Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools

Review of `Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools' by Jonathan Kozol published by HarperCollins of New York in 1992.

Reviewer Dr W. P. Palmer

I am reviewing this book more than ten years since I read it, as it was formative in my thinking and teaching about the education system in the United States of America. Anyone who has taught for a time in any nation on earth knows of the huge inequalities throughout education systems. Over the past fifty years, I have taught in schools or have been involved in administration in education systems of the following countries, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Samoa and Tanzania. Yet in spite of this experience of inequality, I was shocked by the revelation of the deep divide in American education caused by the extremes of wealth and poverty which Kozol exposes in the American education system of the 1990s.

It is good that Kozol is not entirely negative about this divide, and he gives numerous instances of teachers who made a difference, contrary to the view, that schools do not have any effect on society. His thesis is backed up by examples of the amounts spent per child comparing rich and poor schools. The classroom conditions in the poorest schools are distressing for such a wealthy country. Nonetheless differences between what rich countries and poor countries spend per child on education are even greater and the education of the poorest worldwide, wherever they live should also concern Americans.

This reviewer hopes that the passage of time and this expose written nearly twenty years may have improved the situation, but educational change can be very slow. An update to this book would be useful.

BILL PALMER

Reading this book twenty years after it's publication one wonders how much has changed. While I haven't read it, another book by the same author, The Shame of the Nation, would suggest "not much" if not "things have gotten worse" based on summaries I've seen. In Savage Inequalities, the author takes a somewhat anecdotal tour through a small sampling of some elementary public school systems in the country, highlighting the plight and disparity of some of the poorest schools in a few urban areas. He compares these to more well-to-do schools in a neighboring suburb or district. The contrasts are striking and depressing.

Much is made of the difference in money spent per pupil between a "poor" school and a "rich" school. Yet, as is made clear in the text, if not already realized by an informed citizen, simply doing a better job at equalizing the money distribution is no trivial task. Kozol makes more than but a few obvious implications associating a key part of the disparity stems from racial and class issues. The well off have little incentive to sacrifice money, change any existing advantageous allocations of public school funding, integrate children or so forth. The poor, already less empowered and handicapped by lack of wealth, political clout and perhaps even lacking motivation, are starting at a disadvantage to advance any significant change. Upon finishing the text you may come away severely disheartened and fatalistic. Kozol offers no real plan for change and after making your way through this book, it is hard to envision a grand scheme that wouldn't be widely contested by some noisy interest group(s), making any real, effective change difficult to imagine becoming reality in our lifetime.

The text is relatively short and not difficult reading in the academic sense. It offers a journalistic approach to a side of public education that deserves consideration and debate, but perhaps above all, action to address in the inequities the nation's poor finds themselves largely confined to. The question we are left with is, who will do it and how?

I had no idea about the extent of education inequalities due to racism, location, and socioeconomic inequalities. This book truly opened up my eyes to this, and made me think a whole lot differently about it. Those that did not agree with it, in my opinion, are being closed minded and trying to deny this problem because of that or because they have not actually witnessed it like the author did. The saddest part of this is that this book was written over 15 years ago, meaning that from what I gather, not much has been not to solve the problems facing educational inequalities. It seems as if in our nation, the only thing that is ever done, if anything, is to put a band-aid on the problem (i.e. school vouchers, reparations, affirmative action which would not even be needed if all schools were equal.) If we want to solve the problem, we have to get to the ROOT of the problem. When children, in this case black children, are in elementary school and open up their first textbooks, what is the first thing that they learn about their ancestors? That they were slaves. Not that they were kings and queens in their native Africa, but that they were slaves and all the negativity surrounding that. And who writes a vast majority of these textbooks? White, conservative males; not to say there is anything wrong with them, but why not a black author for this particular topic?. Why instill this in the young minds of children, all around, to have this mentality from a young age? The first things we ever learn are the things that will stick with us for the rest of our lives. Black children have an inferiority complex instilled, white children have a superiority complex instilled, and racism is perpetuated. This book is a true eye opener, and I believe everyone should read it, regardless of their race or political beliefs.

A compelling look at education inequality in America in the 1980s and '90s. Many of these issues you can still see happening (and worsening) even today in 2016, sadly enough.

Kozol doesn't give simplistic answers to the educational problems. His goal is to simply shed light on the issues, leaving it up to us, to voters, to school districts, and to states to come up with solutions.

A great read for those interested in social studies, politics, sociology, education, and American history.

What ever happened to common sense? In this book the average American doesn't exist. I am not denying the problems that exist in the inner cities. I am denying that this is life for the average American or even the average non-white American. Comparing two extremes - best case vs. worst case is always going to give you an unrealistic picture. We live in a capitalist economy, there will always be haves and have-nots. What he is pushing for is a socialist or communist system where everyone is equally miserable and those that manage to get ahead are then forced to pay the way for those who can't or won't. Hey Mr. Kozol - last time I checked there was no army on the borders of Camden or East St. Louis keeping people from moving out, and there is noone forcing anyone to accept the lifestyle they were born into.

He offers a view of the problems with no real solution except maybe to hate the rich - Mr. Kozol, how much money did you get paid to write this book??

Utter liberal garbage. Conveniently leaves most of American schools totally out of the equation, only focusing on the worst cases and then comparing them to the top schools in the nation.

Education is often a political football, being tossed around from one administration to the next as a bargaining chip with very little constructive reform actually coming about. The trouble the chronology of the students' academic life doesn't change while presidential and congressional administrations do. Jonathan Kozol set out to chronicle and put into words the sights and persons he witnessed and observed in six major school districts. His observations are so shocking and heart wrenching that they must instill in every reader a sense of disgust and despair and evoke poignant and intense questions such as "Does that actually happen in America?;" "How did things get so bad;" or "What can we do to fix this." Kozol is the proper observer; he tries as often as he can not to directly interfere and change the outcome of his observations. Reading this book will make each reader wonder what kind of divine providence kept him from becoming more involved more often.
Every person who is contemplating a career somewhere in the field of education needs to read this book at least once. The most idealistic people who have the highest and loftiest ambitions and a true burning desire to help children in need will want to read this graphic account of poverty and its correlation to education. Once they wipe away the tears, those potential educators will have a strengthened resolve. Perhaps their actions will enable Kozol to write a new work someday in the future chronicling the uplifting of children and schools.

Kozol could not have given the book, "Savage Inequalities" a better title. Everything written in this book supports the title 100 percent. Was it referred to those of higher income and a better living class or for everyone in America regardless of who they were, their background, and where they lived when the statement, "Education is the number one concern in America" was said? It is really ashame how the American way works. "The land of opportunity" is always preached, but for "Whom" has never been mentioned. How do the American society tend to make America a better place if they (those who manage the finances) do not offer a better education for those live in poverty? The ones that are not going to make a big difference in our society because of the lack of eduation. When is America going to realize that if they keep pushing those young children with dreams down in the gutter they will never be able to get out ot the gutter? Kozol's purpose in writting this book was so that he can express, emphasize, and show his readers the major problems that has not been resolve in the school system. Kozol did not only focus on the inequality of the school system, he states why the the schools of low-income are denied money, not being able to pay the teachers, also on how those that live in poverty, and the dreams of the kids in becoming someone are easily ignored. The ideas in this book I believe differ from those with mainstream thoughts. There are many schools out there that can't afford a decent set of books, or do not have enough room for there student. Certain schools in some cases are forced to look out the window and have a unclear view of the day because there is just too much smoke clouds in the air. In most cases, schools located in a low class area expericence these problems. The question is why? What makes them so different than those that have a yard that is clean, have air condition the the classroom, or even have new books? Nothing. So why not give the lower class the same service and accommdation as those in high-income communities? Either many people do not realize that inequality still goes on in public schools or they just do not care because it does not effect them or their kids. Kozol brings up some really important issues about the problem in the schooling system in America. He mentions "segration". Why do students have to be separated because of their income? Who is to say that investing money in low-income students would be a waste? What makes students living in a high-income family any better than a student that comes from a low-income family? If the city would spend a equal amount of money on the students, teachers, equipment, and any other significant thing to get a school running right, students opportunity from low-income families would be just as equal as those from high-income families. Kozol also mentions the issue of having certain school located in chemical plants, dumster, and industrial plants. Having these schools within these location, having the kid a limited space for recess has caused kids to become ill because of the contamination these industries has caused. There are two reason why I would recommend this book. I would consider recommending this book to parents that are preparing there children for their first year in school. They need to know what continues to go on in these schools. It will help them get better understanding of the educational system and prepare them for any obstacles in obtaining the best education for their child. Another reason I would recommend this book to someone is so it can be seen that not everything seem so dandy from the outside. Other families in other cities also suffer for better education and even if it does not effect his or her child a change should still be demanded. When I view diversity, I do not only focus on race, but also in the class the individual lives in. I view diversity as having everyone together no matter the background, class, race, and anything else that makes a person different. Diverstiy will only exist for those individuals that live in a poor-income families, does not matter the race or background and sometimes diversity is still a problem. If America wants unity and diverity, it has to start first at home than in the school system. Kozol did an excellent job in writting this book and obtaining the different situation that schools go through to obtain money so they can offer a better education to the children

Lining up dozens of accounts of very real and often appalling disparities in public education, Kozol makes a strong case for the urgency of change in the urban public school system. Focusing largely on examples from East St. Louis, Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., New Jersey, and San Antonio, the author shows how students in these poor areas are drastically underserved in school systems that truly rob them of fairness in education. Overcrowded school buildings where classes overflow into storage closets, bathrooms, and gymnasiums; dilapidated structures with leaking roofs and dysfunctional heating systems; and significant shortages of books and supplies are all common features to many of these urban public schools. Furthermore, many children have teachers that sleep during class, ignore the students, or are so overworked that they can offer no personal attention. These are but a few of the reasons why Kozol raises such harsh criticism against the public education system.
Compared with bordering suburbs, where ultramodern public schools offer exceptional programs and facilities, one has to wonder how education provided and required by the government can be so unequal. Those who are quick to point to family problems as the source for poor results in urban education, or claim money is not the cure-all some would believe, ignore the abysmal learning conditions that urban children face. They certainly would not tolerate those conditions for the schooling of their own children, nor would they be likely to surrender the presumably superfluous differences in per-student spending. Certainly family problems contribute significantly to differences in a child's motivation to learn or early-childhood preparation for entering school, however this in no way means that these children should be taught under such dismal circumstances and given miniscule learning opportunities. Kozol squarely faces many of the objections to equalizing spending on public, and shows how urban public schools (which are predominantly populated by blacks, Hispanics, or other minorities) continue to be heavily segregated and unequal-- despite Supreme Court rulings decades ago, such as Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled that segregated education was unconstitutional because it was "inherently unequal" (p. 3). This is a startling and compelling book that should be read by anyone concerned with the present and future of our students in American public education.

Many years after "our" (US citizens) awakening that all men are created equal, we still are not treating one another that way. By being completely straight forward, Kozol points this out, and also the fact that we aren't even separate but equal; we are point blank very separate and very UNequal. Case after case demonstrates this with the children in our schools. Kozol's purpose was to point out these facts and prove that something needs to be done. Kozol has definitely thrown an eye opener at me. To think that two schools, both in the Bronx, just minutes away from each other could be as different as he points out. The extremes in these situations go from having a planetarium and an 8,000-book library to rationing toilet tissue. This is quite disheartening. Just think, we call the US a first class country. Anyone who thinks all children in all communities get equal opportunities in education are sadly mistaken. I'm sure that as people read this book, they are astonished. I certainly was. At times, I was almost disgusted. A number of people think that a school is a school; that is, an environment that is comfortable to be in and a place a child gets care and understanding while getting their education. Not many people (especially those who are fortunate enough that their children can go to a top notch school) can fathom that children have to go to a school with sewage floating down the halls. Inadequate supplies is one thing, but poor sewage conditions is unheard of. I went to an extremely old school in middle school. There was even one part of the school that had been condemned because it had asbestos. In my eyes this was the worst thing a child should have to deal with. Now that I have read this book, I somehow consider myself lucky because other than being old, that one building was the only problem with the school. Even people going into the education field (as I am) don't think about these things. For example, a beginning teacher's concerns don't even touch on these problems. They are more concerned with class management or parent-teacher interaction. Savage Inequalities should be required reading for all education majors. Future teachers need to know that they're getting into much more than the perfect little classroom with perfect little children. Kozol is here to show that there are more concerns that are far from trivial. Although I feel for the children Kozol writes of in this book, not all Americans do. Many US citizens feel that as long as their children or family members are taken care of and given a good environment to go to school in, that's all that matters. However, they are wrong! Kozol tells of a group of parents (young, professional, white people) who insisted that a new school be built for their children. Thus, a new school was built. Then, there was a conflict over the children from the projects attending that school. I feel that these parents should be forced to spend just one day in the alternate school that the children from the projects would have to go to. Maybe then they would change their minds. Our future rests in our children and we cannot forget it. People who have negative perspectives on bettering education in America should read this book, visit these schools, and find out what it's really like.

