Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools | Jonathan Kozol

Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools | Jonathan Kozol | Kozol's Savage Inequalities

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Savage Inequalitie...

	Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools Jonathan Kozol Harper Perennial, 1992 - 262 pages average customer review:based on 148 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Kozol Opens Eyes

Jonathan Kozol explores in Savage Inequalities deception. Among the 30 deprived public schools - East Saint Louis, for example - the author visited, each conveys a conflicting message to young children. Federal, state, and local governments say, "We encourage you to pursue your dreams." Moreover, school districts often name institutions in honor of the ultimate dreamer, Dr. Martin Luther King. Yet, these bureaucracies fail to provide the resources necessary for achieving even the smallest goal. The hypocrisy is not isolated, as these schools represent a crisis in which every district that collects insufficient tax income is unable to purchase proper educational supplies or construct adequate facilities.
Kozol's discussion of past court rulings, specifically Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education, in relation to the United States' education system draws attention to the misperceptions much of the citizenry maintains toward the amount of equality in our society. Primarily due to mass media, many Americans believe that diversity initiatives have corrected the majority of problems that have plagued this nation since its founding. Not only is segregation still prevalent - once thriving schools lose funding as minority students replace the affluent whites that flock to the suburbs - but an economic divide is growing as well. Almost from the outset, children of poor families are treated as unworthy of scare resources. The neglect is exacerbated by the fact that those suburban families fail to understand or choose to ignore the problems for which they are indirectly responsible.
Sadly, I am a testament to our country's ignorance. While I was aware of the discrepancies in educational opportunities that Kozol describes, I did not truly appreciate prior to reading this text the extent of the situation. Kozol's research and conclusions effectively reveal why the system continues in its current state and how changes should occur. I am optimistic that as technology develops, facilitating information exchange, more people will be exposed to facts and ideas like those put forth by Kozol.
I was especially enlightened by Kozol's effort to connect seemingly minor educational issues - a leaky roof, for example - with overall child development. Test scores alone do not predict future success; the emotions and attitudes fostered by school experiences are equally responsible. Furthermore, the directives intended for bureaucracies are interesting and well stated. I wonder, however, whether the suggestions are truly unique. I find it likely that advocates simply need to articulate their case more precisely and attract broad, powerful support. Imagine the possibilities if Johnathan Kozol explained his analysis to a congressional committee as high-profile celebrities campaigned on the behalf of him and the millions of helpless children around the country.
Personally, I would like to know how I can best use my skills to help correct the situation. I agree with the proposal that local governments draw more carefully school district boundaries, but that change is largely beyond my control. Though I am only one person, Kozol's writing leads me to believe that even minor actions will inspire change.

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Kozol's Savage Inequalities

Jonathon Kozol's Savage Inequalities is a well-written, stark, and very often disturbing investigation of the public educational system in America. In 6 Chapters Kozol visits 6 different places in the country, from Illinois, to Chicago, New York, New Jersey, D.C., and San Antonio; he depicts the decrepit conditions in many of these places with frighteningly clarity and a straightforward manner that strikes the reader with force. By painting the picture of these grim locations and situations to the reader, and contrasting them with brighter images of wealthy and affluent schools and lifestyles, Kozol effectively sheds light on the disparity between the rich and poor and the schooling they receive, a disparity that is glaringly along racial lines, as well as showing how racial segregation, abolished roughly a half century ago in theory, is in practice still present in the modern public educational system. Kozol effectively explains how this social problem is tied into the method of funding schools-through local property taxes. This ensures that the richest neighborhoods will have the most well funded schools while the poorest neighborhoods (and, usually, neighborhoods comprised of African-Americans and other minorities almost entirely) will have schools funded the least. Kozol shows how this effects the population of these towns not only materially but psychologically, and in this aspect his work really hits the reader, and by interviewing children and hearing what they have to say, he has added a whole other, emotionally wrenching dimension to his book. Passages where he tells how a student began to cry when hearing Langston Hughes' poem A Dream Deferred; when he describes the town of East St. Louis in the floodplain against the backdrop of the factories and plants spewing smoke and chemical poisons into the land the children play on, all with the affluent neighborhoods ringing them from above on the bluffs; the more astute students of this poor neighborhood who recognize the dire nature of the situation they are in, but don't understand why they are in it, who comment that naming a school in their city after MLK is "like a terrible joke on history"; examples and stories such as these inform the reader as to how materially disadvantaged and psychologically damaging these conditions are for these children, disadvantages and damages the reader understands these children, gifted or not, may never be able to rise out from under.
I feel as if this book is of the utmost importance to our national situation, and the condition of our nation's children now and in the future. When situations like this exist I don't know how anybody could say that every person in America has an equal opportunity to succeed and keep a straight face. And while Kozol attributes the disparity to funding through property taxes (which I understand) I don't know if it is as simple as putting more money into a school-these schools and communities need to be rehabilitated completely, as whole entities; the schools themselves need to be structurally fixed so that the money that does go into them goes to actual educational supplies and necessities, and even if the schools are fixed, the communities will still often be poisoned by outside conditions. Which leads me to the one problem I had with Kozol's book-he depicts all this horror and all these distressing situations, depicts them with alarming directness, but doesn't really ever explain how he thinks we could solve these problems and alleviate the misery he renders so painstakingly. The book depresses the reader and opens the reader's eyes to these horrific problems and social injustices and inequalities, but does not offer the reader any real hope by way of a solution, and in that respect the reader is left wanting more.

