“It gave me the feeling of a teacher retiring, who wanted to get down on paper his own sense of what essential, satisfying, maddening, and purposeful work we do. And it felt to me also like a love letter to teaching.  This is how inspiring the book was to me—even in the week after Xmas, while still under the clouds of the fall term hangover, as I read I kept thinking of how I might tweak my spring classes. It made me want to work!    During my break!” Mark Hughes, faculty, CCP

“As Bachus demonstrates, we all have a stake in the success of community colleges and those who attend them. I would add that we also have a stake in the success of professors who dare to take on the challenges that Ned Bachus embraced in his thirty years of teaching. Open Admissions is A Tale of Many Cities from a man who spent the best years of his life refusing to give up on anyone.”–Patti Marxsen, author of Tales from the Heart of Haiti, Helene Schweitzer: A Life of Her Own, Island Journeys, and others.

“Brilliant, engaging, and instructive…A must read, not only for those who teach at community colleges, but for all teachers and all administrators.” Gina Barreca, contributor, Chronicle of Higher Education

“The best description of the life of a working teacher I have ever read.” Dennis McGrath, Author and Professor, CCP

“Teaching and learning occurs by both faculty and students in this must-read book for anyone employed by a community college.”  Kathleen Hetherington, President of Howard Community College

“Three cheers for Open Admissions. I am a former student of Ned’s so I may be biased. I enjoyed the book tremendously and liked looking at Community College of Philadelphia students through Ned’s eyes. I learned so much about the man, the myth and the legend which gave me a deeper appreciation and understanding of him. As a current teacher in the inner-city of Philadelphia there was much to relate to! A job well done! “— Stephanie Kroupa, former student [See post on Teaching Independence ]

“As a retired professor of Educational Leadership whose interests were in K-12 education, after reading Ned’s book, Open Admissions, it became clear that this important work reflects a world about which I know very little. Ned’s contribution to the field of education is his ability to meet the distinct and profound challenges of Community College students who have many barriers to overcome in a sometimes harrowing process of adjustment. Ned writes with a keen awareness of those challenges, which means he can help students truly succeed in their academic journey and well beyond.” –Dr. Karolyn Snyder, President, International School Connection, co-author of Living on the Edge of Chaos: Leading Schools into the Global Age.

“I urge teachers and education students to read this flowing story from and about a teacher truly dedicated to his craft   Not among the non-traditional students he nurtured, I wish I had more teachers like him. Ned has created an engaging picture, mixing his personal growth over his life with his growth as a teacher, shining a light on the support system that he created for the student whose lives he enriched. All of this reflected in his final semester before retiring from a career teaching and a month spent as an Irish hermit nurturing the seminal draft of this book. — “Peter A. Muessig (Amazon Review)