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persnickety_9's review
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
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.
chloelikedolivia's review against another edition
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Outdated and at times overly emotional, but that aside, this is an excellent overview of the effects of the wild inequities in many American school systems.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
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
mlottermoser's review against another edition
3.0
School Funding is Failing
While the findings in this book are dated, I imagine that things have not changed much. Poor children and families will always have to fight for equity in an unjust system. It’s heart breaking to see how families can put down other children so that theirs can thrive. How do you find a balance when the rich are so adept at leaving the poor behind?
While the findings in this book are dated, I imagine that things have not changed much. Poor children and families will always have to fight for equity in an unjust system. It’s heart breaking to see how families can put down other children so that theirs can thrive. How do you find a balance when the rich are so adept at leaving the poor behind?
dkrane's review against another edition
5.0
This was an amazing book that opened my eyes up to startling inequalities in the public education system. It may be 20 years old, but it feels incredibly relevant. I'm now more aware of existing educational segregation in my own community and in places I travel, and am seriously considering a career in education policy because of this book. Terrific muckraking journalism, wholeheartedly recommend it.
alfonsoromero's review against another edition
5.0
I was pissed off reading this book. From start to finish, it made me livid. The thing that pisses me off is how solvable these issues are, and how unwilling people are to address them or do anything about them. I went to a place like Wheaton College, in Wheaton IL, which is supposed to be he heart of Evangelicalism. Yet it's wealthy before it's Christian, and funnels it's wealth into it's white school district. It's schools like these that are the direct problem. And Wheaton College, and the Christians in Wheaton refuse to do anything about it. They graduate and go work their white, middle class life, and perpetuate the evils that happened in this book. This book is thirty damn years old, and very little has changed. God damn the American church and God damn America for the evils it has done and continues to do. We have some serious repenting to do.
danac's review against another edition
3.0
This book had many amazing qualities but, was poorly organized. The book was divided into chapters dedicated to each city. Because many of the cities struggled with the same problems (poverty, environmental and systemic racism, aversion to desegregation, overcrowded and hazardous classrooms, fatigued school employees etc) many of the analysis was repetitive and subsequently pedantic, heavy handed and patronizing towards people of color.
This book would have been more impactful if it were divided by issue, saving the best dialogue for the most appropriate time. The paraphrased interviews and conversations were by far the best feature of this book, and their contents would be better highlighted if organized by topic rather than by geographical location.
However, (of course this is a side note- not part of my rating) the best medium for this book is on the big screen. Kozol does the best he can recounting his experiences in these places, but seeing it, and hearing the real voices of the individuals experiencing such systemic neglect would be more impactful than reading the summaries.
If you are interested in making a documentary, read this book and pick up where Kozol left off.
This book would have been more impactful if it were divided by issue, saving the best dialogue for the most appropriate time. The paraphrased interviews and conversations were by far the best feature of this book, and their contents would be better highlighted if organized by topic rather than by geographical location.
However, (of course this is a side note- not part of my rating) the best medium for this book is on the big screen. Kozol does the best he can recounting his experiences in these places, but seeing it, and hearing the real voices of the individuals experiencing such systemic neglect would be more impactful than reading the summaries.
If you are interested in making a documentary, read this book and pick up where Kozol left off.