Ghetto Schooling: A Political Economy of Urban Educational Reform [Paperback]

Jean Anyon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0807736627 | ISBN-13: 978-0807736623 | Publication Date: September 1, 1997

In this personal account, Jean Anyon provides evidence that the economic and political devastation of America's inner cities has robbed schools and teachers of the capacity to successfully implement current strategies of educational reform. She argues that without fundamental change in government and business policies and the redirection of major resources back into the schools and the communities they serve, urban schools are consigned to failure, and no effort at raising standards, improving teaching, or boosting achievement can occur. Based on her participation in an intensive four-year school reform project in the Newark, New Jersey public schools, the author vividly captures the anguish and anger of students and teachers caught in the tangle of a failing school system. "Ghetto Schooling" offers a penetrating historical analysis of more than a century of government and business policies that have drained the economic, political and human resources of urban populations. This book reveals the historical roots of the current crisis in ghetto schools and what must be done to reverse the downward spiral.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Nobody disputes the fact that inner-city schools are going to the dogs. Poor facilities, shell-shocked teachers, and hostile, apathetic students are frequent topics on the evening news, as are the supposed solutions for these problems: school vouchers, school uniforms, teacher testing, and the like. In Ghetto Schooling, author Jean Anyon exposes the futility of such social band-aids on the gaping wound that is ghetto education. Anyon starts with the premise that urban education's problems lie not within the schools themselves but rather in the "economic and political devastation" of the cities. It is the poverty, the racial isolation, and the lack of political clout that dooms inner-city schools to failure, Anyon posits, and she backs up her thesis with solid evidence: her own experiences as a school reformer in Newark, New Jersey.

Ghetto Schooling is filled with interviews, media reports and Anyon's eyewitness account of the sorry state of Newark schools and reformers' Sisyphean task of trying to make changes in the midst of urban decay and governmental indifference. Anyon concludes that it is racial, class, and ethnic discrimination at governmental levels that has led to the neglect of inner cities and, by association, their schools. The problems Anyon discusses and the solutions she proposes are not limited to the Newark city schools; they could be implemented in other urban school districts across the country. For anyone interested in the state of education in America's cities today, Ghetto Schooling is an important, if troubling, read.

From Library Journal

Writing passionately from her experience of working for reform in the inner-city schools of Newark, New Jersey, Anyon (dean, education, Rutgers Univ.) argues that reform must include efforts to restore the political power and economic opportunities that have been lost to inner-city residents over the past 80 years. A sense of hope and the chance for a semblance of the lifestyle enjoyed by those in the surrounding suburbs is a requisite, according to Anyon, for allowing children in minority-dominated inner-city schools to succeed. Anyon shows the effects of decisions based on social class and race while providing a historical study of government actions related to education in Newark that can be extrapolated to other poor areas. This important book is recommended for educators, sociologists, city planners, and public policy decisionmakers.?Scott Johnson, Meridian Community Coll. Lib., Miss.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Teachers College Press (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807736627
• ISBN-13: 978-0807736623
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Urban Planning & Development

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughts on Ghetto Schooling, November 11, 2002

By 

Susan Spurgeon (Bethalto, IL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ghetto Schooling: A Political Economy of Urban Educational Reform (Paperback)

Jean Anyon's book, Ghetto Schooling: A Political Economy of Urban Educational Reform paints a harrowing portrait of the struggles of those who have a role in inner-city schools. It is written in three parts that address the present situation, reflect upon the past, and look to the future, respectively. The book took several years to write due to the level of research involved for the historical content, but the personal account was based on four years of the author's participation in the reform effort in Newark, New Jersey, beginning in 1992. The reform efforts targeted eight schools in the central section of the city. (On a broader note, the historical text of the book points out that the decline of the schools really began in the 1930s.) The book begins by showing the present state of education within the reform district, but then postulates the reasons for this status by looking at the historical foundations of the problems. In the first chapter of part two, Anyon begins the historical breakdown by looking at early situation with educating the children of the many immigrants who came to Newark beginning in the 1860s. Despite early attempts at reform, the seeds had already been planted for the disenfranchisement seen today. The historical context of Anyon's research design shows decade by decade the continual decay of the Newark schools. Reform efforts were suggested, but never truly implemented. After the period of organized crime and municipal scandals had arrived, Anyon notes that:
"Because there was no rescue of the Newark educational system in 1968, it would continue to limp along, and further generations of Newark children-the grandchildren, the grandchildren, the great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren of the southern rural immigrants-would
join their parents in the ranks of the uneducated and the undereducated. Many would therefore be unable to participate in the economic and political institutions of U.S. society" (p. 127).

This generational cycle of poverty and hopelessness is at the heart of Anyon's determination that changes can only be effective if they consider the sociocultural status and economic plight of those involved. I found the accounts in the book to be a revelation to say the least. I think people like myself who are born and raised outside urban areas live in blissful ignorance as to the true state of education for the thousands trapped in a cycle of poverty and despair. I like that Anyon takes such an honest approach to her research, realizing that to be effective she must be disclose everything she witnessed. The only change I would like to see is the statistical information presented in some type of graph form so that it would be easier to read and interpret. Otherwise, I found the book to be an invaluable read as a future educator. In fact, it has made me think beyond the world of education and to ponder my place among the human race and the responsibility I must take for needs of my fellow man and the generations to come.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars troubling turn for Anyon, August 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Ghetto Schooling: A Political Economy of Urban Educational Reform (Paperback)

Anyon wrote a provocative article a number of years ago which I still use in my teacher education classes. But this new book is troubling to me. She fails to look at the national systemic causes of institutional racism and seems to blame those in the local schools. I don't know New Jersey - maybe she is right about that city. But I do know other urban districts, and it is natioanl systems of testing, curriculum, funding, bureaucracy, and irrelevant teacher credentialing which oppress both those who attempt to educate and those who attempt to be educated. The African-American teachers in New Jersey tried to tell Anyon that, but she didn't listen.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Review of Ghetto Schooling, November 11, 2002

By 

"nieccole" (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ghetto Schooling: A Political Economy of Urban Educational Reform (Paperback)

Ghetto Schooling: A Political Economy of Urban Education Reform, is an interesting explanation of the case study done by the author, Jean Anyon. Anyon was a part of the attempted educational reform of the Newark, New Jersey schools in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Although most of her personal contact was with the faculty, staff, administration, parents, and children of the Marcy school, she gives the historical background for the Newark schools system starting in 1860. This history ventures all of the way to the present, which includes her personal experience in the reform process. Although the reform process in which she participated in failed, she did learn a great deal and shared a lot of insight about school reform. Her main point was that reform would not happen until the economic and political systems that surround the schools are transformed, neither would the schools be transformed. (Anyon 13) I found this book to be informative and insightful. Through this reading I have a better understanding of the inner city school setting, and how much help is needed there. Unfortunately, as Anyon point out, money is not the answer. The answer is reform on the larger scale. This book helped me to see this. Additionally, because of my current quest to become a teacher this booked helped me to prepare for some of the obstacles I may face. Although I will probably never teach at a school like those in the Newark district, it is very beneficial to my learning process to see the problem that plague the educational community. I am glad this book was part of my college curriculum.