couldn't put your book down. . . . Your writing is spectacular. ... As much as I am thoroughly enjoying reading it, I am also disturbed that the events were real. I'm sure at times it was painful to relive and write about. I applaud you for documenting your story. I can hear your voice speaking the words. It's excellent! - Suzan Black

I finished your book. Even though I had followed the case as it unfolded, it was quite different to read it through. I don't understand how you survived. I was talking about the book with my cousin Rachel. Her comment was "that teaching would be great if there were less grown-ups". Other friends, who are teachers, have observed the power trips, politics and manipulation that goes on. So unnecessary and so not the point. I wonder why one friend thought the book was funny. It was difficult emotionally for me to read it. I am so proud of you for having been a dedicated teacher, for standing up for your beliefs, for surviving such viciousness, and writing the book. They say what doesn't kill you will make you strong. - Sybil Solomon

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and have given it to a friend who teaches in the city She is spellbound and incredulous.- Fran Decicio

My dear friend and cousin gave me your incredible book. I read your book compulsively, nodding my head at every administrative obscenity. I shed real tears when a student you thought you hadn't reached expressed her love for you. I thank you, thank you for telling your story so well. Teachers have become the fall guys for everything that's wrong in education, but how can teachers do their jobs with rampant administrative abuse and ineffectual union representation. - Diana Siegel

You never doubt the works authenticity, and although this book does nothing special stylistically, it doesn't need to. I think this book would resonate strongly with anybody in the teaching industry whether they are the type of responsible teacher Elizabeth Feinman is or not. I could see this book being of great interest to anyone who is starting a career in teaching, and I can foresee that books like this will be great for sociologists four hundred years from now who are trying to reconstruct the sources of the flaws in our culture. - Ben Jonjak

It is an important, well-written work. It is engaging, hard to put down. I will recommend it to all my friends. - Rachael Lippman Eichelbaum

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