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Important Insight to America's Public Schools

"All of our children ought to be allowed a stake in the enormous richness of America." With these words, author Jonathon Kozol begins the conclusion to his eye-opening book Savage Inequalities. This book, a must-read for every American, delves into the inequalities in the public school systems throughout the United States. To truly understand these problems, Kozol travels across the nation and spends time in the schools, communities, and homes of the people in each urban area. Through his intensive research, he is able to paint a picture that many Americans would be horrified to realize-in this very wealthy nation, many children are being forced to attend public schools with conditions that could be considered third-world. Americans believe strongly in the right to a free, quality education for all children. Kozol uses his experiences to suggest that perhaps this is not true. He argues that many Americans actually only believe in the right to a free, quality education for their children, and not those children with different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Savage Inequalities is divided into six sections: Life on the Mississippi; Other People's Children; The Savage Inequalities of Public Education in New York; Children of the City Invincible; and The Dream Deferred, Again, in San Antonio. In each section, Kozol presents a well-researched depiction of the school systems in a particular metropolitan area. To further emphasize the lack of resources in these urban schools, Kozol contrasts them with local suburban districts. All of the research includes statistical backing, and there is an Appendix included with additional data on school funding. Kozol depends on personal accounts and stories to support his arguments. In each school district the reader is introduced to specific classrooms, students, and faculty members. With these personal connections as a foundation, Kozol then successfully introduces broader issues within the system, including racial segregation, the structure of funding for public schools, overcrowding, the role of teachers and communities, and health issues and their relationship to learning. Kozol discusses all of these issues with the students, faculty and community members. Through conversations with students, the reader realizes that the children actually do understand that they are being dismissed and ignored by the system. His critiques of systemic problems are strong and at times somewhat narrow. Frequently, the discussions of the opposing views are dismissed quickly and presented negatively. However, he does make fitting attempts at including these opinions and recognizing that some issues cannot be repaired with quick-fixes, like monetary transfers, alone. For example, Kozol's description of the New Jersey plan to re-distribute tax dollars to all school districts within the state includes an outline of the opposing arguments that were presented by many citizens of the state. (Of course, he is quick to criticize all of these points.)
An overarching theme in Savage Inequalities is the racial and economic segregation that exists in urban areas. In every school district that Kozol visits, the differences between the urban and suburban schools are not limited to classroom size, building condition, and the spending per pupil. These schools are all nearly completely divided by race as well. The students within the schools recognize this, as do the administrators. An urban planner in Washington, DC explains, "The D.C. schools are 92 percent black, 4 percent white, 4 percent Hispanic and some other ethnics. There is no discussion of cross-busing with the suburbs. People in Montgomery and Fairfax wouldn't hear of it. It would mean their children had to cross state borders. There is regional cooperation on a lot of other things. We have a regional airport, a regional public-transit system, and a regional sewage-disposal system. Not when it comes to education." Kozol argues that black children remain segregated years after the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. The segregation extends beyond the school systems, and often includes living conditions and health concerns. In East St. Louis, the city is subject to toxic waste from local chemical plants and the mostly black children attend schools that are often closed because of sewage overflows. Kozol maintains that these conditions would never be accepted by government officials if they were imposed on white citizens.
Jonathon Kozol's Savage Inequalities is an experience that evokes a range of emotions from furious outrage to heart-wrenching agony. Although his research is from nearly fifteen years ago, the messages and lessons of this book remain of ultimate importance today. As politicians explore options such as school vouchers, residential education programs, and tax re-distribution programs, it is essential that every American is educated in the policies surrounding public education. Kozol's book is a quick exploration of our nation that provides necessary details and "fleshes out" our crisis in public education.
To further supplement the issue, rent "Children in America's Schools." This movie is a visual journey through the disparities in the Ohio public schools with commentary from Jonathon Kozol and others.

