Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools

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Summary: savage Inequalities
Review: I am a college student at Macon State College. I am majoring in middle grades eduction. I read the book Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol. Overall I thought the book was good. The language was not outdated or vulgar, and it kept me interested.It makes you wonder if we had schools today like the ones in the book, how would we really handle it. I myself would not feel happy at all, whether I was wealthy or poor.

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Summary: The New Contraversy
Review: This book though written a few years ago strikes at the heart of today's contraversies in America's school system. Is our system fair? According to Jonathon Kozol it's not even close! The schools described by him in different cities across America are heartbreaking in their bleaknness and terrifying in their hopelessness. Kozol paints a portrait of the new American landscape where people with wealth distance themselves from the problem and insulate their children from all poverty. One has to wonder what happened to all the civil rights activists. Did they all turn yuppie? This is the new cause in America. How do we get our schools more equal. Can money save them? Can more federal government control save our school system? This is a great book for people who care about our education system. Mark Cooley, 2nd year Education Major,Macon State College

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Summary: The American Education System - At Its Worst
Review: 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.

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Summary: I am a teacher today because of this book
Review: 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.

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Summary: Urban Schools: The Loss of the American Dream
Review: My college professor recomended this book to me after I observed a classroom in an inner-city school of Pittsburgh. I was disguisted by the condtion of this building. I began reading Savage Inequalities and realized that the scool that I had seen is a palace compared to the schools Kozol describes. Kozol explores the nations poorest schools and reveals the horrible conditons in which we allow America's children to be educated, if they are educated at all. Readers will surely be shocked by the inequalities that exist in urban education. Savage Inequalities will sadden you and it will make you horribly angry at what we allow chlidren to endure: going to school in severly overcrowded buildings, having classes held in a bathroom or closet, sewage flooding the hallways of buildings, textbooks outdated by decades, holes in ceilings and roofs that lead to "rain showers" in the classroom. Kozol discusses the ignorance of government in recognizing the inequities that exist in education. He points out the failure of each state in providing an adequate education for our children - the truth is they could prevent some of these horriffic conditons yet they CHOOSE not to. As Kozol points out in his book, the children KNOW that governement CHOSE to deny them an education - they have seen nice schools and they know that they are being denied a clean building and a satisfactory education because the government decided that "these children" could not learn, they see them as a lost cause. Kozol brilliantly depicts the impact such an attitude has on children. While i learned much from this book, the most important thing i remember is that we are ruining our own future as well as the children's. we are denying these children even a chance at a future. if something is not done about the inequalites that exist, urban areas will only get worse, the cycle will keep on repeating itself. this is not acceptable. Ironically while reading Savage Inequalites i met a man who tutored in the South Bronx and East St. Louis, two of the poorest districts in the country and that Kozol visited in his book. This man said that what Kozol describes is a reality. Kozol has began a crusade that we must join! i have been on my own personal crusade, educating myself on what i can do to make a difference. we can all make a difference. that is why i highly recommend this book, it will open your eyes to a terrible world that we never knew existed.

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Summary: Savage Inequalities
Review: This book was an eye opener for the great questions regarding inequalities in our schools. Reading this book enlightened me to the foundation program which allows me to be more informed about how finances are generated and disbursed in our schools. As a result of reading this book I will be able to share with other educators and parents ways to correct finance problems within the schools. This book also made me grateful for the school system with which I am affiliated. Within our system there are inequalities but not of the severity that is described in this book. In closing I thank the author for the research made available by him in this publication.

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Summary: Savage Inequalities
Review: I am an Education major at Macon State College. I read this book for a class. I agree with the author that our schools are not equal by any standards. But it is going to take more than a book to change things. There are many great points made in this book and the children that he talks with will tug at your heart. I think that anyone who wants to become a teacher should read this book--you never know where you might be teaching!

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Summary: Who is looking after our children?
Review: My name is Linda Coger and I read this book for my education class. I was shocked to know that this type of injustice was going on in our wonderful country of the great U.S.A. I couldn't believe that we had schools that were so over crowded that they had to take lunch breaks in shifts, no toliet paper for the rest room, no janitors to clean the building because they couldn't afford to pay them. I cried when I read that there are schools that have stool from the toliets coming up into the lunchrooms, or schools that are set up in old skating rinks. We have the state running the schools, but what are they concern with? test scores? They are too busy trying to tell the teachers how to run thier classroom and prepare for test, they forgot about the poor people that really needed their help and money. This book really made me angry because the only thing people are concern about now are pay raises and higher test scores. I am so glad the author of this book" Savage Inequalaties" open my eyes up to what is really going on in the world.

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Summary: Savage Inequalities by Jon Kozol
Review: This novel is about the horrid conditions of America's schools. Kozol takes us into schools across the country, describing what is happening to children from poor families. Children are faced with many obstacles to overcome, but receiving an educational oppurtunity is not one of them. Educational reform is an important subject matter which is often debated. I was filled with emotions such as anger, shock, & shame. But there are still many wonderful teachers and students coming out of all this ugliness. This novel is crucial for all educators as well as students. I recommend this novel because it gives insight into poverty and education. -tat-

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Summary: An eye-opening book about educational funding in America
Review: I am a college student at Macon State College. I read Kozol's 'Savage Inequalities' for my education class and was moved tremendously by it. Kozol not only reveals the truth about the awful discrepancies in educational funding all over America but he also lets the children's voices be heard. The crimes committed against our children are savage in every sense of the word and must be stopped!