Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Conclusion

Reading "Savage Inequalities" has really opened my eyes to the disadvantages of low income schools. I have learned a lot about specific schools that Kozol wrote about, but mainly how unfair the education system really is to these students. The different situations that they have to deal with on a daily basis seems like it is way too much for a young child to handle; helping out a younger brother, working at a young age, or taking care of their family. Not only are they somewhat robbed of a childhood at home, but they are not given the educational opportunities that they should be given. I have also learned how important it is for me to understand their backgrounds and make adjustments where it will be needed. Making adjustments will also be important when I am placed in a school where they can't afford to buy enough books for each student. Although they have funding, it isn't nearly enough. Kozol has showed me that we still have a very segregated education system and not much is being done about it. It's unfortunate that these students are treated like they don't matter; by not providing them with proper materials, we tell them that they aren't important to us. This book has really made me see the areas that our education system needs to improve, but also has given me a challenge to try and help in any way that I can.

I still have a lot of questions about diverstiy after reading this book, honestly I think I may have more at this point. Is there a reason that this situation of inequality in funds is compeltely ignored? I don't understand how people aren't outraged at the disadvantages given to these students. Perhaps they are outraged, but they don't have enough of a voice to speak out loud enough for everyone to hear. Also, what can I do as a white teacher to make sure my students are comfortable with me? I don't want them to think I'm there to judge them in any way, I hope that I can exemplify that through the way I interact with them. My main question is, what can I do to help? After reading this book I want to go through to every school that is struggling financially and help in any way possible. I know that's unrealistic, but I do wonder what I can personally do to help this situation.

After reading this book, I see I have a lot more to learn. I would like to read more about understanding diversity in the classroom. Something else I definitely need to educate myself on is the distribution of funds in Illinois public school system. I don't want to be ignorant to these types of situations, so I'm going to do what I can to grow professionally. Lastly, talking about these situations with cooperating teachers, professors, and other people in the education field with experience will help give me a better understanding of how to handle situations.

Monday, November 5, 2012

The Dream Deferred, Again, in San Antonio

In this final chapter, Kozol discusses the different attempts and fails of different school districts trying to gain more financial help. Usually through going to court they are able to receive these funds. However, in this chapter we discover that, although they have tried numerous times, different districts are unable to receive the funding they need. This chapter was a little bit frustrating to read because he explains the different reasons people give to not giving more money to these underprivileged schools. Jonathon Kozol opens our eyes to the true greed that exists in the education system along with the corrupt leaders of the states who are in charge of the distribution of funding.

"Inequality is mediated for us by a taxing system that most people do not fully understand and seldom scrutinize. How this system really works, and how it came into existence, may enable us to better understand the difficulties that will be confronted in attempting to revise it" (207). This statement really hit me, mainly because I know I am one of those ignorant people that doesn't compeltely understand the taxing system. The only way I know anything about how the taxing system doesn't work is because I can see it in the inequality between districts. However, I think it is very important, especially for me as a teacher, to better educate myself on this system as a whole. If I want to make a difference in changing the system, I need to understand how it works first. Throughout this chapter, we are shown different ways of how people have constantly tried to change the system; Brown vs. Board of Education is one example he uses. People realized that the schools were divided by race and saw that it wasn't fair, so they "fixed" it. A lot of division is still evident in our school system today, and it is our job as teachers to educate ourselves and learn how we can help the school district we will be working in.

"The argument here is not that the children in districts having relatively low assessable property values are receiving no public education; rather, it is that they are receiving poorer quality education than that available to children in districts having more assessable wealth" (215). I think this is an important point to really keep in mind. It isn't necesarily the money that they are fighting to gain, although it would be a big help, they're fighting to be able to provide their students with the best education possible. Anyone fighting against this has to be out of their mind, but unfortunately people argue that they are given the same opportunities and materials that every other school is given; which is completely false. It's unbelieveable that people can ignore a problem that is so blatantly obvious. Kozol goes on to talk about how students are not receiving enough one-on-one attention from teachers because the class sizes are so big. They are not able to do homework because they can't take the books home since there aren't enough for everyone. Students don't have the same educational experience in science labs because the school can't afford the supplies. In other districts students get to have these types of experiences because they live in a wealthier neighborhood. The town you live in shouldn't affect the edcuation that you receive. These differences definitely affect the quality of education, and it should be understood that something needs to be done about it.

