 Adler graduated "magna cum laude" from CCNY in 1931, when he was 18.Adler began his teaching career with a one-year appointment as a teacher-in-training at Stuyvesant High School.After being licensed as a regular teacher, he taught for 3 years as a substitute teacher during a period when the Board of Education, in violation of state law, refused to fill vacancies with regular teachers entitled to full benefits.