In 1963, he was hired as a fulltime 8th grade English teacher at Intermediate School 44 on New York City's Upper West Side.

Gatto moved on to Lincoln Academy (now Horizons Middle School) in 1981, which was considered a dumping ground for kids with behavior problems.

Eventually Gatto found a position teaching predominantly poor, at-risk kids 8th grade students at Booker T. Washington Junior High in Spanish Harlem.

[9] In 1991, he wrote a letter announcing his retirement, titled I Quit, I Think, to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal, saying that he no longer wished to "hurt kids to make a living.

[2] Gatto asserts the following regarding what school does to children in Dumbing Us Down: Wade A. Carpenter, associate professor of education at Berry College, has called his books "scathing", "angry" "one-sided and hyperbolic, [but] not inaccurate".

Praxis tests are taken by potential educators as part of certification required by state and professional licensing entities.