Critique of Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities
Every child should obtain a good education; no matter what kind of family they come from. Education is a priceless accomplishment. Children should not be deprived in any way of a good education. Children who attend public schools should get as good of an education as those who attend private schools. I do not think it is fair to the children to have to go to school everyday in unsafe or unsanitary buildings. Personally, I have never seen a private school in half as bad of shape as I have many public schools. It is not the fault of the parents that they are unable to send their child(ren) to private school. Public education should not have to suffer because they do not have enough money to buy proper equipment, or to provide adequate buildings. I am definitely able to relate to these conditions. When I went to school, some of my classes were in the same building that my father and grandfather went to school in. Needless to say, that school is no longer standing. However, it took quite some time for it to be torn down. I remember not being able to drink the water. There were jugs of water brought in for us to drink. The paint was chipping off the walls in the cafeteria, as well as the wall disintegrating itself. On the third floor of that same building, were the auditorium and three classrooms. By my eighth grade year, we were not allowed to go up there. I remember doing my kindergarten play there, and seeing my older cousin graduate on that stage. Eventually that building was torn down and a new school was built; however, that did not happen until 1996. This book was easy for me to relate to. Jonathan Kozol made many good points when writing this book. His chapters are divided very well. Some of the titles of the chapters within this book describe themselves. The second chapter is entitled Other People's Children. This chapter tells of the children who have committed no crimes and done nothing wrong. Yet, they are forced to go to a place not suitable for inmates every day. They are told to go to school and get a good education. I want to know how they are expected to think of a place like that as being "good" for them. The children talked about in this chapter come from a place where there is a high unemployment rate and it is not a wonderful place to live. One would think that the state would want to improve their schools so the children could change the never-ending chain of this bad neighborhood. Kozol states that "only 170 of 800 freshman graduate with their class. These statistics are not very good at all. Chapter three is entitled The Savage Inequalities of Public Education in New York. It is states that "textbooks are scarce and children have to share." That is terrible, children should not have to share their textbooks. In the same school, "on the top floor of the school, a sixth grade of 30 children shares a room with 29 bilingual second graders." I do not think these children of two totally different age groups should not be thrown together like that. I do not see how these children are able to learn with almost sixty people in a classroom at the same time. Limitations are put on classrooms for a reason, but that obviously does not apply here. These children are not able to properly do their homework because of the fact that they are unable to bring home their textbooks; that is, if they even have textbooks.
Another problem is that children, whose parents make more money, get more things. In the book, Kozol states "the richer districts-those in which the property lots and houses are more highly valued-have more revenue, derived from taxing land and homes, to fund their public schools." This is not fair to the lower class families who have to suffer. Not everyone has a nice home, or a well-paying job; however, everyone does pay taxes. I think that tax money should be divided up and put towards all education in the state, not just the high-income areas. Teachers do not make enough money to live in a rich district, or a higher valued home than some families. It is not right for the less fortunate children to suffer because of the neighborhood in which they live. The children should not be punished for their parents' lack of income or lack of higher living. "...the government is not responsible, or at least not directly, for the inequalities of family background. It is responsible for inequalities in public education." This proves that the government should be doing something more than they are presently doing to help improve the situations in public education. They are the only ones who are supposed to be doing something for the public schools. I guess the government does not feel that it is their place to provide a place for the future of America to get a good and descent education. In New York, there are some schools which are still segregated. Maybe it is just I, but I thought the world wanted to end prejudice between races. It does not look like to me that anything is going to be done to help prevent that either. This book opens up a whole new light for people to see what children are actually getting out of school: not much in some places. My heart goes out to the children who are put in those situations every day. I only hope that this problem is solved before I have children of my own.

Jonathon Kozol's book savage inequalities deals with many issues regarding the difference between the poor inner city schools and the rich suburban schools. This book is definitely an eye opener and for anyone majoring in education this should be required reading, it would also greatly benefit any other field dealing with children or similar circumstances. This book focuses on the segregation of schools but not only by race but by funding, teacher quality, and building quality. The students described in this book go to school in conditions that I wouldn't wish upon for my worst enemy. The amazing thing is many of them still have smiles on their faces. The schools that the inner city children attend are very small, with bad ventilation, maybe one or two working bathrooms so the place reeks, no windows, located next to dumps, the classrooms are very oversized and sometimes don't even have a teacher and if they do they are probably a substitute. These schools are so bad that even the principals and high officials in the school do not even send their own children there, they send them to private schools, that shows how bad these schools really are if the principals don't even have their own children in that school. After listening to the horrible conditions that inner city children deal with then listen to a suburban school description. The buildings are beautifully built with gardens on the outside, there are no dumps anywhere around, the classes are not oversized they are small, the teachers are paid well and are of high quality, the students have textbooks, the latest technology, big libraries, etc., also the buildings are well ventilated, and the bathrooms work. The sad thing is all the children that attend those schools are very privileged but they do not even know it, they assume it to be normal and would expect nothing less. It is ad to see what a factual painting Kozol has painted into our minds of the disparities of these inner city children. In this book a woman from Chicago says that the main purpose in the inner city schools is "to train the ghetto children to be good employees." Which is another sad but true fact. When minority children go to these schools they do not go to become a lawyer or a doctor because most of them know that there place in society is to work for a factory or a maid or any other low class job. The teachers at these schools expect students to drop out and not go anywhere in life and the teachers teach them with that thought. Therefore the students are never taught to reach for the stars and usually feel there is no point in going to school so they turn to the streets with its drugs, gangs, and other types of violence. While suburban schools expect the best from their students and teach them to reach for the stars. The difference in funding is also discussed, it's ridiculous to see the amount of difference, basically the rich schools get everything and the poor get nothing. People feel that putting money into the inner city schools is a waist because those children will never achieve anything, which is also why the inner city schools get the lower class teachers. The mainstream thinking in the book is tat things are fine the way they are, while outside of the book people are surprised and want things changed. The mainstream view would be to put more money into the inner city schools to start helping them and to start desegregating the schools. People feel things need to be evened up there is too much weight on one side of the pendulum. They want to see changes but don't know where to start. Kozol has definitely opened my eyes and many others, he has written with such purpose to show others the truth and try and let people see what they would normally be blind to. People look at education in the United States with a completely different view thanks to Kozol. I definitely understand where Kozol is coming from and I cannot believe people go to school in these conditions. Kozol does not really describe a solution to these problems but he does let people know that they exist. Therefore I think it is the readers job to take the action and make the changes. This book is definitely worth recommending I would recommend this to anyone and everyone. This book really opens your eyes especially those planning on becoming a teacher it really helps you envision the truth about what could be waiting for you. It also humbles you and makes you want to give thanks for the type of education that you have received and give thanks to those who made your education possible. Kozol points out that being fair is not always the right way, we should be unfair at times in order to make things fair in the long run. It is beyond ridiculous to let these children go to school in these conditions while the United States worries about other areas of the world or while we listen to rich people complain about how it's not fair to give up one of there five gyms so another school can even have a gym. Kozol has opened our eyes now it up to us to use the rest of our bodies to make things happen.

This book is a classic on urban, American education. It talks about the biggest problems in urban education: poverty, bad parenting, lack of education of parents, bad teachers, etc. Anyone who wants to learn about urban education has to read this book

Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1992.
Jonathan Kozol reiterates what I already assumed, education is not fair. I had no idea just how unfair it really is until after reading this book. Kozol holds nothing back when describing the differences between schools in poor communities and those in wealthy communities. He describes the poor conditions of inner city schools. The inadequate training of teachers, lack of supplies, unsanitary conditions and non-existence of motivation are only a few examples of what makes these schools "hell" for the students and teachers who attend them everyday! I think Kozol uses this book to open the eyes of his readers to the raw and heart-wrenching truths of the abuse thousands of innocent children endure daily in our "land of opportunity." Anyone who believes that a child in a poor community receives the same opportunities as a child in a wealthy community is completely naïve. It is so easy to pretend that all is well in our schools, especially if your child is one of the lucky ones who have educated teachers, beautiful facilities, and extracurricular activities. Tell a child who goes to school with no heat in the winter, has no toilet paper in the bathrooms, sits in overcrowded classrooms, and who has a different teacher each week, just how fair their country is. I think that Kozol does a wonderful job of presenting Americas flaws in education, however I am disappointed by his concentration on racism. The fact is that every race in America has its percentage of children who come from well-to-do families and those who come from underprivileged families. I do not think it is fair to say that the inequalities in education are based on race. Based on the rich and the poor, yes, but not on race! I support Kozol's love for children. How can a teacher who is not motivated possibly motivate a child? Every child deserves a fair chance to succeed in life. No child deserves to be labeled undeserving, nor should a teacher continue to teach if she is not devoted to giving her students a chance to succeed. I would recommend this book to every person who claims to be a caring citizen living in "the land of the free and home of the brave." The book gives well-deserved credit to the brave students who go to school everyday in "conditions not fit for inmates." Kozol presents an accurate account of the inequalities our country allows to continue. It is our job to educate the children, so we too must be educated. Kozol educates his readers, by stating the statistics and facts about the inequalities of education in America. It is our job to find a solution. As a future teacher I can only hope that our country will do it's part to improve the damage we have created. Teachers, parents, politicians and members of the community are responsible for educating our children. Our work is never done. Children are our future and we cannot afford for even one child to fall through the cracks. I consider myself very lucky in that I received a good education, had caring teacher and a healthy educational environment. I now consider it my duty to provide my future students with a safe, motivational and fair education. Every child deserves the opportunity to reach for the stars!

I read this book while working on my graduate coursework at Vanderbilt in 1994. This book was a great read, very enlightening, and still very relevant today. Now, after 32 years in public education, retired, and as a professor at a small college, this book is once again a topic of discussion as we examine the aspects of self-fulfilling prophecy in public education.

This astonishing book is still relevant--if anything, the problems Kozol researched in the late 1980s are worse today. As the general gap between rich and poor widens in America, so does the gap between rich schools and poor schools, helping to perpetuate permanent class divisions. Kozol shows how public education helps insure that "them that's got shall get" and "them that's not shall lose." His study is especially useful if you're trying to understand the recent wave of school funding legislation at the state level across the country. In state after state, school funding based on property taxes has been declared unconstitutional, as it creates schools that are inherently separate and unequal. (See the deRolphe decision in my home state of Ohio, for example. Savage Inequalities was a direct inspiration for the documentary Children in America's schools, which in turn helped inspire the activists who pushed the deRolphe suit.) Here's my highest recommendation: I have all the students in my "English composition for education majors" course read Savage Inequalities as preparation for the realities of teaching in public schools.

Kozol begins his book by writing about east St.Louis. Wikipedia writes about East St.Louis as one of the most crime-ridden cities in the nation. This is one of the poorest cities in America and of course the school system suffers. The school buildings are run down, bathrooms are broken, and the kids don't have textbooks to study from. The physics labs haven't had water for 25 years and the sports field is completely in ruins . A lot of industrial waste is dumped here from the chemical factories that have established themselves in these areas. Usually it happends by accident when trains with the stuff spills it out on the ground. Then an alarm sounds and people have to take cover. But the kids here suffer from lead poisoning, high asthma rates and other diseases that can be traced to the toxic elements that surround them. The neighbourhoods themselves are filled with 24 hour liquor stores, strip bars, gambling houses, and dealers roaming the streets at night. Its hard to think of a worse start for a kid.

He writes of another neighbourhood in Chicago, called North Lawndale. That was a vibrant community until the riots after Martin Luther Kings death when a lot of the businesses where destroyed. It never really recovered. Now the gangs have moved in and the industries have moved out. A pastor from the area says"kids like these will kill each other over nothing". Dr.Martin Luther King himself lived there but there is no memorial. Only an old truck stands at the spot where his house once was. The schools here are also in terrible condition. Out of a kindergarten class of 23 kids 14 will drop out. 4 at most will go to college. 1 of those 4 will graduate. Three of the twelve boys will have spent time in prison. A few teachers are great but mainly there is a shortage of teachers, leaving many classrooms without one. In fact these kids are economically getting much less than the kids are in the richer areas. Although many adults say that one should not tell these poor kids that because that would encourage "victim" thinking. Although I would feel like a victim if I was reading a textbook that said Nixon was president like some of these kids do! Top salary of a teacher in an underpriveledged innercity school is 40000 dollars a year whereas in a suburb up to 60000 dollars. About 2900 dollars is spent every year on a child in a poor neighbourhood whereas 7800 dollars is spent on a child in a rich one. There is a silent understanding amongst many corporations that the kids in the inner city schools are perfect for the bottom end jobs that they offer. They aren't expected to become doctors or lawyers. This has led to principles and teachers of these innercity schools in "framing their language carefully" when requesting grants or money from corporations to "train ghetto children to become good employees".

In the Bronx one school that is overpopulated is located in an old roller skating rink. It was made to fit 1000 people now there are 1550 people there. The interior is old and falling apart. Too many people crowd into small rooms and many of the windows are broken. There are hardly any computers and the school is surrounded by heavy traffic. In another Bronx school there is a gaping hole in a classroom floor, the blackboards are so cracked that students risk cutting themselves on them when writing, paint flakes off the wall and covers the floor, and when it rains theres a waterfall flowing down the six flights of stairs in the school. Out of 500 freshmen from one school 82 will go on to take the SAT. On the other hand a school in a well off district is close to a park with lots of flowers around it. 825 kids attend this school. Here the library contains 8000 books in contrast to the skating rink school library that contained 700 books.

This is a well-reported and eye-opening book. Kozol effectively points to the many ways in which the public educational system fails poor students, often in shocking ways. (The first section, about East St Louis, is absolutely incredible.) The book has two big flaws: 1) it attributes disparate educational opportunities to differences in school funding. Yet no figures are presented. And Kozol doesn't explain how some districts with fewer funds can outperform ones with more. The analysis is incomplete; 2) he does not consider school choice and privatization in any depth. As a liberal, Kozol wants to help the poor, but he refuses to go beyond the socialist model and consider new ways of achieving educational results. Kozol is an intelligent and well-intentioned person, but his viewpoint is limited and old-fashioned. These horror stories about urban public schools have been surfacing for literally forty years now -- and nothing ever changes! The fact is, these school systems have conclusively proven they do not deserve added funds. It is time for competition and innovation -- and the fear of failure and job loss -- to motivate the educational system so these unbelievable stories Kozol unearths will cease to be so frequent.

