The compelling true story of a dedicated East Los Angeles teacher who surmounts overwhelming odds in his quest to turn inner-city students into whiz kids. When Jaime Escalante leaves a career in engineering to teach high school math, he is assigned to a barrio school with a reputation for gangs, drugs and dropouts, an ill-funded school that is also in imminent danger of losing its accreditation. Still, his quirky sense of humor, antics and offbeat teaching methods mesmerize and motivate his students.