Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education [Hardcover]

Peter Sacks (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520245881 | ISBN-13: 978-0520245884 | Publication Date: May 29, 2007 | Edition: 1

We often hear about the growing divide between rich and poor in America. This compelling exposé, backed by up-to-date research, locates the source of this trend where we might least expect to find it--in our schools. Written for a wide audience, Tearing Down the Gates is a powerful indictment of American education that shows how schools, colleges, and universities exacerbate inequality by providing ample opportunities for advantaged students while shutting the gates on the poor--and even the middle class. Peter Sacks tells the stories of young people and families as they struggle to negotiate the educational system. He introduces students like Ashlea, who grew up in a trailer park and who would like to attend college, though she faces constant obstacles that many of her more privileged classmates can't imagine. Woven throughout with voices of Americans both rich and poor, Tearing Down the Gates describes a disturbing situation that has the potential to undermine the American dream, not just for some, but for all of us. At the heart of this book is a question of justice, and Sacks demands that we take a hard look at what equal opportunity really means in the United States today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An indignant and informative book."--New York Review of Books

"Sacks understands class in a multi-faceted way. . . . [The book] is an insightful work written from a critically important perspective."--Against the Current

From the Inside Flap

"Tearing Down the Gates is a superb book which exposes the dirty little secret of American education: that while our public schools and universities are meant to be engines for social mobility, they too often reinforce stratification. Peter Sacks is one of the great storytellers of American inequality, interweaving devastating statistics with poignant stories of individuals he came to know well in his reporting. While much of the literature on inequality rightfully tackles the barriers of race and gender, Sacks digs deeper, laying bare the taboo reality of social class in America."--Richard D. Kahlenberg, Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation, and author of The Remedy: Class, Race, and Affirmative Action

"Peter Sacks has been relentless in his writings that we, as a nation, are failing in our responsibility to provide access to a quality education for our poorest citizens. In his latest work, Tearing Down the Gates, he provides compelling data and anecdotes to drive home the stark reality that our higher education system is not accessible to low-income students in the same way that it is for students from more affluent families. He challenges the education community in particular, and all of our democratic institutions in general, to remove the barriers that keep motivated low-income citizens from succeeding. Not only is it the right thing to do; our country's societal and economic survival may depend on it."--William D. Boyd, Senior Associate Vice President, Student Affairs, San Diego State University

"Peter Sacks pulls no punches in pointing out the hypocrisy and resulting tragedy of our society's educational inequities, puncturing our self serving belief in meritocracy that is not quite that. The results of his study will be controversial, but the topic could not be more pressing for all of us and for the future of our democracy and economy."--Anthony W. Marx, President, Amherst College

"Peter Sacks has written a compelling account of the ways in which class determines educational opportunity. Made vivid by anecdotes, supported by socioeconomic data, Tearing Down the Gates will give anyone concerned with higher education much food for thought about the ways in which our colleges reinforce class privilege, failing to provide the equal opportunity we value so highly."--Carol T. Christ, President, Smith College

"A powerful, timely, and richly documented work on the stunning disparities in success and opportunity along the lines of class and race that undermine the promises of democratic education in America. Drawing upon vivid personal experience, Sacks brings a close lens to bear upon allegedly progressive institutions such as the Berkeley, California, public schools; and demonstrates the enduring contradiction between high ideals annunciated by a liberal community and the actual behavior of the parents of the privileged who go to school in such communities. In a valiant effort to open up an avenue of hope, the author identifies schools and universities that have attempted to tear down the gates which have perpetuated caste divisions in our nation and its pedagogic institutions-but in clear-sighted recognition of the potent backlash on the part of these who fervently defend inequities which benefit their children. This very important and disturbing book reminds us of the struggle still ahead."--Jonathan Kozol, author of The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America

"In the spirit of Jonathan Kozol's writing on K-12 education, Peter Sacks carries the story of inequity, social stratification, and unequal opportunities to the domain of higher education. While the story has been described by statisticians, Sacks puts a human face on the disparities in opportunity by socioeconomic class through revealing portraits of individual young people from widely differing circumstances, and the vastly different educational opportunities they face. It is hardly surprising that as education has grown sharply in economic value, wealthy parents will do whatever it takes to give their children every educational advantage; what has not caught up to reality is our continuing belief that all children have equal opportunity. One example of the punch of this book is his treatment of Berkeley High School, where even in this most liberal of cities, the wealthy have found ways to advantage their young. A must read for all who care about the future shape of civil society in this country."--David Breneman, University of Virginia --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 388 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (May 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520245881
• ISBN-13: 978-0520245884
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #991,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well worth reading, May 30, 2007

By 

Will Barratt (Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education (Hardcover)

I read a lot about social class, especially in higher education, and Sacks hits most of the high points about class accurately. He identifies the social mechanisms that are used to place students into groups and points out clearly the class bias in all of these practices. If you do or don't know much about social class in the US this is an important book.

His analysis of social mechanisms and testing is not too deep, but it is accurate. Readers wanting to know more about ability, aptitude, intelligence, and campus based testing should read some books on psychometrics, and Sacks references some good literature. There are some interesting and trivial errors and omissions that are probably the editor's fault and don't detract from his basic message about how class is perpetuated in the US school systems.

As we enter the new gilded age it is important to have our eyes opened to how class systematically helps some people and hinders others in schools.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's about time! Read this., September 24, 2007

By 

Deborah Meier (Hillsdale, New York United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education (Hardcover)

It's sometimes easwier to talk about race rather than class--but this is a subject that's been unresolved since the very beginnings of American public education--and long before that. It's even part of the testing and NCLB debate. The author tackles it in ways that are original, personal and sociologically fascinating. A very good read.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Progressive view of class-related barriers to equal higher education, August 20, 2007

By 

Bruce Smith (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education (Hardcover)

Tearing Down the Gates is an informative view of the various institutionalized, structured barriers that make it difficult for lower income students to access the best of American higher education. Sacks relates the stories of many students who, based on their family income status, either work the system or get worked by the system. Sacks also interviews stakeholders and decision makers who work in high schools and universities to remove these barriers. He also gets higher education gatekeepers to speak about their perspective on access to education. This provides readers with multiple perspectives (slanted toward Sacks' progressive political stance) on the elitist processes involved in applying to and being accepted by America's best universities.

Sacks paints a very detailed picture of the ways privilege and entitlement (disguised as merit) work in secondary schools and higher education institutions to close doors on lower income students. But Sacks also lets readers in on stories of students and educators who have found ways to crash the gates of America's apartheid-like education system and open possible pathways for lower income students. This is an important read.