Synopsis: Discovery Times Channel's cameras document life in the trenches of the nation's largest school system. From the young Yale-educated teacher trying to give back to his Los Angeles community to the veteran superintendent trying to keep his schools on course, LEARNING THE HARD WAY examines a system that is in severe disarray and economic distress.

California is facing the biggest budget deficit since the Great Depression -- almost $40 million. However, every school day more than six million students show up at California's public schools, deficit or not. How the children are educated in these difficult times is the focus of LEARNING THE HARD WAY. The special also looks at the future of California's schools and, by extension, what the rest of the country can expect.