"'We don't want to take away the good things that you have. We just want to lift the poorer schools a little higher.' Political accommodation, rather than conviction, dictates this approach" (222). It's sad that this has to be explained to the wealthier districts. Any time they go to court to try and gain more funding, the wealthier schools always try to fight against it, worrying that it will take away from their own funds. These other districts need to be convicted of the inequalities that are present between the two different types of schools and have sympathy for them. As fellow educators, they should be doing whatever they can to give those teachers and students the same opportunities that they have been given. It's surprising to me that there is this kind of rivalry between the schools. No middle ground seems to be met through all of these situations, and that's really disappointing to me. I hope that other schools can better sympathize with one another and help in any areas that they can, simply because it's the right thing to do.

This last chapter was much different than the others, talking more about the numbers than the personal stories that we have heard. However, I think it was important and needed to be addressed. "Savage Inequalities" really is the best title for this book. The differences between the districts are horrific. Anyone should be able to see that and should want to respond and help in any way that they can. This book really has opened my eyes more to the differences, greed, and selfishness that is going on within the education system. I really look forward to learning more about this in my future years as an educator.

Friday, November 2, 2012

The Equality of Innocence

In this chapter, Kozol writes more specifically about the role that race plays in public schools. He talks about the inequality in funding and opportunities between predominately white schools and black schools. The big questions he tries to answer in this chapter is: How can we find equality in these two different schools? Basically his answer is that we can't, but we can try; which was a little discouraging at the end. While studying a school in Washington, D.C., he also talks a bit about the role of the teacher and how the race of administrators and teachers can affect the way people look at the schools and also how the students will look at you as a teacher or administrator differently depending on the color of your skin.

"What they prescribe, is something that resembles equity but never reaches it: something close enough to equity to silence criticism by approximating justice, but far enough from equity to guarantee the benefits enjoyed by privilege" (175). During this part of the chapter, Kozol is sharing with us the inequality of the budgets from different states. For example, he talks about how some states have actually said that 100% equality was too expensive. They weren't willing to give the same amount of money to the suburban and urban schools because they couldn't afford it. Rather than finding a place to meet in the middle, they gave the urban school districts 75% of what the suburban districts received. Although it's only a missing 25%, its a lot more than it seems. This translates into schools not paying their teachers more, not providing enough books for the students, class sizes, etc. They give them just enough so that it isn't an outrage, but they still leave them in the dust. Honestly, as I continue looking back at this chapter its almost as if these districts are completely used. They're not cared for and it shows through the way that they distribute funding. Greed in people is disappointing, but its even more disappointing when they're willing to put a child's future in harms way because they are not willing to give more money to pay for books in a district. It really is an outrage the way that these schools are treated, tossed to the side, and forgotten about. The more I read, the more I hope that there is something I can do in my future that could possibly help stop this type of inequality.

"So they know this other world exists, and, when you tell them that the government can't find the money to provide them with a decent place to go to school, they don't believe it and they know that it's a choice that has been made - a choice about how much they matter to society" (179). Kozol practically makes this entire chapter about the lack of funding for urban school districts. Although it may upset faculty that they don't get enough funding, we need to also remember the message it is sending to the students. Many of them already have a low self-esteem from the homes that they come from; then we go on to not give them a nice school like the neighboring towns because of where they live, it ruins that self esteem even more. We send them a message that they're not worth it, and if we're telling them that at such a young age why would they ever think differently? It's our fault that these inequalities exist, we allow the states to fund schools unfairly and treat urban districts like they do not matter. One of the students when asked about how they felt about their school responded "By doing this to you, we teach you how much you are hated" (179). A young boy was talking about how he knows that other schools have more money, and he see's it as an attack against him, his friends, and family. We need to open up our own eyes and see the harm that these types of situations are causing.

