Contributor Tom Barrella is an educator who lives with his Brazilian wife and family in New York. He met his wife through a much-publicized New York City billboard he took out in the summer of 2005 and which he chronicled in the book, "The Billboard." An entrepreneur prior to entering education, Tom co-founded in 1985 a technology company that went on to a public offering in 1997. He blogs on education, investing, and politics at Tommentary.com.