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Jim Steyer Highlight
When you teach, you can actually see these kids' lives change in front of you. And you can help them grow, succeed, and be happy.
About Jim
- Even though he's also involved in public policy and media, he still considers teaching to be his career.
- Grew up in New York City; his mother was a schoolteacher in Harlem and the South Bronx.
- He graduated early from high school and spent a year teaching with his mother.
- Says he didn't grow up wealthy, but once he spent that year teaching, he realized how privileged he'd been education-wise.
- Went to a law school because he says law gives you the ability to affect change; knew he wanted to be a civil rights lawyer.
- Says that being able to write policy and law to make changes on a mass scale still doesn't fulfill him as much as teaching a student one-on-one.
- Believes that the country's number one priority should be improving the lives of children through education.
- Started Common Sense Media to help teachers use media and technology to create more engaging classrooms.