I don't like his manipulative rhetoric, caricaturizations of complex situations and people, the Ugly Whites against the Beautiful Blacks, etc. He is intellectually dishonest. And that's a shame, because equal opportunity in education should be a right for our children and is a cause that deserves a powerful advocate. That wouldn't be Kozol. Try reading one of his earlier books and tell me what you think of him then.

Jonathan Kozol started teaching at a segregated school in Boston in 1964. The students in his fourth grade class had to share a classroom with another class, a choir, and a drama group rehearsing for a play that was never performed. He was the 13th teacher they had in the year. After being fired for having his students read a poem that was not on a pre-approved list, he moved on to a wealthier school and found a much more accommodating system of education with smaller classes, better materials, and more innovation. In his study of underfunded schools in poor neighborhoods in East St. Louis, Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Washington D.C., and San Antonio, he found that little has changed.
This book is an eye opener as to the educational system in this country. Segregation is alive & well decades after Brown v. Board of Education. Most of the schools he visited are close to other wealthier (and predominately white) schools so he can really show the inequality between them. The poorer schools have limited to nonexistent materials and equipment. One school in New York (known simply as public school 261) conducts classes in an abandoned roller rink with no identification and not even a single encyclopedia set. One of the few exceptional teachers he found had to buy materials out of her pocket (pg. 47). The enormously high drop out rates at these schools are almost welcomed as they free up seats in the over-crowded classrooms (pp. 54 and 111). Most heartbreaking is that so many teachers and administrators he talked to seem to have given up on improving conditions and saving these kids. More than once, adults are quoted as dismissing the matter with "They're not going anywhere" (pp. 52 and 160). Kozol also looks at the neighborhoods outside of the schools as further proof that these children are at a disadvantage from the beginning. One neighborhood in the southside of Chicago has one bank, one market, 48 lottery stations, and 99 bars and liquor stores (pg. 41).
The author's solution is financial: more funding if not by diverting money from the more affluent schools than by state funding. As depressing as these stories are, sadly, I do not think this book will sway the opinions of those who feel added funding will be wasted on these schools. I sympathize with the author's goals but, even I begin to be exasperated by some of the attitudes of the teachers and school officials in these schools. One school has a barrel in the counselor's office because the roof leaks so bad (pg. 103). One of the counselors admits the students wish it would stop raining in the office (well, duh). I find myself wondering aloud why nobody fixes it, whether a custodian, male teacher, or someone in the community. Woodrow Wilson school in New Jersey has 50 computers. Sounds great, but 40 cannot be used because they've melted. Why? They're set up above the boiler room and they are still there! (pg. 149). Why aren't they moved? Someone points out the school's namesake, but Wilson stood for self-determination (i.e. the 14 points). I know these are easy questions to ask when one does not live and work in such conditions and there are probably good answers to them but that is what skeptical readers may think when they read this book. While the study is eye opening, unfortunately, I do not think it will sway the opinions of those who feel that funding such schools is sending good money after bad.

Jonathan Kozol's SAVAGE INEQUALITIES is one of the best books ever published that illustrates the dual nature of the American public education system and how unfair that system is. The book looks at the poor urban schools in six different areas in the U.S. displaying the challenges the teachers, administrators, and most importantly the students of those schools have to face each day. Kozol points out in the book how that even though public education probably isn't the social panacea that so many have promised it to be, it is something that we require of all children and therefore, we should provide all children with the best possible education that is equal across the board. The book also displays that many of the inequalities that exist in our public education system are based upon racist public policies controlled by local and state governments (and which are now supported by the federal government). The problem is ginormous--but it has to be addressed. We gamble with children and our nation's own future each time we ignore the problem.

In recent years, SAVAGE INEQUALITIES has been critized for it's accurate portrayal, but for offering no solution. Those who hold that view fail to recognize Kozol's intent in writing this book. Most people today have no idea that the situation in public schools is so bad, let alone in 1990 when SAVAGE INEQUALITIES was first published. The book caused a controversy at schools around the country and its brutal examination led a small handful of schools to pass major reforms. However, most, if not all of the problems that Kozol raised have still not been adequately addressed. Things in East St. Louis have improved somewhat, but the kids there are still being shortchanged. The Chicago Public School system has reformed and tightened their teaching requirements, but unequal funding still exists and the New York City Public School system hasn't seen any changes--kids still go to school in a windowless roller skate rink there. I went back to school to get my teaching certification and only live 50 miles from East St. Louis and I had no idea things are bad as they are. SAVAGE INEQUALITIES opened my eyes and I'll never be the same. It's one of those rare books that can change your outlook forever, especially someone going into education.

Johnathan Kozol paints an honest account of the public education system in America and its failure to mobilize the weakest in society. Having witnessed and survived these inequalities first hand, I never thought an observer from the outside of this system could identify nor articulate the grave circumstances and conditions under which our nation's poorest are taught or rather institutionalized. I don't think one could actually consider the examples that Kozol provides about the deteriorating schools in well-known American cities such as East St. Louis, Chicago, South Bronx, East Orange, South-East District of Columbia and San Antonio as a place in which one could actually obtain anything closely related to the term "education". Especially when one school district's greatest level of resources is an amazing 75% of what their affluent counterparts instinctively enjoy.

We have always heard the unsettling correlation between concentrated areas of failing schools and high instances of crime, yet the author permeates these communities to learn why one factor influences another. Kozol sustains this observation with his own examination of the Anacostia neighborhood in Washington, DC. He quotes a blurb from an article of The New York Times in which the poorest children in the nation's capital are said to suffer from "Battle fatigue" which is similar to veterans who returned from war with shell shock because the have witnessed death, decay, decline and destitution. How can these children become productive citizens if their childish mouths are filled with stories of death, drugs and prostitution? Kozol uses city-specific anecdotes to explain why there is so much disenfranchisement among minorities in a country that promises so much to its incoming immigrants.

I agree with the school of though that believes that education is truly the only key

to success for one born into poverty. If you are born privileged then you will always be guaranteed choices and opportunities. However, if you are not heir to the throne of a prosperous company or your family's fortune then education increases your human capital. Human capital is one's selling point; therefore it makes you appealing to the market. Kozol wants the government to fess up to its systematic design to "Save the best and warehouse the rest." This confession will help the government to acknowledge that the function of education is to enable the rich and disable the poor.

Kozol does not offer as many solutions as the problems he presents. However, he declares that the only way the unfair system of education in America can be changed is by changing the formula for funding public schools because it is so terribly disproportionate. Since funding is based on property taxes and properties in poor neighborhoods are less valuable than those in more affluent neighborhoods, then a publicly funded school in a wealthy neighborhood will have obviously have a larger budget per student and vice versa for the poorer neighborhoods and students. If this financial dilemma is not corrected, then the public school system will always be plagued with savage inequalities.

gSavage Inequalities : Children in America's Schoolsh is one of the most disturbing, inspiring and socially relevant books I have ever read. Author Jonathan Kozol maintains that while in Americafs schools educational innovation is (arguably) flourishing, basic funding for all the nationfs schools is the problem that most urgently needs to be addressed. Kozol documents in case after case that the funding gap between schools in affluent (mostly white) areas and ones in poor, mostly African-American or Hispanic areas is beyond startling, it is horrifying. Kozol states that the principal culprit for this horrendous situation is that schools are funded mainly from local tax dollars. Prosperous districts pay higher local taxes and receive better education facilities in return. Inner-city schools, in contrast, have been left with a dwindling tax base and little to spend on education. Kozol maintains that this disparity has created excellent gprivateh schools for the privileged within the national public school system. Highly recommended reading for anyone who believes that gequality of opportunityh is anything more than a euphemism for gclass warfareh.

An amazing exploration of classroom inequalities, from Beverely Hills to inner-city New York. Learn how our system creates pockets of poverty amid bubbles of wealth. Kozol breaks it down for the reader in black and white: It's a matter of funding. Why do some schools have 10 times the bugget of others? Why do some school lack the funds to buy adequate textbooks or draw good teachers? The facts will shock you. Without equal federal funding, the school system is terribly unequal, and the product of this inquality is illiteracy, high drop-out rates, and a host of other problems. As Kozol shows us in his book, bad genes are not the issue. This is not a case of inherited IQ or laziness. The problem is our social system: a system where some children are given glorious opportunities, while others are left in the dust. To quote Thoreau, "For every ten people hacking away at the Tree of Evil, only one is hacking at the roots." Make no mistake, Kozol is among that ten percent. His axe is sharp, and he has taken direct aim at the problem. A must read for anyone vaguely concerned with inequality, democracy, or social justice.

I am a college student majoring in education and recently read "Savage Inequalities" for a class. Mr. Kozol obviously had the underprivileged children of our nation at heart when he wrote this book. I found the book to be an eye-opening, thought provoking, and heart wrenching account of the way some of America's children are treated in our education system. The author does an outstanding job of painting a very factual, although not so pretty, picture of the disparities these children suffer. Mr. Kozol's descriptions of the inequalities suffered by some of our children today should provoke us to push for change in our education systems. This book is a must read for every educator, future educator, parent, and/or concerned citizen.

First of all, I realize this book is slightly dated, in that it was published 17 years ago. The unfortunate thing is that I don't believe much has changed since Kozol wrote it... if there have been major changes, he wouldn't have found it necessary to write his second book, Shame of the Nation, or continue to push for equal-opportunity education like he is still doing today. So, although this book was researched and written awhile ago, I do believe it is still relevant for discussion today.

This book is sad. Plain and simple, it made me very sad to read about the way these kids have to "learn" every single day. Children who live in poverty every single day of their lives, who struggle just to get a decent meal and a good night's sleep, who cannot count on safety, a clean environment, or even love from their families, should absolutely, 100% have one place they can call their sanctuary - their school. Unfortunately, this book showed that is simply not the case. Children who live in these horrifying conditions of dire poverty are going to "schools" (and I say that loosely because some of the schools Kozol describes simply are not places to learn) that are decrepit, dirty, disgusting, with not enough space, not enough teachers, not enough books, no computers, and sometimes not even enough working toilets. There isn't another way to describe this book other than horrifying. Pure and simple, we should not be allowing any child to spend a minute in these conditions, let alone every day for eight hours a day. This book is heartbreaking to read, but it needs to be read, because I truly do not think that conditions have changed since the book was published in 1991. This is something that, as a country, we need to improve, big time. Our future literally depends on it.

Having taught for more than 5 years and worked in impoverished schools, I can say that the schools depicted in "Savage Inequalities" are all too real. Those who dismiss this book as "liberal propaganda" are either completely ignorant or blind.

The lack of equalities in our schools in America is a tragedy. Jonathan Kozol documents specific incidents of this tradegy in Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and San Anontio, Texas. While many of these cases in the book are worst case scenarios, the reader must ask why this happens. The richest country in the world should not send children to schools that are grossly ineligible to meet the children's needs. Particularly in the age of that illogical document "No Child Left Behind", some schools can not meet the standards if they can not even provide enough books or a warm safe place. There can be no equality in this country unless a basic education is available to those most willing to learn.

What disturbs me most about this book is the blatant racism that excludes impoversished students from better schools. Even though a student may have the skills to succeed in the "rich school", they are denied because of an imaginary line established by a politician. Without the ability to attain the best education, a young mind is being starved. The social mobility promised by this country is non-existent until this is changed.

"Savage Inequalities" stimulated so many thoughts in me that the space allotted for this review is inadequate. Even though the book is dated, I hope it makes as many of my fellow Americans angry as it made me.

This book will prick the conscience of most Americans. It is a journal of observations from the author's visits to a half dozen urban school systems, and his interpretation of what he saw. He is basically arguing that segregation is still a reality in American education, and that it is so entrenched that it is no longer seriously questioned. His most powerful revelation is the total inadequacy of funding public education based on local property taxes. Wealthy areas receive more funding, poor areas are overwhelmed by inadequate resources. This book will help you see through all the platitudes of the media and politicians regarding answers to America's educational problems. Kozol calls for a complete overhaul of our system of funding education, in order to establish greater equality.

I chose to read this book because my research says it is the most popular book in the education genre. I gave it 4 stars because it did well to inform on what the thinking is surrounding public education in America today. I think thats what it was trying to do and It did a good job.

The main idea was to describe the "savage inequality" between low income (usually minority) schools in the US and the schools found in more affluent neighborhoods. The descriptions were shocking. We need more good people who value students and families to take an interest in education in the states.

If you are in the education field, you should read this. If you are in a profession that works with young people you should read this.

I read this book several years ago and I continue to refer to it as I discuss --with anyone who will listen --education in this country. Kozol's thesis that where your parents live (and their SES determines that, right?) determines the kind of education you will receive. The issues of privatization, for-profit schools, etc. are quick "market" fixes that do not address the inequity of education in America. Public education is a right and those who do not recognize Kozol's arguments and "savage inequalities" models, are either in denial or selfish (as in, "I've got what I want, so leave me alone.") I think that this book should be mandatory reading for all citizens of this country. It's a wake-up call.

this book is shocking in the sense that many children, in the inner city districts, live in a land of vast neglect. these children are not given equal opportunities to reach their goals and become productive citizens in our country. they are denied decent schooling. america is not a land of equal opportunity until all schools are cleaned up and equal. this book is a wake up call that something needs to be done in the urban public schools. i read it for a graduate course dealing with issues, policies and law. after reading this book i realize that i would love to teach to these children who are denied equal opportunities. it would be my chance to extend a helping, caring, and creative hand.