"The schools is dirty. There isn't any playground. There's a hole in the wall behind the principal's desk. What we need to do is first rebuild the school. Another color. Build a playground. Plant a lot of flowers. Paint the classrooms. Blue and white. Fix the hole in the principal's office. Buy the doors for the toilet stalls in the girls' bathroom. Fix the ceiling in this room. Make is a beautiful clean building" (181). That statement was coming from a fifth grader in Anacostia. She is well aware that her school isn't what it could be. The walls are dull, the schools is run down, students don't have anywhere to play, and the inside of the school looks like a prison. This is something that is really unacceptable to me. How can an elementary school feel like a prison? That is the last place that should be dull looking, and there should be people willing to help fix that. I'm currently working with a teacher at Hoover Elementary. On the outside it does somewhat look like a prison, but they have done what they can to make it an inviting and colorful school. Last summer the teachers and parents took time to go outside and plant flowers. They have been allowed to paint their classrooms, but most of them just decorate it with vibrant colors. It isn't difficult to make a school look more inviting, and I understand that the funding may not be there to help with this. However, I think with a little extra work, the faculty could at least make it look like a fun place to learn. Elementary students have the fun aspect about them, which is why I want to teach elementary. If we don't provide them with a fun and inviting environment, I feel like we're cheating them. Everyone deserves to have a friendly and welcoming school.

"It is truly gifted black officials who seem often in the most unenviable role; and this is the case especially in public education. Some of these people pay an awful price for the symbolic role they fill: a symbolism that at times appears to freeze their personalities and drain them of their normal warmth and humor" (196). Towards the end of the chapter, Kozol writes about the differences between white and black administrators. It seems that the outside media puts more pressure on black principals and disregards when a white principal is unable to fulfill the job. Many of them enter the school enthusiastic, but after a year or two they usually leave because they can't handle the outside pressures. It's disappointing when someone is going in to try and help a school in any way that they can, but are constantly badgered. He also mentions how the students also look at black and white teachers differently. They feel more comfortable with someone like them, which isn't a surprise by any means; but they grow more anxious when talking with a white teacher. He gives an example of a young student who was grasping onto his inhaler so tightly while talking to a white teacher, then begins a conversation with a black teacher in a completely different manner. The student is much more composed and relaxed. This is something that is important for me to understand since I have the desire to work in a low-income school. Hopefully I will have the ability to make the students feel as comfortable around me as they would with anyone else.

Although this chapter focused more on race than education, I still really enjoyed reading and learning more about it. I need to understand that I probably will be looked at differently since I am a white teacher. It may take me more time to earn their trust, but that is definitely something I'm willing to work hard for. Along with that, I hope that if I am in a school that feels like a prison I will be able to find others to help me make it feel like a more inviting environment. I would hate to work in an elementary school that had no personality, and I can't imagine the students would enjoy learning in a place with dull colored walls. Jonathon Kozol is really helping open my eyes to some of the problems I may face in my future teaching career.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Children of the City Invincible: Camden, New Jersey

In this chapter we are introduced to a school in Camden, New Jersey. Obviously it has a similar situation to the past few schools we have learned about; there are too many students, not enough materials, and not enough room to even fit all of the students comfortably in a classroom. This chapter discusses how in some situations the classrooms take place in storage closets, and students often have to sit on the floor. Reading through these, it is unreal the situations these students are dealing with; but it is good to be introduced to these types of problems.

"This school may be the safest place in life for many of these children" (141). Before Kozol wrote this, he was discussing some of the horrific home lives that these children have. Many of them have to deal with an absent parent, abusive parent, or not even living with their parents but living with friends or grandparents. School, Kozol writes, is a place where the children are able to feel safe. There is a system in school and a consistency that is absent in many of their homes. While we continue reading, Kozol talks about what happens when that consistency and comfortability ends. There was a situation at school where a student set fire to a science classroom. By losing that trust with the student body, teachers begin to lose their students. I think this is a very important point to understand as a future teacher. We need to make our students feel safe at school, because it may be the only place that feels safe to them. When something interrupts that feeling, its important to talk about it with your classroom. Letting them know that everything will be resolved is a way of reestablishing that trust.

