Patrick's Reviews > Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools

** spoiler alert ** Although I agree with the premise that all children should have equal opportunity via material needs, I disagree with his tone in blaming the middle class for "oppressing blacks" for this I give this book 4 stars. Overall, a good worth it read and eye opening.

It is clear that corporate toxic waste is not really free waste that the environment can absorb. Corporations need to be responsible in not polluting US soil in their search for profits. The real sin here is that while corporation plants like Mosano have company based in the poor areas and thus pollute the surroundings, they do not employ locals b/c the plants need skill laborers which b/c of the lack of education these men do not have. The people are disenfranchised so they do not vote to change their surroundings. It is clear that charter schools are needed in these places so innovation can occur in finding paths to success. It is also clear that these kids need role models to emulate who look like them and preferably someone with similar background. They have to see a greater why in order to reach for the stars. Teachers pay also need to be creative in seeking how to retain valuable talent. It is a shame that children learn they are not wanted at an early age by their white peers so they have to settle for a second rate education. The school infrastructure needs to be updated so that students are able to thrive in it.

As with everyone else, who these children spend time with determine what they become. So, was it fine that mom forbade us from hanging out with our lower-middle-class neighbors? Tenured teaching positions are also an issue b/c teachers who are bad but who are tenured will have to be kept by the school system. Parents uninvolvement is also a big issue b/c of their disinterested in what happens to their children, the kids do not push themselves to succeed. It is clear having great innovative teachers who care about each of her students success is an important part of these kids education. It is clear that teacher personality is key to their success not just their methods. Teacher retainment are an important component of what needs to happen in these neighborhoods. It is also important that the supplies to these schools remain robust. I am for the poorer performing schools to have the greatest leeway for innovation in order for them to succeed. B/c property tax funds public education, it is incumbent for federal and state governments to make up the difference to equalize the funding b/w rich and poorer districts.

I am for poor people having choice in where they send their children so that schools that are working will be rewarded. It is also clear that parents have to have initiative to have their kids attend a superior school and voting so they influence the make up of the politicians who directly influence their needs. Along with a choice policy, there has to be a grassroots movement for black empowerment to seek the best education environment for their children so they can demand an equal access to quality education for their children. While it is clear that social class largely determines a child's future, people of privileged should try to level the playing field by mentoring children of lower means who have promise and support policies that will help children level the playing field so that people's potential will truly shine. Poor people's leaders have issues with corporate partners b/c they are the same people who lobby to cut taxes that would fund school programs.

Media is bad for kids b/c they see that they are underprivileged as a comparison to the media image they see on TV. Why do Asian place more emphasis on education as a path to success than Hispanics or Black people? Part of the luck of people is being born to the right parents with the right social environment and the right opportunities. Despite the wrong environment that some of the kids are born into, they should at least have a top notch innovative education so they have a way out of their deprived lives. I think mentoring programs are useful in people to see the opportunities in their lives. Perhaps it's a matter of parental expectation where people who are expected to do well, do better than people with lower expectation. Jonathan states that the fact

that people in better schools have the facilities that they desire means they will be disengaged from the political process thereby creating a self-perpetuating cycle. I think that this is where grass-roots community activism can come in, in trying to empower the people to advocate for their children's future. The fact that some of these people need books and do not have the book supplies for a prescribed class is completely appalling. Also the teacher:student ratio is way out of bounds for a normal school.

The teachers complain of a culture of teaching to the test without the necessary learning tools to accomplish the job. The culture of preparing for a test means that the students do not have the necessary critical thinking skills to be successful in college; thus the majority who make it to college drop out. Teaching to the test also allows a disuse of critical aspect of a subject in favor of teaching to a test. So the love of learning can be destroyed. I am for busing disadvantage children to richer neighborhoods with the topping of 10-30% so that the richer districts would rub off on the poorer kids. I am totally for equal opportunity in pursuing an education; the younger a child is the more equal the opportunity for advancement they should have. So that state money should go to shore up the poorest expenditure per capita of schools for the least of its citizens instead of making well off districts richer.

If disadvantaged minorities want change, they have to be politically engaged so their voice will be represented in government. It must be sad being a principal of an elementary school when you know most of the kids you teach are doomed to failure.

While I agree with the basic premise of the book that the public should equalize the children's school supplies for school, I disagree with the premise that it is somehow corporations fault for advertising that causes these kids to steal. I think that people should really have to participate in the political process in order to see any solutions to their communities. The divisions are institutionalized so that the rich districts do not want to have money to go to poor districts. I think someone who is rich should make a study on a well run school that has resources. Do their students do better than those without resources? I think this is what charter schools do... Kozol state that the fact that states have difficulty balancing their money negatively impacts school districts who are poorer. So why not have a state-wide school tax to even the playing field so money will not be @ the whim of legislatures or yearly state finances.

So the issue here is that politics enters the equation for the states redistribution of wealth to schools. Instead of having all the money go to school districts who need it, it is evenly redistributed to all districts regardless of need. I think the minimum foundation should be determined by tests that equate what a normal student of that age should adequately know. Affluent Americans will resist the redistribution of funds to children of the disadvantage. The problem with paying for the minimum foundation when it comes to education is that a general inflation of prices will occur which will let the poor uneducated children remain uneducated. It is clear the Poor White people (Appalachian) also suffer from the lack of resources as Urban Blacks and Latinos suffer, too. So this is more a class issue not necessarily a race issue.