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Kozol Sheds Light on Segregational Shadows of US Schools

In Savage Inequalities, Kozol probes into the horribly segregated American school system which hides behind a façade of equality. While our nation takes pride in the federal decision to end segregation in 1954's Brown versus Board of Education, this book exposes the system of inequality which has festered, and as Kozol suggests, prospered, in the past fifty years in American public schools.
During visits to over 30 school systems across the country from 1988-1990, Kozol examines the structured disproportion of resources and opportunities which separates children in American schools not only by race, but most visibly by economic class. While the U.S. educational system functions under the guise of racial integration, he proposes that ethnicity and poverty are so deeply interconnected in our society that the inequality between wealthy and underprivileged schools is not merely economic, but racial as well. Almost all of the poorly performing schools Kozol visited were "ninety-five to ninety-nine percent non-white," and by repeatedly confronting the reader with glaring disparities between the academic and financial resources of majority and minority schools he gives great support to his assertions of the interlocking roles of race and economics that shape the American school system.
The book is arranged into geographic pairs or groupings- each chapter focusing on the economic and educational atmosphere of children in inner cities and also of those in the surrounding suburban communities. By placing his data from lower academically performing (and funded) inner city schools next to his findings from neighboring suburban educational institutions, Kozol illuminates the disparities which many wealthy Americans would rather not look upon.
The contrast is shocking, and the reader cannot help but feel uncomfortable when faced with the harsh statistics which display the inequity of funding, supply resources, educational opportunities, and scholastic achievement between neighboring schools. Often, the schools Kozol chronicles are only a few miles from each other, such as P.S. 10 and P.S. 24 in the Bronx, yet the students' environments, at home and at school, are worlds apart.
Kozol evaluates the suburban and urban school systems meticulously. His data covers student body's scholastic achievement, graduation rates, and curriculum offerings and he writes extensively about property tax and overall economic system in relation to its influence on the per-pupil spending in each district. However, I feel the book could have been improved with additional analysis in place of the repetition of the facts and figures which reoccurred in every district Kozol examined.
Savage Inequalities dismantles the popular excuse that the educational system is a fair and equitable institution. The public has long brushed away the suggestion that racial segregation persists in schools, but Kozol's detailed investigation of the relationship of race and the American economic system forces the reader to rethink the idea of segregation and its damaging effects on education of our nation's children. A mother of a student at an affluent suburban Chicago high school flatly told the author that "life just isn't fair. . .wealthy children get a lot that poor ones don't," yet this book declares that this excuse is no longer acceptable, and that the mindset of the financially stable must change in order for the educational system to improve. While in a failing school on the south side of Chicago, Kozol met an African-American student who wrote "America the beautiful- who are you beautiful for?" and this book asks the reader to consider the same question, and strives to prove that our nation and its educational system should not be solely for the white and economically privileged.

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savage inequalties review

Tenisha Davidson

In the novel, Savage Inequalities, Jonathon Kozol shows several comparisons between wealthy and detrimental educational systems. Schools that tend to be in poor areas don't receive the same kinds of offers that rich areas receive. Kozols' novel shows how harsh the government is acting towards these schools with no money in their schools period. Kozol feels that schools the look and appear to be bad tells children we don't care about them and vice versa with wealthy schools. Savage Inequalities is a heart breaking, but insightful novel that shows how school systems are treated certain ways when the look certain ways.
Kozol lays out all of the comparisons between schools with money and school without it. He gives you an idea about how the bad schools tend to be in a dirty environment for these kids, when on the hand the good schools are just as clean as you want it to be.
Kozols main point in his novel is to give people a better understanding of what goes on schools all over that are treated differently because of their circumstances. He shows all the tragedies these poor kids have to face everyday and how good the rich kids are living fine. He's not blaming the rich children and their families individually, but he's blaming societies and how they treat certain areas that are less fortunate.
A lot of schools get no support from their society and government because they on the other hand tend to care about materialistic items instead of children's educations. Certain cities and states will spend majority of their money on new stadiums and things that are less important instead of setting money aside for schools that need it. Kozol feels certain places in the world don't look at the big picture which is struggling school systems, but they have a tendency to look at and support things that they feel will benefit their state in the future. Not knowing that children with high-quality educations will help their place in the future. Not a lot of people know how bad our children are stressed in these poor schools until they read a book like this. His book sets up everything for the reader to receive a better understanding of the issues in education.
I agree with everything Kozol puts in his novel and all of his key points that address the educational issue. Everything he says makes a lot of sense and everything he put in his book was absolutely true. They make sense because he made sure he was knowledgeable about the issue at hand. Kozol in my opinion didn't miss anything in his novel because he stated everything he knew about the topic. The only thing I might have added to his novel was the fact that he could've talked about some more places. Kozol is an educated author looking for answers to the question in his novel. He's obviously compassionate about the issue he writes about and his novels show all of that.
Overall, this novel is one of the best in the educational aspect of things and it's a book you have to read. The novel shows us everything we need to know about the good and bad things in education. He lays out major points that catch reader's eyes all over because his writing is so real and truthful. Kozols novel is a great novel that should be recommended to all ages.

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