Griffin Byrne is the idealistic new history, English and maths teacher in Father Frank Larkin's school in a mainly Latino ghetto neighborhood where most kids, even many of its graduates, end up in crime and poverty. He takes a particular interest in one of the boys nobody believes will ever come to anything, Lee Cortes, who he finds to be a prodigy in cartoon drawing but who never spoke a word at school, and always wears a Walkman, essentially because of his home situation: his elder brother Tyro, a drug dealer, abuses him and his mother, so he often stays home to mind the smallest siblings. Griffin tries everything to help Lee, despite everyones cynicism, even takes him in his bachelor flat, but finds the whole family situation must be solved, which is probably beyond his power, yet tries tireless, even if he gets nothing but abuse and the results seem to do more hurting then helping...

Griffin Byrne, un maestro recién llegado a una escuela secundaria católica en una ciudad cercana a los barrios marginales de Nueva York, es atropellado por el director Frank Larkin. Allí, intenta ayudar a Lee Cortez, un niño inteligente de una familia pobre. Lee tiene un buen corazón y habilidades artísticas, pero es constantemente arrastrado por su entorno social y está a punto de abandonar la escuela. La lucha de Byrne para ayudar a Lee refleja los problemas y dificultades a las que la escuela está siendo sometida cada día.

Tot ergernis van zijn vader besluit leraar Griffin Byrne niet aan nette studenten les te gaan geven, maar aan de probleemkinderen op een school in de stad. Gesteund door zijn mentor begint hij aan een ogenschijnlijk onmogelijke taak...