In the book Savage Inequalities, Jonathan Kozol talks about the educational differences found in American schools and how significantly tragic these differences are. Kozol spent two years traveling from city to city across the United States observing how schools operate and what kind of education they provide (Kozol ix). Upon his return from his travels, he wrote the book describing all that he observed. After reading this book I felt rather lucky having the opportunity to get the education that I am currently receiving. Kozol is a good writer, but he gives too many facts which leaves you disinterested and his information is very repetitive.
One of the faults in Savage Inequalities is the repetition of information. Kozol says the same thing over and over, again and again. In the beginning of the East St Louis chapter, he introduces and discusses the problem they have with garbage and more importantly the sewage. On page seven he talks about not having any trash collection and how the chemical plants give off toxic sewage. He talks about fumes and smokestacks pouring from the plant's vents and how they are the leading cause of asthma among the children. On page seventeen he again brings up the problems with the chemical plants and their toxic emissions. He also talks about how the garbage piles up in people's front lawns and leaves the kids with health complications. Again on page thirty-seven Kozol talks about the garbage and the health conditions. Once again we hear about the contamination of land and how the children are suffering from all the pollution. I understand that Kozol is trying to get his point across but his facts are too repetitious. We read the same thing over again but in different places.
Kozol also has a problem with keeping his reader interested. A reader can go on and on until finally giving up. The book Savage Inequalities deals with educational standards among schools and the tragic dysfunctions found in them which would seem to be an interesting topic but Kozol focuses on poverty stricken schools mainly and doesn't lend the reader a variety of information to absorb. I quickly lost interest and focus in the book due to its lengthy examples and arguments. One can quickly understand the point Kozol is trying to make within the first few pages of each chapter, but he goes on with many more unnecessary examples and drags the reader forth until he is done with his arguments.
Savage Inequalities in all is a good informative book written by Jonathan Kozol and it delivers great facts about the realities of unequal education in the U.S. The book was very dramatic at times and shocking, but if failed to keep me focused. I had trouble continuing because of all the unnecessary repetitive information I found in the text, but it would be something I'd recommend to others.

This book was long overdue, needed for its time at that time, and ahead of its time all in one. Our educational system really has not changed that much except that we give more attention to gifted students and try to cater more to various disabilities. The way many urban schools are funded, try taking that funding away from many suburban schools and see what happens. Not only would there be an uproar, if it was possible, I'd expect scores and morale to go way down. Some people have brought up how education should be more of a free market economy and that racism is not the issue, it is more culture. Racism most certainly plays a role, but culture definitely plays a role too.

What the solutions should be is questionable. There will always be inequalities no matter what you try to do, but Kozol does point out that the degree of inequalities should be nowhere near where they actually are. Education is meant to be a qualitative part of life, but it is treated as quantitative because quantities are easier and more efficient to work with, and there are too many aspects to evaluate to be able to work as fairly qualitative a solution as possible. Even without being able to give out a more fuller assessment of funding and such, our system can definitely be better somehow.

Districts and schools right now are so cutthroat that suburban schools won't make it easy to give their 1 year old books to the urban districts that need them and would rather just throw them away. The most implied reason is because the suburbanites do not want to give urban students a chance to take away opportunities from suburbanites. Part of the reason we have the crimes we do probably stems from how children are cheated out of a chance to be in an environment with at least some resources to learn with. And they know it. Even though they may say they do not want to learn, maybe in some cases, they actually do want to learn deep inside. But peers and/or culture may give them a different exterior.

One of the hot topics under the Bush administration (and under many others as well) is education reform. It is safe to say that those who think school uniforms, vouchers, just say no, and after school basketball programs will solve all the problems in compulsorary education have not read this book. When the basics are not available such as books, teachers, safe schools, and toilet paper, reforming schools must go way beyond the simple mindedness of a new exterior coat of paint. This book provides examples of inequality in the U.S. schools that should shame anyone who believes there is equality in U.S. schools. Giving an affluent kid (or at least a child whose parents can afford a private school education) provides an out for a few, but for the rest of the children who must survive at the public school they did not "choice" to attend, life will become even worse. The solution is clear, but neither Democrat nor Republican leaders want to hear it. The solution is federal education funding. Then the next step is to rebuild and modernize all schools that need it. Finally, whether people like it or not this is a money first society. Teachers should be paid better salaries in hopes of recruiting more teachers, and attracting those potential students who are not sure four to eight more years of school is worth $32,000 a year. In most cities, Taco Bell managers, garbage handlers, coaches, and police officers make more money than public school teachers. I believe being a garbage handler is an important job, and I believe in paying people a quality wage. However, the responsibility a teacher has in shaping the minds of our youth is monumental. It is obvious to the U.S. children and to the rest of the world that education is not the number one priority politicians say it is. This book is a testimony of that lack of concern by U.S. politicians, and of the privileged who have the power to change the status quo.

Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities is heavy on details of the tragic conditions existing in our cities' public schools these days, but it is light in terms of tangible solutions to the crisis. For this and other reasons, Kozol's effort, while it packs a breathtaking punch, nonetheless fails to live up to its potential as a force that can be expected to make an impact in society. A decade after the book's publication, things have gotten no better, and while we can in no way attribute the blame for that to Kozol himself, we nevertheless can try to find ways in which the book may have been able to make a larger impact.

The most obvious problem with the book is its lack of solutions to the crisis. Kozol's main offering is simply to say, "give these schools more money." But since he can fall back on money and the lack of it as the root cause of the entire problem, Kozol largely ignores attempting to provide any type of suggestions for how individuals can make the system better. Instead of offering suggestions for what school administrators can do in terms of, say, curriculum reform, Kozol's biggest word of caution relating to school administrators is that some black school administrators should be ashamed of themselves for allowing people to put a black face in the public eye to deflect criticism. Instead of offering legitimate criticisms of how teachers in urban public schools should try to better relate to their poor young children, Kozol simply decries the fact that many of these teachers are ill-suited for their roles. And, Kozol continues, those teachers that are able to succeed in this environment, like Chicago's Corla Hawkins, are essentially nothing more than an inexplicable phenomenon: "But what is unique in Mrs. Hawkins's classroom is not what she does but who she is. Warmth and humor and contagious energy cannot be replicated and cannot be written into any standardized curriculum. If they could, it would have happened long ago" (51). Kozol provides no suggestions on how to apply the best practices of successful teachers like Corla Hawkins, but instead only treats them as merely a minor inconsistency that doesn't follow the remainder of his argument.

Kozol's transcripts of the discussions he holds with young students raises some caution flags. Some of the dialogue does not seem like it realistically could have come from the mouths of children, both in the cases of students at a well-off school or a poor school. Take some of the words of wisdom espoused by several students in Rye, New York: "... you cannot give an equal chance to every single person. If you did it, you'd be changing the whole economic system ... I can be as open-minded and unrealistic as I want to be. You can be a liberal until you have a mortgage ... Charity will not instill the poor with self-respect" (128-129). Are these really the words of sixteen-year-olds? Although it is impossible for us to substantiate the criticism, my intuition is that Kozol is editing these students words to make them look smarter than they are, to make the reader believe that they must be more privileged than they are. Likewise, the poor students seem to have an unrealistic level of self-consciousness, as when two Camden children are in discussion, and one's announcement that "I have problems with my self-esteem" is followed by the retort, "Don't let him shake your confidence" (156). These just don't seem like the words of children, and there's a significant question as a result as to whether or not we can really rely on Kozol the narrator.

In summation, Kozol's book is a disappointment if the reader entered with the expectation, as I did, of finding a treatise offering answers as to how we can really improve our public schools in the twenty-first century. This isn't to say that Kozol's research hasn't provided us with a lot of value. Instead, at the end of everything I was left with the impression of Savage Inequalities being a great research composition, best used for others who want to take these case studies as a starting point for moving the discussion of how to improve schools forward. In other words, this is the book that sociologists or public policy-makers will use as background when they are putting together their own books on improving public education. This isn't the final product; rather, these are the research notes, and we are left now to figure out how to use them.

Jonathan Kozol's comprehensive, breathtaking, and revelatory call to conscience of a nation is a wonderfully written treatise on the systemic problems that keep the United States from improving and advancing in the K-12 educational arena. But, he is not solely concerned about the advancement as he is about the improvement of America's schools--their facilities, teachers, communities. It is the inherent and pervasive, consistent and detrimental impact of inequality within the schools that troubles Kozol as he looks at the system holistically and locally in the tragic and dilapidated districts found in East St. Louis, Chicago, New York, Camden, Washington, DC., and San Antonio. I write explicitly as he does implicitly that "they too sing America." And, because that is the case their country, their native land owes them the opportunity to succeed, to function as a citizen with the full rights pertaining thereunto that are duly theirs not solely as Americans but as humans. Kozol's concluding remarks shed light on what he perceives to be the inhibitors to full parity in America's public educational institutions. He states: "Surely there is enough for everyone within this country. It is a tragedy that these good things are not more widely shared. All our children ought to be allowed a stake in the enormous richness of America" (Kozol 233). Three things can be deduced from Kozol's aforementioned lament as he concludes his journey. First, there is enough for everyone. Second, the inequality in the United States as a whole is shameful and should be rectified. And finally, the United States must be forthright in its pursuit of truly granting all equal access and opportunity regardless of their socioeconomic status.

Our system of funding the education of America's children is structured in such away as to make inequality the only logical result. As long as the funds are appropriated based on a student's residence--something that he or she does not decide and is often decided for him or her because of housing inequality. Kozol notes this "circular phenomenon" writing, "The richer districts--those in which the property lots and houses are more highly valued--have more revenue, derived from taxing land and homes, to fund their public schools" (Kozol 121). The federal government plays too limited a role in regulating the distribution of finances to schools. And furthermore, the U.S. government, itself, has not chosen to take up the cause by proffering more spending toward educating our children. There is a problem with this nation's priorities. We find ways to spend on things of national importance. But, I submit that the education of children in a democratic society who are expected to behave as informed and law abiding citizens is necessary. That is democracy. We have to learn to share and to realize that we are a union of states that must be concerned with the entire citizenry and not simply our own neck of the woods.

The equal allocation of funds is inhibited by politics and the inherent inequality upon which our system was built and is maintained. Kozol notes that in our attempt to purport ostensibly an educational system that is fair, the nation in reality has two very different types of schools. He states, "Both are needed for our nation's governance. But children in one set of schools are educated to be governors; children in the other set of schools are trained for being governed" (Kozol 176). This reality is understandable in the maintenance of a democracy where a variety of vocations are necessary. However, all should be given the chance to be whatever they choose. Their destinies ought not to be predetermined based on housing, funding, and teaching inadequacies and inequities. Or, nonetheless politicians' attempts to boost finances going to their privileged districts in lieu of enhancing the districts and schools within them that earnestly need assistance. The nation must come to accept the truth that Kozol has reaffirmed: "The school is the creature of the state; the family is not. Schools.... could make dramatic changes almost overnight if fiscal equity were a reality" (Kozol 123).

Finally, Kozol does something unique in that he not only looks at the readily available and dreadful data from a quantitative and literature review perspective, but he actually talks with those who are being education. He listens to the students. This is a vital tactic that is too often missing from the way in which this country does educational policy and decision-making. One would not dare consider legislating a bill concerning the needs of soldiers without conversing with the soldiers to see what their needs are. In turn, the same should and must be done when educational policy is being made.

Kozol gives us much to think about even over a decade after the publishing of Savage Inequalities. For this nation is continuing to deal with the same problems that Kozol identified and discussed, and it remains resolved in its implementation of band aid solutions for deeply entrenched and painful wounds. Let's hope that the life and well being of our public schools does not remain savage: "Nasty, brutish, and short!"

Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities is a powerful and important read. Kozol travels to many inner city public schools, where he is able to give the reader a glimpse of the life that children in America's schools must lead. Kozol is disgusted and disgruntled with the state of American public education today. He believes that public education today is simply not adequate for our young citizens. Public schools differ greatly from neighborhood to neighborhood, and Kozol challenges the reader to question this phenomenon.

The state of public education today points to the harsh existence of societal inequalities. Kozol recognizes these disparities and sees them as a social problem, where education only further stratifies and separates American's. Education is reflective of the big picture, where an American society has been crafted historically, economically, and educationally to explicitly exclude others. Kozol tackles issues such as housing discrimination, racial segregation, and lack of information to elaborate on the ills of American society. Education today, for many students, gives them access to no social mobility whatsoever, and seems to only hold some down. A student Kozol met expressed her feelings excellently when she said "America the beautiful, Who are you beautiful for?" (112). Students become conflicted Americans in a society that tells them they can be anything they want to be, when they know they really can't.

Kozol, speaking of the loss of hope in America's schools, states that "The most important difference in the urban systems, I believe, is that they are often just adjacent to the nation's richest districts, and this ever-present contrast adds a heightened bitterness to the experience of the children" (74). We want to shield our children from the injustices of the world and often times we believe they aren't in tune with making comparisons like the ones above. Kozol lets the reader know that kids are very observant and become bitter after internalizing emotions and realities they cannot understand. They notice when they are all black and the kids with the swing sets and sand boxes on their playground are all white. They are able to see what they are missing.

