As Bad as They Say?Rundown, vermin infested buildings. Rigid, slow to react bureaucratic systems. Children from broken homes and declining communities. How can a teacher succeed? How does a student not only survive but also come to thrive? It can happen, and As Bad as They Say? tells the heroic stories of Janet Mayers students during her 33 year tenure as a Bronx high school teacher. In 1995, Janet Mayers students began a pen pal exchange with South African teenagers