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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wake Up America, February 25, 2000
Anyone believing that America is the land of opportunity for our young people should read this book. Anyone convinced that America is not the land of opportunity for our young people, but wants statistics to back this belief, should read this book too. In chapter after chapter Kozol dispels the myth that all children in this country are provided with an equal opportunity for education. The stark contrast he provides between neighboring schools in some of our countries major cities is haunting and unbelievable. The conditions that some of our children face day after day, and year after year would break the spirits of even the strongest adults. For example: The children of Martin Luther King Junior High in East St. Louis have experienced repeated school closing due to sewage back-ups. Students in DuSable High School's auto mechanics class have waited 16 weeks before learning something so basic as changing a tire because of no instruction. "On an average morning in Chicago, 5,700 children in 190 classrooms come to school to find they have no teacher."(p. 52) At Goudy Elementary, in Chicago, there are two working bathrooms for 700 children and toilet paper and paper towels are rationed. In New York City's Morris High the black boards are so badly cracked that teachers are afraid to let students write on them, there are holes in the floors of classrooms, plaster falls from the walls, and when it rains waterfalls make their way down six flights of stairs. In Public School 261 in District 10 in New York 1300 elementary students attend school in a converted roller skating rink. The school's capacity is 900 and there are no windows, which Kozol describes as creating feelings of asphyxiation. In Camden, New Jersey, at Pyne Point Junior High, students in typing class learn on old typewriters not computers. The science lab has no workstations and the ceiling is plagued with falling tiles. At Camden High only half the students in 12th grade English have textbooks. Kozol's book is filled with statistics of this nature. Repeatedly there are inadequate supplies, untrained personnel, dilapidated facilities, and impoverished conditions. As alarming as these conditions are, so too are the attitudes of those who are on the other side. Kozol shared conversation wtih senior high students in suburban Rye, New York. When asked if they thought "it fair to pay more taxes so that this was possible" (i.e., opportunities for other children to have the same opportunities they had)(p.128) one student expressed the lack of personal benefit this would provide. An attitude like this wouldn't have surfaced even in the wealthiest schools in 1968, according to Kozol. Implying we have passed on the self-seeking attutitudes so prevalent among the upwardly mobile in this country. The Supreme Court cases that have addressed this notion of equal opportunity have consistently supported the system of separate but "unequal." What Kozol demonstrates so profoundly is what little progress has been made toward providing equal educational opportunities for all children since Brown vs. the Board of Ed. This book is a must read for anyone in local, state or national politics, administrators of all schools, teachers, and teachers in training, education professors, and any citizen wanting to understand one of the profound causes of what's wrong with schooling in America. I don't know what it will take or when we will share the idea that "All our children ought to be allowed a stake in the enormous richness of America." (p.233)
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37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truth Exposed: The Conditions of Public Schools, December 13, 1999
Jonathan Kozol Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools Crown Publishers, 1992 I extremely enjoyed reading Jonathan Kozol's book Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools. To say that it is an invaluable tool to all educators, parents, and anyone concerned about the welfare of children, is vastly an understatement. This book provides the reader with graphic details about the gross realities of the public school system, and focuses not only on revealing the problem, but why the problem has occurred and what can be done about it. Chapter by chaper, Kozol brings to light the harsh realities of what children face everyday in different parts of the United States. His purpose for writing this book, I believe, was to inform the public these realities, because many people have no idea they even exist. The details he includes are almost unbelievable that our school system would allow these situations to exist. This book differs from the mainstream ideas that everyone receives a fair, quality education in the United States. I found it difficult to read, knowing that students faced these problems everyday. Problems such as not enough textbooks, no teacher, no classroom, or no supplies to start the year off with. Yet I could not put the book down. The truth hits the reader with such a force because the book is a gripping tale unlike anything heard before. This book reveals the tragedy of an inadequate school system, and contrasts the extreme differences between the wealthy and the poor. At first, reading through the book, I found it extremely offensive that a writer would expose these systems without feeling the pressure to do something about it. And then it hit me: he did do something. He wrote this book for everyone to read and understand and to see something not seen before. I support his ideas of how tax-based income is not fair because wealthier children receive a better education than poor children receive. Is not the whole system of education based upon the idea that everyone deserves a fair, quality education? I also support the idea that the people who are aware of these existing conditions have overlooked, and ignored the realities, hoping they would go away. That is simply absurd! These situations should not only be made aware to everyone, but some major changes should be implemented. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is concerned about the future of society. To those who want to point fingers at the parents, read this book. It will help you understand that these children die from the very gallows we hang them from. It also exposes these problems, and by that, makes the statement that this is no longer acceptable and something should be done. This book gives a good example of a diverse perspective on American education. It is important to have such a different perspective because sometimes it is hard to see beyond your own situation. Kozol takes you away from your familiar surroundings and puts you in the same situation these students face everyday. And if you don't like it, do something about it. Make the changes necessary. After reading this book, I was encouraged to go out and do the same.
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40 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
eye opening, November 11, 2001
i couldn't put this book down when i started reading it. each essay, which covers a particular city and school system, points out things wrong with public education in the USA, and who's getting the shaft: KIDS. some of the essays are jaw-dropping. i would've never believed it was so bad out there, but moreso, i didn't understand or even begin to see the politics involved in public education at each and every level. education may be a major political issue at the national level, but as it seeps down into district, local politics, that's where the mismanagement, corruption, bloat, and simple lack of care become most astonishing. as a teacher in the NYC public school system, most of what i read in kozol's book, i have come to see (i read the book before i started teaching) in real life: 30 books for 180+ students; roaches and rats in the classrooms; inept and careless administrators; rampant truancy and disaffection (but can you blame the kids? they are often left at home while the parent--usually one--works two or more jobs). the problems are severe and the solutions, you'd think, would be just as severe. but nothing changes and teachers are left in the middle, blamed by both administrators and parents. public education in this country needs to be seriouly revamped, but according to Kozol, and my own views and what i've seen, it's unlikely anything will change for URBAN education until racism and inequality are also addressed.
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