Kozol's use of thick description and touching personal accounts from teachers and students gives life and breath to his work. Kozol does a great job of tying in historical facts, figures, and percentages, with emotional and personal narratives. Kozol will make you feel as if you are in the school buildings and classrooms he describes. The reader is not an observer, but an attentive and sensitive participant. Kozol lets the reader know just how important a role environment can play in the lives of the people involved in America's schools. Buildings that are crumbling, with leaky roofs and broken bathrooms are not just dangerous facilities for those who must work within them, but they also send a message to our children of their worth. No one feels valued and respected in a place that is falling apart. It is very hard for many young students to learn, simply because of the neighborhoods they live in, or the tough home lives they may have, and the school environment often piles up on the list of things that just aren't pretty in an inner city kid's life.

Savage Inequalities is a great book; a book which every American citizen should read. Kozol paints a powerful picture of reality and leaves his reader with many questions to answer. Do we care about our future citizens or would we rather see only some of our children adequately educated? What are you going to do about it?

A leaky ceiling, lack of drinkable water, malfunctioning coal heat, a game of poker in study hall: encompassing all of these factors is a regular school day for a child in the poorest of the poor communities at the end of the 20th century. In his both poignant and striking account Savage Inequalities, Jonathan Kozol highlights the grave inequalities in the institution that Peter Blau and Otis Duncan call the "mediator" between social origin and social destination. School as an establishment for a child to learn, grow, and improve him/herself and love is but a dream (rather, a nightmare) for the children in the communities of East St. Louis, Chicago, New York, Camden, Washington, DC., and San Antonio.

By largely underscoring the misappropriation (and total deficiency) of local, state, and federal funds in combination with the lack of motivation on account of a majority of educators, Kozol effectively paints a literary portrait that is the horror of attending school in the poorest communities of America. Most of the time, students are cognizant of their uniquely awful situations; a high school student in Chicago whose auto mechanics teacher napped daily stated at the end of the year, "Let's be real. Most of us ain't going to college...We could have used a class like this." Kozol enriches his account of the "unfortunately unfortunate" by depicting the great disparity between parental income and spending per student within a school district, underlining the nearby wealthy communities whose students are treated to a vast array of resources. While the rich receive more education, enhanced curriculums, et al., the poor (often composed of minorities, further promotion the issue of modern-day, pot-civil rights segregation) are given nothing, excluding a hand-me-down textbook published long before humans walked the moon to be shared amongst a group of three other students.

Kozol's work is polished and well-researched with firsthand accounts and data. I was both appalled and at the same time confounded with regard to the experience of the children. If one was unsure about how ubiquitous the issues really are, Kozol seems to find strength in repetition; reading one case study of a city, in general, is enough to understand clearly the grave matters at hand - it is somewhat tedious to read completely through all the case studies. Moreover, while Kozol does a fantastic job of synthesizing data, he fails to offer to the reader enough solutions or potential solutions to the problem. It is almost as if the book is a presentation of the facts. Was that Kozol's intention? Are we to come away with a sense of awe, or with a sense of purpose? I would like to think the latter, but I cannot really be sure. At any rate, Savage Inequalities remains an imperative and urgent read for those who seek both comprehensive and all-inclusive knowledge of American schooling.

This book is a sociological look of the differences in living and education

in different parts of the country. Also, it sheds light on how tax money is

unevenly spread throughout the country.

Kozol, an author famous with attacking the education system and problems in

our country, does not slow down with this book. Right away, Kozol begins with

the differences in living conditions between East Saint Louis, and upstate New

York. From the poorest of the poor communities to one of the wealthiest in

the country, the differences are stark.

In East St. Louis, you can't help but notice the illiteracy rate and the

simple-minded people Kozol encountered. The living conditions are that of a third world country, and it is appalling. East St. Louis is the spot America forgot about and never remembered. To think that a community lives in such dire conditions in our thriving society is very hard to swallow. While reading, you can't help but feel as if you've taken for granted everything that was ever givern to you in your life.

Then, after a look at poor, impoverished East St. Louis, you are taken to upstate New York. In New York, a place with higher taxes and a more desirable place to live, you can see how the children are given a better advantage at things. The children sit in schools with roofs over their heads, unlike their lesser counterparts from East St. Louis. The new Yorkers sit and try to discuss what the poorer kids might be thinking or doing. And by sitting in judgement of others, they only make themselves look snobbish. As much as you know it is wrong, the reader can't help but side with the underdogs. The rich kids are not doing anything on purpose to make you not like them, but the reader can''t help but hope they might one day know what it is like to live like the people of East St. Louis.

You can't help but wonder how things will ever change for the disadvantaged kids. While reading the vignettes, the truth of America comes out, and its not a pretty picture. The stark differences are almost ridiculous. Also, it brings up the question: will things

continue to spiral downward, and will the gap continue to widen between the

underprivileged and the people who have the resources?

This book brings up many questions and makes the reader think about is

really happening in America's schools today. One can only think, what can be done

to change the inequalities in our school systems and living conditions? For

that question, there is no clear answer. But by reading this great piece of sociological mastery, the reader will gain knowledge of what is happening in our country today, as much as we don't want to know.

Greg Davis

Sociology

Savage Inequalities

When someone wakes up in the morning, they know that they have had lots of different dreams, but don't always know what each dream was. Dreams exist for every person but the person that had the dream doesn't always know about the dream. This is kind of what savage inequalities taught me. I know that there are different kinds of people in this world but don't know about all of them. I knew that poor people were out their but I don't know them first hand. I know that there are school systems out there that are lacking and even hurting, but I didn't know to the extent of the details of their situation. Sometimes ignorance on a situation is simply not knowing about the situation. If a week ago someone had asked me how I would go about fixing the schools in east St. Louis, or Chicago, I simply would of said, start at the homes and then get better teachers. I now realize that that answer would have been complete ignorance.

Jonathan Kozol, in his book, Savage inequalities, explains the difference in the American school systems. He visits and talks about the richest of schools and the poorest of schools. He talks about schools that spend up to 20,000 dollars a year educating a child and he talks about schools that only have 2,000 dollars a year to educate each child. This is a very sad country we live in, that sends children to school in schools that should be condemned.

Kozol, made me realize how important the family one is born into is. A child born into an upper class family with no money concerns can go to good school and never realize the inequalities of a child that goes to a school 7 minutes away. And that child that is the victim of the inequalities could never know how great the child that lives 7 minutes away might have it. Kozol speaks of this in terms of generals and soldiers. He explains that there are to types of people in this world, there are soldiers and generals. The soldier's children have no choice but to be soldiers and the children of the generals have the choice to be generals or not.

Kozol, starts out in the city of East St. Louis, and takes the reader through the city. He artistically writes of the inequalities that are present there. The reader is made to see how everyone is poor, many are sick, everyone gets the poorest of schooling, and few have a way out. This is a city where children go to school without text books, pencils, or hope. Teachers here make way below the average of teaching salaries around the country and end up spending anywhere from 500 to 1500 dollars a year on supplies for the children. They buy everything from crayons to text books. Kozol pointed out that just a short while before he visited a school, one of the teachers fell and got injured due to water leaking through the ceiling onto the ground of the hallway. Some kids in these schools don't have access to computers, and because of this they learn to type on typewriters that are up to 10 years out of date. Occasionally, Kozol would find teachers that were making a difference, but most of the time all he could find were teachers that were burnt out and underpaid. The children themselves seemed to have no hope. It is a wonder that the kids show up to school at all. The three ways out of a city like this are athletics, art, or rapping. And since there are no art supplies, weight lifting equipment, locker rooms, or even field goal posts on the football fields. At the high school level there are many pregnant teenage girls. When one of the girls was asked why she got pregnant, she asked why not. She explained that there was nothing else for her to due but raise a child. She explained ho poor the school was, and how there was no chance for her to do anything else with her life. Kozol performs a great task by making the inequalities of East St. Louis known.

After visiting East St. Louis, Kozol visited schools in a near more affluent middle to upper class school district. The schools in this district were unbelievable. They were in better condition than any building in the poorer East St. Louis. The children here had nothing less than state of the art. The school cost the taxpayers millions of dollars, but this was alright because they could afford it. What isn't alright is that the kids of poorer districts get low grade things because they can't afford it. In these nicer schools that he visited, one could see technology that is very expensive. They had cafeterias that are better than some food courts in malls. They had Olympic swimming pools while children in poorer schools don't even have running water or cafeterias that are functional enough to prepare warm food.

Kozol does a great job by comparing different schools around the country. He describes how social problems lead to insufficient schooling for many of America's children. The comparing of many different children, teachers, parents, school's, and supplies, show very clearly that there is a very serious inequality in America's education system. Kozol leads on to say that one of the biggest problems is money, and that some districts simply don't have enough. This is because in many areas education is paid for by property taxes, and in some areas many families' properties are worth close to nothing. I think that money is a very huge part of this social inequality but that is simply not the only problem. Drugs in society and bad homes affect this also. Parents need to try harder to support there families, whether it be by means of income or by making sure that they are getting their work load accomplished. This would help but ultimately Kozol is correct, and the money distribution in our schools needs to be seriously revised. I personally think that having the money that goes to the schools should come from the federal level, so that everyone's education is equal. If this was to happen, then the chances of success would also be a lot closer to equal no matter what family one is born into.

I agree completely with most of everything that Kozol said. Something needs to be changed, and every child most have an equal chance in life and if nothing else, hope. Kozol is a very artistic and descriptive writer that makes the inequalities of education very present. He is very straight forward and honest in his findings. He doesn't let emotion or his personal feeling get in the way of his research or findings. This is a fantastic book that should be a reading requirement for every liberal arts college in the country. It changed some of my opinions and opened my eyes to a world that I was not fully aware of. Attending prep schools for most of my life, I was unaware of the educational inequalities of my own country. And this is sad because these educational inequalities lead to many other social inequalities at higher levels of life. Kozol wrote this book with a very open perspective on everything and was very far from being one sided or limited. If anything he wrote this as somewhat of an observer.

Jonathan Kozol broaches the significant issue of the inconsistencies that exist in public schools across the country. He examines 2 possible causes: race and economics. Prior to reading Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities, I believed that economics and race played an equal role in the reason why predominately white schools were always better than black schools. However, after reading Kozol's piece on education in America, I was swayed to believe that race is the primary reason for inequalities in schooling for black and white in children in America.

I enjoyed Kozol's take on public education in America because he highlighted cities with poor schools systems that I would never think had problems with their public education systems. For instance, I was shocked when I read about the school system in East St. Louis. It seemed like the government cared more about putting money into East St. Louis so that they could sell it to white families rather than for bettering the failing school system. It was situations like this that made me think that one can have all the money in the world and everyone could be on the same economic status, but race is always the bottom line.

The chapter that struck me the most was the chapter that addresses New York public schools. When most people think of poor schooling in New York, they automatically speak of New York City, but I was glad that he wrote about the schools in Long Island as well. I am from Long Island, New York, and when most people hear of Long Island they think of the suburbs and the affluent houses of the Hamptons. However, I had to attend Catholic school for elementary and high school because my school system was so poor. If you do not live in a neighborhood like Roslyn, Manhasset, or Garden City, you are forced to attend Catholic School or the poor public school in your neighborhood.

Additionally, the segment of the book when Kozol interviewed students from Rye, New York was interesting. Some of the students felt like if they gave some money to some of the poorer schools like those in the South Bronx or Roosevelt, Long Island then opportunities would be taken away from them. I believe that this is the attitude of many people in America. A student from that same high school in Rye made a valid point when he said, "Put more money into preschool, kindergarten, elementary years. Pay college kids to tutor inner-city children. Get rid of the property tax, which is too uneven, and use income taxes to support these schools. Pay teachers more to work in places like the Bronx."

Do the haves in America really want to create equality in schools and give more opportunity to the have nots? Just think, if resources were distributed equitably in America, who would work at your local McDonald's or pick up your trash? America was built on inequality, and it is a country that is based on a means of achieving the "American Dream" that is limited to many.

I believe that inequality still exists in today's public schools because the majority in America subconsciously wants this unfairness in schooling. Knowledge is power, and in America, power has always been given to a select few. Kozol greatly highlights this in his book.

Brendan Asaff

Sociology

Gibbons

Jonathan Kozol's book, Savage Inequalities, is a shocking and realistic account of the unbearable conditions that exist during the late eighties and early nineties in the public school districts of six major cities. St. Louis, Chicago, New York, Camden, Washington, DC and San Antonio are all visited by the author, as he juxtaposes the area's poorest and wealthiest schools. The novel delves into the underlying reasons behind the disparity in educational services, attributing most all of the differences to the surrounding socio-economic environments and the general dispositions of the cities' inhabitants.

At the very start of the book, Kozol plunges the reader into a foreign world of poverty, disease, and hardship. Incredibly, no, this is not a third world country, it is East St. Louis, Illinois. The author does a wonderful job grabbing the reader's attention before rendering him speechless, as the dire living and schooling conditions of this city's population are scrawled on the page. As the chapter and the rest of the book proceed, Kozol makes it alarmingly evident that, although segregation in schools was outlawed decades earlier, it is still prevalent all over the country. This is true, he claims, for a number of different, but intertwined reasons.

One of the major reasons for the differences in schools all over the country (and in the same districts) has to do with the raw monetary economic situations of the residents. Kozol's point here is that there will never be equality in education if in New York, for example, the average expenditures per student were around $5,500, while the highest funding per student peaked at nearly $15,000 (Kozol, 84). The difference here is astounding, while the data does not even mention what the lowest end of the funding spectrum is, and only refers to the average. The thousands of dollars difference can be seen in the buildings, faculty, supplies, and overall academic achievement between the low and high end of the recipients of the funding. Though Kozol himself states that "throwing money at the problem" is not the ultimate answer, he can't help but note the monetary differences between schools and the subsequent correlation of educational success (i.e. graduating and/or going on to higher education).

