Many see no reason to attend classes one boy told me, ‘My future is forget it!’ Now, as then, children wage war against their schools. Now, as then, teachers are overworked, underpaid, and unappreciated. Now, as then, it is mired in rigidity and befogged by empty rhetoric. Now, as then, the school system is strangulated by its own red tape. In a new introduction to a 2012 edition of her novel, Kaufman said that little in education had changed in the intervening years: The novel was on the bestseller list for more than 60 weeks, and has sold more 6 million copies during the past five decades, according to publisher Open Road Media. Robert Mulligan directed the 1967 film adaptation starring Sandy Dennis. In 1962, The Saturday Review published the short story that would soon become the basis for Staircase. Now at the age of 96, Kaufman enjoys ballroom dancing when not working on her memoirs.Kaufman supplemented her income by publishing short stories in magazines under the more gender-neutral “Bel,” and became the first woman to have a published byline in Esquire magazine. These include Best Short Story, Best Articles on Education and Paperback of the Year, as well as plaques from the Anti-Defamation League, State of Israel Bonds, the Jewish Culture Foundation and National Human Resource. She has had numerous short stories and articles published in national magazines and has received many honors and awardsÑboth for her writing accomplishments and her contributions as a public speaker at education conventions and Jewish organizations throughout the country. The acting edition has been published by Dramatic Publishing since 1969.
Kaufman's #1 bestseller Up the Down Staircase has sold several million copies and is still in print. She has also given creative writing workshops and seminars at various universities.
Kaufman has been a teacher of English in New York City high schools, assistant professor of English at the City University of New York and lecturer at the New School for Social Research. She came to the United States at the age of 12 and went on to receive her bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Hunter College, her master's degree with first honors from Columbia University and a doctorate of letters from Nasson College. She was born in Berlin and spent her childhood in Odessa and Moscow. Bel Kaufman, writer, educator, humorist and sought-after public speaker, is the granddaughter of the celebrated Jewish author, Sholom Aleichem.
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