<i>I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had </i>is television, screen and stage star Tony Danza’s absorbing account of a year spent teaching tenth-grade English at Northeast High -- Philadelphia’s largest high school with 3600 students. <br> <br>Entering Northeast’s crowded halls in September of 2009, Tony found his way to a classroom filled with twenty-six students who were determined not to cut him any slack. They cared nothing about “Mr. Danza’s” showbiz credentials, and they immediately put him on the hot seat. <br> <br>Featuring indelible portraits of students and teachers alike, <i>I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had </i>reveals just how hard it is to keep today’s technologically savvy – and often alienated -- students engaged, how impressively<i> committed</i> most teachers are, and the outsized role counseling plays in a teacher’s day, given the psychological burdens many students carry. The book also makes vivid how a modern high school works, showing Tony in a myriad of roles – from lecturing on <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i> to “coaching” the football team to organizing a talent show to leading far-flung field trips to hosting teacher gripe sessions. <br> <br>A surprisingly poignant account, <i>I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher </i>I Ever Had is sometimes laugh-out-loud funny but is mostly filled with hard-won wisdom and feel-good tears.