Another factor behind segregated schools and the deviation in education is the disposition of the inhabitants of the town (specifically that of the affluent). Kozol conveys a general feeling of separation that the wealthy citizens try to keep between themselves, their children, and the poorer districts. If the impoverished and wealthy children were integrated into the same school, the general feeling in the affluent community is that the standard of education would be brought down. This "unwanted" feeling that is given off permeates the poor and often black community and serves to undermine the pride that the children should have in their education.

In his book Kozol touches on many important facets of the educational system. Though his work and studies were done during the early nineties, many of his key points are still relevant in today's society. The compilation of statistics and the "muckraking" of the disparities and segregation in America's education system are invaluable components in the cause of correcting the problem. Kozol's only downfall is that he should have provided the reader with some suggestions on how to correct the problems that were being discussed. Instead of listing example after example of the differences in schools, it would have been prudent to offer ideas on how these differences could be fixed. However, Savage Inequalities is an excellent impetus to get the ball rolling in the direction of equal schooling for all children.

In his book, Savage Inequalities, Jonathan Kozol reveals the harsh realities of the state of America's public schools during the 90s, and there is an underlying sentiment that this state continues today. Through his description of the vast differences between affluent schools in affluent neighborhoods like New Trier in Glencoe, Illinois and deplorable schools in economically disadvantaged communities such as Du Sable High in Chicago, Kozol aims at pointing out the unfairness that exists in the U.S. education system and the irony of this unfairness given the rhetoric of equal opportunity that is often used in reference to chances for upward mobility in U.S. society. His examination seems to prove that as it stands now, schools in low-income communities are unfairly unable to provide their students with a sufficient level of education and thus, he calls for a change in the way in which resources are provided to U.S. public schools.

Kozol compares the conditions of several schools in affluent suburban neighborhoods, rural towns and the inner-city. His descriptions of the vast inequality in resources provided to the students in these schools act as eye-openers to the reader who is unaware of just how much difference lies between public schools. The state-of-the art science program with greenhouses for instance, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, is compared to the tile-less roof of a science class lacking adequate equipment to perform experiments in Camden. The uncomfortable detail in this situation is that the two schools described are merely a five minute drive away from each other. In books such as this, critics often argue that many problems are enumerated but no solutions are offered. Kozol recognizes that his proposal of equal resource allocation has been repeatedly refused by affluent communities through his interviews with students who point out to him that sharing funds with less-advantaged schools holds no benefit for them, their school or their community and thus in their eyes, should not be done.

Although this book was an extremely insightful read and without a doubt should be read by every parent, teacher, principal and official involved in the U.S. public schools, I felt that Kozol could have been more efficient if he included, with his critique of the inequality in U.S. public schools, a detailed examination of how the poor conditions of public schools in poor areas does in fact impact affluent communities, in an attempt to bring the harsh realities of poorer public schools to the doorsteps of their affluent neighbors who have greater resources and are thus better able to affect change. Even absent this needed connection between poor conditions of poorer schools and more affluent ones, Kozol does an excellent job in contrasting the two worlds that exist in the U.S. public school system.

The film Children in America's Schools which is based on Kozol's book presents startling visual representations of the author's words and once again brings home the idea that something must be done to come closer to equalizing the level of education offered to students in U.S. public schools in order to match the rhetoric of equal opportunity in society. Kozol's book is an informative read and will definitely change the way you think about U.S. public schools and the notion of equality in general in U.S. society.

John Kozol's compelling novel, Savage Inequalities, presents an eye-opening and painfully emotional account of the situation of inequality that is present in our American public education system. He focuses on areas throughout the country which have public schools from low-income and high-income areas within a few miles of one another. This juxtaposition highlights the severe inequality which is rampant in some of our nation's greatest cities.

Kozol focuses a great deal on the lack of monetary funds which are present in the low-income areas of our country. Although some people like to dispute the idea that money is a factor in good schools, Kozol points out this harsh reality by providing such data: in Illinois, only $2,100 is spent on a child from the poorest areas while more than $10, 000 can be spent in the state's richest districts. This disparity in funds per pupil is obviously going to have an influence on the quality of administration, teachers, resources, and even the infrastructure of the building. However, Kozol points out the hypocrisy and ridiculousness of these inequalities due to the laws which require all children to be enrolled in school: "Unless we have the wealth to pay for private education, we are compelled by law to go to public school - and to the public school in our district. Thus the state, by requiring attendance but refusing to require equity, effectively requires inequality". If the system forces every child to be a student, than they better have the adequate funds to require the same basic education for every individual!

Kozol writes how the lack of pride that our nation takes in our school system is not lost on our children. If anything, it is highlighted in the low-income areas where the ceiling is leaking and classrooms may go through four different teachers in one year. The "Land of Opportunity" and the "American Dream" do not exist for these students: "when I came to America, they said you know, `This is the place of opportunity.' I'd been through the war. Through all of that. And now I'm here, and.....". Kozol speaks about a disillusionment and distance that is seen in the eyes of these underprivileged children. They begin elementary school with an abundance of confidence and enthusiasm for school and throughout the years it tapers off dramatically. But, realistically, who can blame them? How can one put their troubles aside and be expected to succeed in a school, community, society, where everyone seems to be beating them down. Is it fair that the academic difficulties in one life are dictated by income?

In my eyes, Kozol's book is meant to awaken Americans to this grave problem that we are facing in American public schools. His method of doing so is by providing many stark contrasts between affluent and poor schools across the country. These contrasts may seem to be the extreme, but due to the fact that Kozol has cited so many examples is evidence that this problem has gone too far and must be acted upon immediately. The implications for our future will be dire if we are being led by a generation who has not been granted an adequate education.

Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities is a disturbing and poignant account of the inequalities that pervade America's public schools. Kozol visits school districts in six cities, St. Louis, Chicago, New York, Camden, Washington, DC and San Antonio, and discovers alarming disparities between the wealthy and poor districts, often separated by only a few miles. The book explores the contrasting educational opportunities and the impact of the environment on children attending the poorer schools.

Savage Inequalities is a page-turner. Kozol's words and writing style create vivid images in the reader's mind that will not be soon forgotten. The book is comprised of Kozol's own observations, interviews with teachers, parents and students, and unsettling statistics on education funding and dropout rates. Through the repetitive nature and the candid juxtaposition of affluent and underprivileged schools, the reader is exposed to the drastic inadequacies of America's education system.

Throughout the book, Kozol illustrates several compelling points regarding education inequalities. Although money will not eradicate all of the disparities of public schools, it will significantly help. In 1989, Camden, New Jersey annually spent $3,538 per student while the nearby district of Princeton spent almost twice as much. The low financial allocation per student is evident in the dilapidated buildings and the lack of school supplies and computers. Kozol also illustrates the devastating effect of poor schools on the children who attend them. These students are aware that they are unfairly "locked at a very early age into the slots that are regarded as appropriate to their societal position" based on where they live, and that other children elsewhere have many more educational opportunities (Kozol 76). Although Kozol acknowledges additional cultural and economic factors that contribute to these inequalities, he continually asserts that education should offer children that which is otherwise not available to them outside the school doors. The piece is also a commentary on racial segregation and the role school districts play in the perpetuation of racially divided learning environments. Kozol believes that racial integration of public schools is a vital step to end the inequalities that plague America's schools.

Savage Inequalities paints a compelling and vivid portrait of the unequal attributes that inhibit growth of America's schools. Kozol opens our eyes to an often ignored, tragic flaw in our education system that requires immediate attention in order to prevent negative implications in the future.

In his novel, Savage Inequalities, Jonathan Kozol provides a shocking chronicle of America's public school system in the late 80s/early 90s. With both an intense passion and an objective eye, he takes us through America's most horrific school districts, and their wealthy counterparts. The novel is split into chapters according to geographic location, which helps the reader understand the material more clearly. Because of this organization, we see that the disease in our public schools is not just limited to a specific region-it is a nationwide epidemic. Stylistically, Kozol writes with precision, and has a skill for crafting sentences that hit the reader deep within. He deftly combines facts, interviews and opinions-a moving combination. He presents the material objectively, and complements it with incisive analysis. The style allows the reader to be pulled into each story, without any overly romantic language.

This book, in my opinion, is vital for anyone to read who has been through America's education system. It will inspire anger, shame, sadness and perhaps a feeling of helplessness in whoever dares to read it. In a time when America's attention is across the ocean, this book seems essential because it commands awareness about the problems at home. Education should be the building block of a country, but this novel shows that our system is in shambles. As I read the book, I confess feeling guilty about my education-something that we are entitled to, but obviously don't receive equally.

Savage Inequalities uncovers a topic that we like to cast aside, and slices it open for us to see. Kozol presents the social, economic and racial aspects of this crisis-from the children who live through it, and the administrators who are stuck watching. The book is an excellent presentation of the topic at hand, and Kozol explores it with a critical eye. The author seems to appreciate the starling complexity of the issue, expressing its possible causes and the failed attempts at a solution. What is also disheartening to note is that this novel takes place almost a decade ago, and the system is not yet close to being remedied.

This is the sort of novel that begs to be discussed and debated with fervor. Overall, this book was a deeply interesting and compelling read. I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to be deeply moved while expanding their knowledge about American education.

Reading Kozol's Savage Inequalities didn't really open my eyes to the problems of America's public schools, but made sure that I realized that these problems occur in every part of the country. Growing up next to one of the worst school districts in New York's Long Island, I understood the lack of proper education and poor/failing test grades, but didn't realize how important the school environment was in developing a child's intelligence.

I appreciate the effort and time taken by Kozol to do the research and uncover these horrific and down right unnecessary school environments. It doesn't make any sense to me, why anyone should be able to even write a book about the poor quality of American schools. In a society where millions of dollars are spent on meaningless things and what seems to be the advancement of particular classes or individuals, it makes it hard to be proud to say I have a proper American education.

I also feel terrified at the situation that took place in the mid-eighties with not only the school system in East St. Louis, but the city itself. The terror felt comes from the fact that this is still occurring twenty years later, in this same country, and most likely in the same areas. Just thinking of the kids playing in playgrounds that most likely contained millions of different ways to cause cancer was just appalling to read. I think it's clear that Kozol is disappointed with the way America treats its children and also understands the still evident segregation haunting this country.

Again I show my appreciation to the work put forth by Kozol. His concern for other people's children puts him at a level far greater than those individuals who feel no connection to anyone but themselves. The necessity of individuals, who understand that their children really aren't the only ones that matter, even though they are most likely more important to them, is essential to providing a better educational standard and environment for this nation's future. I would like to say I hope that this book has opened up the eyes of the policy makers and political leaders of our time, but since it has been over ten years since it was published it clearly has not made overpowering impact. It may have caused a number of changes throughout, but there is still more that can and must be done, in order to give every child a chance.

Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities is an eye-opening, in your face account of the too-often overlooked state of education today. The book dramatically describes some of the worst school and neighborhood conditions imaginable. These are towns where chemical waste and sewage regularly floods and cancels school, where eleven classes are crammed into a gymnasium and the government looks the other way. Kozol goes on to illustrate that these are not isolated schools, but that they are all over the country.

The book is divided into six chapters that cover schools across the nation. East St. Louis, Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Washington, DC and San Antonio are all reviewed in these chapters. Kozol focuses on per student spending in the poor, usually black schools in these cities compared with the spending of the affluent white schools. He explains how the poor neighborhoods with a lower tax base cannot raise enough money to fund their schools and any government money they receive goes towards repairing the crumbling buildings rather than towards books, supplies or teacher salaries. In just the first chapter it becomes particularly clear that segregation is still prevalent in the U.S. and no one is doing anything to stop it.

There are heart-wrenching accounts of the children in these schools and the innocent optimism of the very young students who live in these conditions. Kozol reveals the tragic effect of their situation by comparing them to the older students and shows how their view of the world becomes jaded as they come to realize the inequality and cruelty of society.

As you read the book, the shock eventually wears off and the horror sets in. You realize that this is far more common than we are led to believe. In fact, we may be raising a generation of poverty and pain; a generation that sees everything they are not allowed to have and the selfishness and apathy of those who do have it. This book is a must read for anyone who thinks America is the "land of dreams and equal opportunities." It takes a harsh, but much needed look at the truth of the education system and society in general.

I am a veteran teacher from "inner city" schools, and found this book very mixed. Kozol's biggest point is that these schools are woefully under-funded (agreed), and that this adversely affects the education the students are receiving (agreed). Kozol calls for equal funding (agreed) and integration as needed (a minefield perhaps, but it might help).

So where does the author miss? Kozol naively avoids (or evades) the role of discipline and effort on the part of the students and their families - and how too often these are lacking among poor, and particularly poor minority students. There is a reason that certain groups - Nigerians, Koreans, Jews - tend to kick butt academically even in troubled and under-funded schools. I taught a definite handful of Nigerian immigrants and they were almost without exception the most focused and serious students. Kozol missed this or avoided this, because it doesn't strengthen his victim advocacy.