"They do not learn to think, because their teachers are straitjacketed by tests that measure only isolated skills. As a result, they can be given no electives, nothing wonderful or fanciful or beautiful, nothing that touches the spirit or the soul" (143). It's very discouraging to think about the number of students who don't have the same opportunities I did growing up. I know this is a blog about diversity, but sometimes I completely forget about the simple things that some students may be missing out on that many other students take for granted. Having the option of going to art, gym, music, etc. is a great opportunity for young students. I know I certainly enjoyed all of those specials when I was younger; but since some schools don't have much funding, they are not able to provide those classes for their students. This really is heartbreaking to stop and think about. I found so much joy in expressing myself through art and music when I was younger, there was a freedom in those classes that didn't exist in the regular classroom. It was where creativity was encouraged. If we are not giving students the opportunity to express themselves in a creative manner, what are we doing for them? Teaching them facts, preparing them for a test; that is all we are doing for them in these situations. People need to be more aware of these types of situations and take action, because it is completely unfair to have so much for some schools and so little for the others.

"Six hundred children enter ninth grade... By eleventh grade we have about 300" (146). I have seen this type of situation near my own town. In this part of the chapter, Kozol is talking about the Camden High School and how many students dropout. Many of them drop out to start working earlier, have children, or get into the wrong types of activities. This is something that has been observed in schools for as long as I can remember. It has been a known statistic of dropout rates in urban schools being higher than those in the suburbs. Kozol writes about the different programs they have for students with children or with drug problems, but it still isn't stopping students from dropping out. I'm not sure what can be done to fix this problem because I'm not an expert, but I think we need more than advisers talking to them and programs that will help watch their children. Although it would be a lot of work to start fixing these types of problems, its work that I'm passionate about and needs to be done.

"For the brightest kids, the ones who have a chance at four-year college, we cannot provide an AP program. We don't have the funds of facilities" (150). I think this is honestly one of the most important quotes of the book that I have read yet. We all believe that everyone has an equal chance, and that statement is partly true. All students have the opportunity to learn and go to school; but some of them have a disadvantage. Students in schools like Camden High School can excel just like anywhere else; there are intelligent students in all schools. However, since they are unable to fund an AP program, these students are left out on their own. Although they show promise, they will not be given the same material to learn as other students in suburban schools. However, they will be given the exact same tests as those students even though they haven't been given the same material. This is what is looks like to give everyone an equal chance at success? I would definitely have to disagree with that. People say everyone has the same opportunities in life, but this is a perfect example showing how that statement is completely false. They don't have the same opportunities, and students from low-income schools have a very powerful disadvantage when it comes to their futures.

"It is a betrayal of the best things that we value when poor children are obliged to sing these songs in storerooms and coat closets" (160). This quote needs a bit more explaining. Before writing this, Kozol was talking about how the students are able to attend a music class once a week. When they meet they are required to go into a storage room where only about 15 should be able to fit comfortably; but they manage to put about 25 in there, sometimes more. He goes on to talk about how the students were singing songs like "This Land is Your Land", and how ironic it is for them to be singing that while they are in this situation. The optimism of the song is fantastic; good morals about sharing the land and talking about brotherhood. However, they are singing this song while there are students in the suburban areas attending music nearly every day in a comfortable room that could fit 50, but they only put about 25 in there at a time. The irony of this is quite astonishing. I've always known that it was unequal, but having Kozol go through and visit these different schools while explaining the situations is eye-opening. I never realized the "savage inequalities" that really existed, I suppose that really is the perfect name for this book.


It's completely unfair what these students have to go through. They don't choose where they're born, and they don't have a way of changing that when they're younger. Although they do have a chance of going to college it's not an equal one. This chapter really made me start to see the unbelievable inequalities that are present in our public schools today. It's very disappointing that people don't draw more attention to this. Perhaps they are trying, but we need to try harder. These inequalities need to be dealt with on a national level. I know people are doing what they can to personally help the students, but that can never be enough to restore what has been done to these schools.