Innovative educators teach creatively while showing compassion and respect for their students. Innovation allows educators to apply their unique talents to create a stimulating environment where learning is fun and exciting. Innovative teachers continually evaluate lesson plans and make modifications to allow for change. They make decisions affecting students at the grassroots level. Innovative teachers encourage parent and community participation. Children often come to school with emotional, physical, and cultural baggage, and teachers must take responsibility for them while being understanding of their unique needs. It is important for everyone in the community to be involved in education, regardless of age or social status. Suggestions from California teachers on improving the educational system include extending the school day, revamping the bureaucratic process to give teachers more authority, revising tenure, downsizing administration, rewarding great teachers, reducing class size, avoiding labels, offering more charter schools, empowering paraprofessionals, and providing more field experience and mandatory inner city experience for all teachers. The paper describes three schools' approaches to innovative teaching: Jaime Escalante, a former East Los Angeles mathematics teacher; Velda Correa, principal of an elementary school in Weslaco, Texas; and Marva Collins, director of a private school in Chicago, Illinois. (SM)