Jefferson once wrote, "This [bill] on education would [raise] the mass of the people to the high ground of moral respectability necessary to their own safety and to orderly government, and would [complete] the great object of qualifying them to secure the veritable aristoi for the trusts of government, to the exclusion of the pseudalists... I have great hope that some patriotic spirit will... call it up and make it the keystone of the arch of our government." He championed a public education system so that the people could have custody of their government. The great democracy would have a population where any single citizen would have the ability to take the reigns as they saw fit.
Kozol goes far to point out the disservice we are doing to Jefferson's idea and to the children of this country (U.S.A.). We are so wrapped up in "saving" money, that we are willing to sacrifice the children of the poor so that we can continue on in our own comfort. It has reached the point where some schools now teach "job skills" (typing, shop, etc.) to the children of the lower class. The only message this conveys is to tell them that this is all they're good for.
The book goes even further and examines every concievable excuse for this disparity. For those who believe that the current system of education in this country is fair and equitable, this book will show you that it is anything but.

I loved reading Jonathan Kozol's book becasue he exposed the truths about the public school system. I have experinced public education in two drasticly different enviornments; one being white and rich, the other poor and made up of minorities. This is a good book for those who have only seen one side of the public school system, this book should open their eyes to many important isses. It amazes me how public education can be so different. Kozol is fair in reporting his information, which still holds true today. At times the book was very hard to read because the facts are so horendous. To think of the conditions that some children are forced to live, and learn in, is truely depressing. Kozol focus on a few schools on the east coast, and elaborates on them. I thought the book might be more interesting if he widened his search by including more schools from differnt areas of the U.S., so that I could compare them to eachother. At times the book seemed a bit repetitive hearing simular statistics throughout the book. But the intenstity of the issues he speaks about is what kept me interested. What I was reading made me so mad and worked up so many emotions in me, I wanted to keep reading. After reading the book I wanted to go out and help all of these poor children. After reading this book you will want to make a difference, you will want to try to make things fair for the underprivileged; anything that motovates you to make a difference is a good thing. The reading was fairly easy, the lanugae is simple and easy to follow. I would recommend this book to anyone. Education is an topic that everyone can relate to, so I think that many people will find it intersting.

An in-your-face exposure of the American Education System, this book reveals the denial and bigotry of the upper echelon of society. The unfairness and lack of concern for equal education and the distribution of resources are revealed as acceptable and unchangeable in today's society. The inequalities are described and supported not only by Kozol, but also by students, parents and educators. Kozol's novel uncovers these inequalities with much illustrative detail in various communities. The descriptions of some of the environments of these schools are absolutely appalling. Kozol reveals low-income communities where the American Education System has not left the past behind - instead, it is dragging it along.

In his book Savage Inequalities, Jonathan Kozol raises many thought provoking questions for his readers as he describes the inequalities and injustices in the American public school system. Jonathan Kozol successfully paints a picture of the severe inequalities in a public school education for students who attend public schools in rich districts versus those who must attend schools in poorer districts. He vividly describes dilapidated and poverty stricken schools in East Saint Louis, New York, Chicago, Camden, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and San Antonio, Texas. As he guides his readers through these schools, we find that many of these urban schools are falling apart, hazardous, inadequate, and are barely functional. Through the words and eyes of the children who are forced to attend these inferior schools, Kozol brings these children experiences to life within these pages. Although these urban kids are not similar in racial, economic, or social background to students who attend better schools, Kozol shows his readers that these kids have hopes, dreams, and desires similar to those kids who attend better schools in rich and affluent areas. However, urban kids, growing up in poverty and also attending dilapidated schools across America, face many obstacles when trying to reach their dreams, hopes, and desires. For many urban and rural Black and Latino children, a public school education only acts as a roadblock to one's advancement when compared to the many social opportunities, benefits, and mobility given to children who attend affluent and wealthy schools. The parents of urban children want the same opportunities, resources, and quality just like middle/upper-class parents.

Because of their parents' socioeconomic status, many urban Black and Latino children attend schools situated in ghettos and urban slums that have overcrowded classes, lack science labs & computer equipment, lack qualified teachers, lack space, and finally also lack sufficient educational resources and materials for their students. For instance, in East St. Louis, Kozol writes of the nonexistence of science equipment and a limited budget that prevents the school from fixing sewage problems and plumbing issues. However, Kozol then describes affluent schools in Chicago, like New Trier High, where students have well-paid and qualified teachers, newly remodeled facilities, extensive computer laboratories and science labs, and a library equipped with many books and educational resources. Entering these high-performing schools, one walks away from the school knowing that these white children are being well-trained to compete for spots at Ivy-League institutions (only among themselves and not outside this elite circle) and will ultimately in the future be at the high-end of the social totem pole. But walking away from an urban run down school, we are left with a different picture. Kozol points out that these Black and Latino children are being set up to fail as students and citizens in society. A public school education has only increased an urban child's chances of having a future characterized with social dependency, social struggle, and subjugation.

These clear and vivid images of the inequalities of an education for poor and rich children reveal that an American public school education only oppresses urban and rural Latino and Black children while uplifting white middle/upper-class children. Therefore as Kozol so chillingly articulates, a segregated and unequal education in America only perpetuates this idea that poor urban and rural Latino and Black children's education is not worth the same investment as a white affluent child (who must maintain all the social wealth, elite social status, and capital). Thus, he links the inequalities of an education for urban and rural children to overt racism. In so doing, he shows his readers how the structures of an American public school education in poor communities correlate to the high dropout rate and imprisonment of many urban Black and Latino children.

Through inadequate funding for poorer districts, Kozol further illustrates how racism, racial segregation, and racial inequality are embedded within the structures of an American public school education. Kozol argues that poor communities (made up of mostly Latino/Black children) will ultimately receive less money per pupil because of the tax on local property. Poor communities compared to affluent communities have a lower value of tax placed on their homes and local industries and also generate less tax revenue. As a result, these communities will ultimately have less money to spend on each pupil even when state and federal resources are combined. Therefore, this federal policy, outlining the methodology for financing a public education, only supports substandard and disproportionate amount of funding given to poorer districts versus the amount given to wealthier districts. Kozol thus quite clearly prove how the current educational system and practices only perpetuate racial segregation, inequality, and racism of children who belong to disadvantaged groups in society. Savage Inequalities demonstrates the importance of equitable funding and a desegregated education for all children. A quality education offers every child access to knowledge, social mobility, and cultural capital in order for them to function as product citizens in society. Kozol makes sure that the importance of a fair, equitable, and desegregated education is not understated within his text.

Although Kozol's argument is compelling, I believe there is a problem with Savage Inequalities. In my opinion, it fails to demonstrate successfully how this idea of a fair, equitable, and desegregated education can realistically be achieved. I believe the heart of the problem is not just funding, but a variety of components that affect the performance and achievement of Black and Latino children. I wish Kozol would have not focused so much on one aspect of the problem of a public school education in America. He fails to look beyond the educational system and analyze how the conditions of the communities, psychological, and societal issues also exacerbate the problems within the schools.

Kozol paints a very sad picture of public schools in America, which lack the necessary funding to educate their children and provide them with the necessary training to lead productive and fulfilling lives. How do we ultimately close the educational and achievement gap of poor Black and Latino children versus their counterparts in affluent districts? How do we as a country dismantle an educational system that only reinforces oppression, segregation, and racism? And most importantly, what do we do now to help these kids who are struggling within these failing and lower funded schools? In my opinion because many questions were left unanswered, Kozol only opens the door for discourse and gives his readers real images of urban children who are literally trapped in ghetto schools across the United States. Kozol establishes a problem, but fails to offer practical solutions. He sadly then ends his book leaving many of his readers (including me) wanting to know-what can we do, how do we go about solving the problem, is this situation hopeless, and will this ever change?

Jonathan Kozol's provocative book Savage Inequalities is a graphic display of the astounding contrasts that exist within the public school system. The author takes us on a tour through some of the most dilapidated schools in the nation as well as their wealthy counterparts, which are often located strikingly close to each other. He exposes us to the crumbling school buildings that are unfortunately the environment that many American children find themselves in day after day. The harsh realities of these kids' lives do not include the basic needs required for a chance at an education, let alone a healthy lifestyle.

One of the main focuses of the book is the sad state of the actual accommodations of the schools. Many of the struggling inner city schools are overcrowded as kids are forced to attend class in basements and other inadequate spaces. They lack sufficient funds to fix heating systems and cafeteria appliances. Kozol's analysis of school funding shows that a system based on property taxes is fundamentally flawed and that poor areas will always be a major disadvantage. The circular nature of the problem ensures that the disparity between poor and affluent areas will be perpetually widened. There is a continuous debate over where the real problem lies; whether it is lack of money or the surrounding environment of the community and its values. Kozol makes a case for both of these, but tends to focus on the amount of money allocated per pupil in various school systems. In some areas the difference is revealed to be upwards of $5,000.

Kozol's presentation explains the existence and continuity of the problems that plague the poor. Children who begin on this path are at such an extreme disadvantage from the beginning of their academic career that any possibility for their success becomes buried by politicians and administrations and eventually children themselves. Often, the community does not offer any sort of support system for kids to fall back on. Kozol allows children to speak for themselves on these issues. His main point is that these kids are aware of their situation and their acknowledgment of this problem coupled with the fact that they are incapable of changing it, often leads a sense of despair. The drop out rates no longer seem so appalling after one hears a child question who really cares for them. This is unfortunate, for he portrays many of the younger children especially as quite energetic and optimistic despite such unbelievable conditions.

Kozol's work leads to many questions that are extremely complex and difficult to even approach. The Unites States trumps itself as a nation that is built on liberty and equality, yet it clearly can't manage both at the same time. There is also a conflict of interest among the poor and the wealthy that creates a different value system. Clearly, education is not going to be the top priority if one has to worry about where the day's meals are going to come from. The point that Kozol brings up is that the general concern for our nation's children that should exist does not. Most people are willing to do whatever they can for their children yet refuse to sacrifice for those who are not as well off. Perhaps this is a product of America's triumphant individualist spirit. In any case, the questions that Kozol proposes are provocative and instrumental in discussing and detailing the issues at hand, yet the conclusion of the book yields no solid solution. It does serve, however, as a wake up call and lends some insight into the numerous fields that must be reformed in order to even attempt to advance towards a better structure of schooling.

Kozol's Savage Inequalities presents a laundry list of appalling indictments of the level of economic disparity and discrimination in America today; a convincing rebuttal to those who would argue that true progress has been made since Brown v. Kansas Board of Education. The schools that he describes may at first shock the reader but as each new school is visited only to encounter the same horrible conditions this can turn to depression for the reader. Kozol is clear about the causes of these rundown, and even ramshackle, schools, inadequate textbooks, and dispirited teachers. To him, it is a case of both institutional racism and personal apathy, but this intellectual and pragmatic approach does little to provide an emotionally comprehensible answer to the reader.

This book is simultaneously fascinating and appalling in an extremely visceral way. It is eminently readable; written in clear and concise language. Kozol does not have to doll up his message at all; in fact the stark prose serves to shove the sickening nature of these schools into the reader's face. When he describes windowless rooms that amount to closets packed to the brim 40 children, outdated library books piled in the corner of the cafeteria gathered dust and mold because the library is being used to hold two or three classes at the same time, or holes in ceilings of schools that leak water and snow on the children, one cannot help but to wonder what "America" these children are living in.

These conditions cannot be excused through ignorance; Kozol establishes this through his frequent quoting of exposés from major newspapers across the country. Quite to the contrary, however, he faults the media in cases for providing convenient excuses hand in hand with reports of the toxic conditions present in poor schools. When the Wall Street Journal, for example, claims that reducing class size by three students would not make an appreciable difference, Kozol responds in the only reasonable manner. Why not lower the class size drastically then? To simply say that easily made changes are ineffectual and that therefore no changes should be made at all is clearly a contortion of logic of horrendous proportions.

Kozol's best moments, however, come when he is comparing schools that lie in close proximity to each other, but in entirely different worlds at the same time. Due to the extremely local nature of education policy and its economic base in local property taxes, schools that may only be a few miles or even blocks apart can be radically different in nature and impact if they lie in different neighborhoods filled with people of different socioeconomic status. In these cases, Kozol's question is always the same. If the rich, white parents in the affluent neighborhoods are as egalitarian and anti-racism as they claim to be, then why do they not allow their children to intermingle in schools with the children of poorer families? Why not bring less advantaged children into their beautiful school in their beautiful neighborhood, why not confer on them these most important of benefits? Does the answer lie in an unconscious, or at least unacknowledged, racial prejudice, or are these inequalities simply more indicative of color-blind, economic self-interest? Kozol has his answers, but more importantly, he has the pressing facts contained in this book. This work is perhaps capable of being ignored, but the conditions that it describes will forcefully and violently demand our attention in the future if we choose to avoid the reality of the failure of education as an egalitarian institution in the United States of America.

Jonothan Kozol paints a disturbing picture of reality for many children in America in the 1980s in Savage Inequalities. He describes the true harsh differences between the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich for public schools at the time. The distinctions are black and white- and there appears to be no way to change the situation for the poor children. In several cities including East St. Louis, New York, Chicago, Camden, New Jersey, Washington D.C., and San Antonio, we find the urban schools to be literally falling apart and hardly functional. Children suffer from leaky roofs, coal dust, lack of restrooms, mold, and various other hardships as they attempt to learn the same materials those in new modern buildings with the high-tech science equipment, art supplies, and good food are learning. The poor children live simply live in the wrong neighborhood and have the wrong parents when it comes down to it.

