Reviews

Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools by Jonathan Kozol

mzgeee53's review against another edition

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5.0

Jonathan Kozol's Savage Inequalities is a scathing (but beautifully written!) indictment of American education.

It is almost as old as I am (35), but its age really highlights how little progress we have made since this book came out. It underscores how much work we have left to do when it comes to dissolving inequality experienced by marginalized students.

I honestly don't know if I will ever see these gaping holes close in my lifetime, but I will never stop fighting for children and their right to a quality education no matter their family income, their skin color, or their identity.

If they aren't worth fighting for, what is?

diz_tn's review against another edition

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5.0

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.

amber_lea84's review against another edition

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5.0

This is definitely one of my all-time favorite books.

I had to read it in chunks because, my god, it's soul-crushing.

But it's important because this is reality. And it's so easy to go through life never knowing that this shit happens. I went to a relatively shitty high school, it was definitely the poor school in my community, but I didn't have to deal with anything near the same level of deprivation as some of these kids.

This quote (from page 176) basically sums up what is explained in the book:

"But what is now encompassed by the one word 'school' are two very different kinds of institutions that, in function, finance and intention, serve entirely different roles. 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 are trained for being governed. The former are given the imaginative range to mobilize ideas for economic growth; the latter are provided with the discipline to do the narrow tasks the first group will prescribe."

If that sounds interesting to you, read this freakin' book.

This book was written 21 years ago, but it's still incredibly relevant. I say that as someone who was in second grade when it was released and came up in the aftermath of the situation he described, but also as someone who has lived in these poor areas since graduating from high school. (I currently live in the Cherry Hill/Camden area.) They are still effected by these harsh inequalities. Not only does this book cover the history of the situation, but it's obvious that not a lot has changed. I've looked up the stats of the nearby schools and talked to parents. It's still bad. Maybe even worse in some ways.

I actually saw this video when I was about half way through the book and talks about the same shit. It covers things that happened in 2009.

Now, this book doesn't offer any new solutions. It just lays out how our school system works, the effects, and the solutions that are/have been tried...and the fact that poor kids deserve better than what they're getting now. Which honestly, I appreciate. I often find myself frustrated with "here is a problem and this is how you fix it" books because I want to be informed, more than I want to hear somebody's theories and solutions. I can hear about possible solutions from further reading and research.

Plus, much to the frustration of many readers, this book is just honest: We don't live in a meritocracy, and we likely never will. At least not if we don't drastically overhaul the way we do pretty much everything. You can't describe the problem and come up with a real solution in 230 pages. I think it was smart to just stick to describing the problem and what it means for kids.

This book is excellent. I highly recommend it.

maddyvohland's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

persnickety_9's review

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5.0

This book is honestly heart-wrenching. It’s obviously dated, but as someone who has worked in both affluent and “urban” schools, it hits hard. It’s shameful and saddening and disgusting that this is a reality that continues. Everyone should read this, no matter how much it may hurt.

steller0707's review against another edition

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5.0

While the circumstances in these 1988-1990 scenarios may be different from today’s particular circumstances, the principles still stand.  There is an inequity in the education of our children in many school districts, especially in urban districts that represent the highest concentration of children in poverty. The promise of Brown vs Board of Education, much less that of Plessy vs Ferguson, has not been achieved.  Much as the laws of Jim Crow have been circumvented by “nice white people” so the ways in which we finance schools and educate our citizens  have been thwarted by circumvention. School choice, reliance on test scores, method of funding have all played a part in the erosion of our schools, and have helped to fuel the dissension we see in our culture and on social media. Kozol ends this award-winning book with this statement: There is a deep-seated reverence for fair play in the United States, and in many areas of life we see the consequences in a genuine distaste for loaded dice; but this is not the case in education, health care, or inheritance of wealth. In these elemental areas we want the game to be unfair and we have made it so; and it will likely so remain.” Unfortunately, we have not been able to prove him wrong.

magnetgrrl's review against another edition

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4.0

read in 2004 or 2005

caitisinks's review against another edition

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informative sad fast-paced

5.0

chloelikedolivia's review against another edition

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4.0

Outdated and at times overly emotional, but that aside, this is an excellent overview of the effects of the wild inequities in many American school systems.

elliemazzze's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0