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

3.0

This book is clearly well researched and written. It is also immensely depressing. While reading this book, my emotional state can only be compared to the feeling of an unrelenting and exhaustive dead weight sitting upon my chest. In regards to the calculated institutional injustices facing our countries poorest students, I am firmly committed to expanding my awareness and knowledge. For that reason alone, I am happy to have read Savage Inequalities. However I found reading this book, in this moment in my teaching career felt unsettling in a way I can't quite describe and don't wish to feel. I am a California credentialed educator and have taught exclusively in Title 1 School for the past nine years. As a teacher, I must be intentional of the public education media and literature I consume. This book, for me, lacked the hope and vision personally needed to effectively remain in the profession. All of my feelings aside, I can not dispute the glaring significance of Kozol's case studies and research. Nor can I ignore the haunting realities of the public education system in our country. I believe that members of the American public who have not stepped foot into a public school classroom since graduating high school should read this book. I believe that American citizens who were afforded an affluent educational experience should read this book. I believe that public servants, elected to ensure the protection of liberty and justice for all, should read this book. There clearly is still much work to be done.