Those who live in the suburban affluent neighborhoods have the high property taxes, which support the nice, modern, good public schools. However, the poor children from the urban areas with lower property taxes attend much poorer schools. The children may have the same dreams and potential; however, that will soon be changed through years of separate and unequal schooling. The schools are still very separate in terms of race because of the simple reason of demographics. The minorities mainly live in the poorer urban areas, and thus will attend those schools; whereas, the wealthier, mainly white children live in the nicer suburban areas and thus attend those schools, and the two worlds are kept completely separate. Not only is education kept separate, the poor black children in East St. Louis, for example, must endure years of living in ridiculous proximity to hazardous waste, struggling to survive. If a child makes it through high school without dying from cancer, getting shot, or pregnant, they should be awarded something, but instead they have gotten a mediocre- if that- education, and have a low chance of getting into college. Thus, schooling is far from where we think it is today in America.

The education system; however, is simply a reflection of society and how we as a country view children. They are separate and unequal in terms of what they will provide our society one day, and thus this is how they are treated. Through the first hand knowledge gained from Kozol's descriptions, one may desire a change in our education system, but until those in the predominantly white and wealthy suburban schools are affected, and the "haves" wish a change to occur, nothing significant will be done. The severe distinction between the schools is black and white, and this serves some purpose for society, or it would not still be so. One child from Rye proposed an idea for change, when he said society should use income taxes as opposed to property taxes to equate the schools. He made a few other suggestions as well; however, this one really struck me as a major change, which would make a difference. Too many like the system the way it is because it is working for them and their children, so unless people can agree children really should grow up with equal and integrated schools and opportunities- this change will not even be considered.

Sounds melodramatic, I know, but it's true. I teach high school in Boston, and perhaps I would have become a teacher without reading this book, but it is hard to imagine. Kozol is an incredible writer. I beleive his greatest gift lies in his ability not only to describe the direct impact policy has on the lives of individuals, but in his ability to convey a true sense of urgency about social proplems that compels a reader to act and create change. I am so thankful that I have had the books of Jonathan Kozol to guide me over the years in my journey to becoming an urban educator.

Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities shines the light on America's public school system. He shows the world what students in underserved communities really went through every day and how we had given up on the education of our future generation. Kozol is able to prove that America's Promise is nothing but a faulty, unachievable and intangible idea.
As a teacher, Goldberg has a credible argument; however he is mistaken with some of his views. He argues that Kozol fails to mention the fact that there are other issues besides poverty going on in the lives of these students. I believe Kozol and Goldberg differ on this view because Goldberg argues that these issues, along with everything else, cause students to do poorly in school while Kozol, I believe, argues that those are the consequences of underserved education. Both have credible arguments however Kozol does mention outside issues throughout the book. "You can take them out of the environment, but you can't take the environment out of them" (Kozol 127). He does not dance around the fact that the majority of these children have many underlying issues going on in their home.
Kozol does am amazing job of making his audience feel angry toward the school systems and sympathetic towards the children. "We have a school in East St. Louis named for Dr. King. The school is full of sewer water and the doors are locked with chains. Every student in that school is black. It's like a terrible joke on history" (Kozol 35). Knowing who that fourteen-year-old is and knowing her story makes that quote extremely powerful. This book is full of personal stories, especially from young children, who are forced to live in a deprived atmosphere but have no choice but to deal with it until they drop out because of pregnancies or drugs. The tone of many in this book is that those children have no future anyway, and are just waiting to be another statistic.
Although Kozol is able to connect with his audience, Goldberg is correct in saying that Kozol misleads the reader into thinking the solution is more funding for these schools. I believe Kozol missed a great opportunity because he is able to make the readers want to do something about this injustice; to stand up and take action; but he is not able to direct them to the resources they would need to make that possible. Money is still money, and extremely important for any school, but he does not mention other ways to get involved.
I do, however, commend Kozol for writing such an influential book. Because of his book, there are so many people who are able to do something about the injustices. If it was not for this book, I would not have known most of the schools mentioned even existed. Kozol provided us with a great stepping stone and an even greater initiative to take action about the prejudice and inequality that was going on in America's schools.

Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol is a book you will hate to read but will not be able to put down. Mr. Kozol brings to light the many discrepancies in the funding of our Public School Systems. These discrepancies seem to be over looked not only because of the schools' geographical location but also because of the population they serve. Through six chapters the reader is taken through the United States and shown areas you never knew existed or could have ever believed existed in one of the richest nations in the world. You could understand these conditions happening in 3rd world countries but never in a powerful industrialized nation such as the United States of America.
Jonathan Kozol will introduce you to children who are able see the difference between their schools and those of their middle and upper class neighbors. And yet, these children are not able to understand why. As a reader, you can only share in each child's confusion about why this is allowed to happen to children who have done nothing in their lives to deserve such treatment. The neglect, the filth, and the apathy Mr. Kozol introduces us to inside our children's elementary schools is staggering. However, the mere fact that the school districts, the states and even our country allows this to continue is beyond imagination.
As a teacher, I have heard our problems in education have many causes. One of these causes is believed to be the lack of support many of us find with our children's parents. And yet, if these parents have been educated in conditions such as these, or even somewhat similar conditions, is their any reason to believe they would choose to support education?
I believe this book should be mandatory reading for all educators, law enforcement officers, prison guards, lawyers, judges, psychologist, social workers and most of all, for every education minded politician.
As Mr. Kozol reminded me, every morning, in every state, in every classroom around America we pledge..."with liberty and justice for all". Is this a question or a statement?

Jonathan Kozol exposes the inequalities in our public educational system in America today. Does the American dream truly exist for all Americans? I think not according to Kozol's in depth argument. Racism and class are at the root of such great disparities and atrocities. While the middle class to rich are enjoying an excellence in education with buildings adequate to house the pupils, reasonable class sizes, fairly paid teachers, supplies for labs and textbooks for each child, the poor on the other hand are not. They are barely surviving in dilapidated buildings with broken down systems from sewage to heating, inadequate supplies, if any, for labs and classrooms without textbooks. These nonwhite poor students of America are living in oppression without much hope for change. Kozol discusses the effects of segregation on our children, the effects of those who have and those who have not. All the while, the students are painfully aware of the differences. Violence and crime on the rise due to the hopelessness in their futures. The inefficiencies of jurisdiction from the local districts, to the state and to federal level of legislation/mandates keeps the educational system from making substantial changes to provide what these children need. Money being a big player. This book will open your eyes to injustices and stimulate your mind to action.

Jonathan Kozol is adept at making his readers uncomfortable. Savage Inequalities is not a book to read at bedtime if you desire a peaceful night's sleep. But that's a good thing, because too many of us need to be awakened to the stark realities of the public school systems in communities such as East St. Louis, Camden, and the Bronx.
Kozol combines concrete data with heart-wrenching commentary on the hopeless conditions facing children in neglected communities. He details the system which seems to insure the widening of the great divide between the privileged school districts of the suburbs and the criminally depleted urban school districts.
In Savage Inequalities, Kozol quotes a parent commenting on how the schools reflect their communities: "[it's] as if the duty of the school were to prepare a child for the life he's born to.... It hardly seems fair."
There is no fairness, and Kozol has accurately painted a fair picture of this. We've wasted too many innocent, promising lives, and will continue do so if we don't have schools capable of delivering hope to children in our suffering urban neighborhoods.

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.

Jonathan Kozol writes a striking and chilling report on the dangerous disparity between the richest public schools and those in the poorest districts of the United States in his work, Savage Inequalities. Kozol, a teacher actively involved in schools across the nation, colorfully and truthfully paints the harsh picture of the severe gap in public education. Written in 1991 following three years of researching the American public school system, he not only discusses the blatant effects of unequal distribution of federal and state funds, he delves into and identifies the underlying factors of race, socio-economic class, and family structures in a capitalistic society. Kozol steers the reader through several different American public schools, interviewing and relating the stories of the students and teachers caught under the crushing weight of a failing school system. These people within the public school system all hope for success, yet many fail to reach their full potential, as they are unfairly held under by an organization that benefits only a small minority - the affluent members of society.

The inequalities are illustrated when Kozol enters some of the poorest school districts the nation: East St. Louis, New York, Chicago, Washington, DC, San Antonio and Camden, New Jersey. Not only are the buildings lacking, but the resources and programs within the schools are failing to encourage and support the learning process. Roofs are leaky, heating and cooling systems are broken, and the plumbing needs to be repaired. Schools are overcrowded, classrooms are lacking in supplies, and textbooks are out of date and have to be shared by groups of students. Kozol contrasts these schools with those in affluent areas such as in Long Island and the upper-class neighborhoods in Chicago. Here the buildings are maintained and the students have access to fully-stacked libraries, computer labs, auditoriums, and cafeterias. The programs in these schools are also expanded, and many offer art and music classes, language programs, and extra-curricular activities. These students who are offered such programs are often those who succeed in the classroom and continue their education often to the highest levels. The students in the poor areas become disenchanted and disheartened by the lack of both financial and emotional involvement in their school districts. Because it seems very few people care about their success, even enough to fix the leaky roof, many drop out before the age of eighteen.

Kozol argues the reason many schools thrive while others collapse is due to the unequal distribution of funds. Property taxes fund the school districts, and in poorer districts there is less money flowing to the schools. In the richer areas, people are willing and able to pay these higher property taxes, and therefore more funds are distributed to the schools in that district. Per-pupil spending in lower-class districts can be as little as half of what is spent per pupil in upper-class areas. Kozol offers the example in Rye, New York. $12,000 is spent per pupil here while in other New York schools, less than $3,000 is spent (p. 133). Kozol intertwines the racial divide along these examples. Many of the poorer areas consist of a high population of black and Hispanic families. This lack in funding in the poor school districts only perpetuates the class and racial cleavages already severely apparent in society. Low performing schools only erase the already limited opportunities of the students in these districts.

Savage Inequalities pleads for equality in American schools. Kozol's work portrays a sad injustice imparted on the most innocent in society. However, while Kozol describes the sources of the problem, he offers very few solutions. Even without offering solutions, the book sheds light onto the poorest and the richest school districts in the United States. Kozol understands, and clearly states, that in order for students in poor areas to have to the same opportunities as those in affluent neighborhoods, equality in the school system must be met.

Kozol's powerful, impassionate writing masks a rather significant dearth of policy-oriented analysis. The reader comes away feeling very sorry for the schoolchildren who grow up in some of the impoverished urban communities that are profiled in the book, but is no wiser in understanding how to offer solutions to the urban educational disaster that plagues so many of them. We are told about dilapidated schools and school facilities, a lack of textbooks, educational materials, and science equipment, astonishing rates of crime, delinquency, and dropout rates, teen pregnancy, unworkable classroom sizes, unqualified teachers, and unequal rates of spending per student as compared to more affluent surrounding communities. As prose, the writing is lucid and moving, conveying a first-hand view of the struggles of so many of our children who, as the author indicates, are only to blame because they were born into poverty. That poverty and racism are interwoven strongly- for most of the students in the profiled communities are indeed minorities- is undoubtable. But Kozol takes one aspect of a largely intractable problem and generalizes to the point of making one truly feel that if we simply gave more money to schools, the problems would all largely disappear. In fact, Kozol devotes astonishingly little time to truly analyzing the sweeping problem of "mis"-education in urban schools, only briefly mentioning the lack of teacher preparedness (usually through an antagonistic tone, and as contrast to the better prepared teachers in affluent school districts, which he essentially argues is "unfair".). Nor does Kozol truly analyze the large amount of graft, corruption, and incompetence in local school districts which so often results in the squander of resources (and whenever such problems are mentioned, they are immediately sweeped under the large penumbra of poverty). Kozol takes it for granted that even though school funding in districts is indeed proportional to property tax rates (i.e. communities with expensive property yield more per pupil funding from taxes), this does not immediately necessitate that the only solution to the inequality is to equalize per pupil spending. Kozol argues that the "bare minimum" approach of so many local districts and states leaves many students unprepared. While this is true, it does not logically follow that discrepancies in funding between affluent and poor school districts causes the latter to achieve inadequate education. Kozol effectively creates a straw man in juxtaposing the wealthy communities with the poor ones, and uses emotional pleas to argue the "obvious" fact that money is what really matters, because money is what really separates the two communities. Yes, money does matter, and yes, more money does attract better teachers. But Kozol fails to bring forth data that shows that in many urban communities, per pupil spending has increased significantly while academic performance has lagged behind. And Kozol's suggestion that an "equalization" of school funding by taking some resources from the rich and giving to the poor as one solution (the "Robin Hood approach", as Kozol identifies it) not only borders on socialism, but practically suggests that government should be in the business of equality of outcome. In the last chapter, Kozol discusses briefly some Supreme Court cases on educational inequality, arguing that educational equality should be championed as much as racial equality; that education is, in effect, a Constitutional right. But whether or not one agrees with such an argument, this is really but another tangential argument designed to side-track from the book's major emphasis, which is that schools in urban communities are failing because they simply do not have enough money. Kozol has failed to substantiate that claim, offering only hints at what a lay reader might "feel" makes sense. But many times what "feels" right is not necessarily so. The implicit correlation between crime and poverty, and educational under-performance and truancy, makes logical sense. But the further implication that the solution to this problem is to increase funding does not logically follow, as emotionally appealing and powerful as it might be.

Kozol's Savage Inequalities paints a frightening picture of urban schools in the United States. He describes schools that are overcrowded, dilapidated, and flooded with sewage. He asks why we allow our children to go to schools in conditions where none of us would choose to work. He deeply explores the issue of inequality in funding. While he does suggest equalizing funding, he is careful to mention that the problems facing schools are complex and require innovative solutions. I know many teachers have read this book, but we need policymakers and elected officials to read it as well.