In the 1970s, while many US communities resisted school integration, expected less of working-class students, and denied teachers autonomy, a creative team of educators and students at a multiracial public high school in California collaborated to achieve something remarkable. Inspired by a shared vision, teachers gave each student a reason to engage, offered them a wealth of leadership roles, and established an enduring school-wide culture of pride and belonging. Read more.
WCK “reconstructs the extraordinary story of a seemingly ordinary public school . . . What emerges is not only a chronicle of one school’s culture, but also a meditation on belonging, equity, and the transformative role educators can play in young lives.” . . . “education is not just about producing college-bound students. It is about giving adolescents pathways to resilience, identity, and contribution.” — San Francisco Book Review
***Reader Views Literary Award Winner, 2025
**Winner of the INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD, 2026
REVIEWS
“An impassioned, well-researched history of a groundbreaking California public school.” — Kirkus Reviews
"If you want a blueprint on how to transform a school and its student body, this is it. If you want role models for working-class students who made it later in life, this book is packed with them….Every high school principal, teacher, and student in the world should read Working-Class Kids . . . It could very well save lives." — GoodReads
“A marvel of storytelling combined with sophisticated social and institutional analysis. Hansen and Monroe literally bring the school to life. This book confirms the importance of high school as a central feature of coming of age in the United States.” —John R. Thelin, University of Kentucky
“We see the secret sauce in vivid case histories of teachers and former students, an analysis of the path-breaking curriculum and pedagogy, and descriptions of how educators connected with students—culminating in a list of ten school-effectiveness factors that is as helpful as any I’ve seen.” —Kim Marshall, former principal of a Boston elementary School and founder and editor of The Marshall Memo
“Easy to read and deeply interesting, this is an inspirational story of a high school which helped students succeed against the odds.” — Annette Lareau, author of Unequal Childhoods
“Why do many of the graduates report that this California working-class high school saved their lives? Karen Hansen brings her unique perspective as a graduate, as well as a sociologist, to enable us to understand the challenges and powerful interactions among students and faculty. This is a book worth reading.” — Marya R. Levenson, Harry S. Levitan Emerita Director of the Education Program, Brandeis University