Lack of Equality in Technology Studies are being conducted to determine the impact of economic inequality on the educational services to children in the United States. Research suggests that the funding of public schools through property taxes contributes to economical and scholastic inequalities in the school system, such as lack of technology, inferior quality of instructors, and lower grades and levels of academic competency. Since the passing of Proposition 13 large companies have been able to utilize those loopholes to avoid paying property taxes, and residents are feeling the pain as their educational systems are largely funded by these taxes and it has created a definite change. Education should be designed to ensure that all pupils have a chance to excel in life and in their educational endeavors. Student’s success in school now determines how successful they will become as adults in college and how much they will be paid in the profession they are able to choose.…
In Jonathan Kozol’s book Savage Inequalities he discusses the differences in education between schools from different races and wealth communities. Kozol did observations on a variety of public schools in St. Louis, Bronx, and Rye both in New York. Kozol visits the areas where he explains how it is unsanitary and very low on staff that lacks the basic tools and supplies for teaching. For some schools it has very outdated equipment that has been there for at least 40-50 years old. Kozol adds on and contrast the conditions poor living and how children adapt in those environments and how they live and learn.…
The Shame of the Nation was written in 2005 by author Jonathan Kozol. In this book he discusses how underprivileged children in lower-income school districts are treated differently than the children in middle-class school districts. The middle-class children have easy access to pre-school but very few children in the lower-classes have access to pre-school. As a result, when lower-classes are finally able to attend school, they are below the grade level set by government, they are forced to deal with overfilled class rooms, unskilled teachers and inadequate resources. The children in financially restricted school districts must take and pass the same exams as the children who have had access to better schooling since they were a toddlers. He notes how tough it is for kids to do well under these circumstances and that those who do well are considered to have courageous talents. Kozol uses comparison and description to persuade the readers something needs to be done about the issues.…
In her skillfully written narrative, Eaton delves into the complex reasons hindering equal access to a quality education for the nation's children, a problem with a long and messy history. Beginning with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the U.S. courts were, for a few decades at least, a place where civil rights made noteworthy gains. But in many places the attempts at desegregation were never really established, and by the '80s, what had been accomplished was quickly being lost. The reasons for today's education faults are, for many, almost undetectable. The author presents a fascinating group of kids from an inner-city school in Hartford, Connecticut, who struggle to learn in a characteristically disheartened and under-funded urban public school.…
Jonathan Kozol illustrates a grim reality about the unequal attention given to urban and suburban schools. The legendary Supreme Court case Brown v Board of Education ended segregation in public schools in America because the Court determined that “separate but equal is inherently unequal.” Over a half century after that landmark case, Kozol shows everyone involved in the education system that public schools are still separate and, therefore, still unequal. Suburban schools, which are primarily made up of white students, are given a far superior education than urban schools, which are primarily made up of Hispanics and African Americans. In “Still Separate and Still Unequal”, Kozol, through logos, pathos, and vivid imagery, effectively reveals to people that, even though the law prohibits discrimination in public schools, several American schools are still segregated and treated differently in reality.…
For instance, in Dr. Ravitch’s article, “The Facts about the Achievement Gap,” she addressed the issue of wealth determining education stating, “Family income is now nearly as strong as parental education in predicting children’s achievement” (Ravitch 365). Neither the school systems nor the government can be held accountable for these issues. Dr. Ravitch makes an extremely important point involving this issue in her article, “The Facts about the Achievement Gap,” So long as our society is indifferent to poverty, so long as we are willing to look the other way rather than act vigorously to improve the conditions of families and communities, there will always be achievement gaps” (Ravitch 367). Therefore, the price of tuition is extremely improbable to ever be cheaper than it is now, unless society itself works harder to make a better school system for future…
In his book, “The Shame of the Nation”, Jonathan Kozol outlines core inequalities in the American educational system. According to Kozol although great steps were made in the 1960s and 1970s to integrate schools, by the end of the 1980s schools had begun to re-segregate. In inner cities such as Chicago, eighty-seven percent of children enrolled in public schools were either black or Hispanic, and only ten percent were white (page#). It seems that there are many different factors contributing to the re-segregating of schools.…
“Still Separate, Still Unequal”, written by Jonathan Kozol, describes the reality of urban public schools and the isolation and segregation the students there face today. Jonathan Kozol illustrates the grim reality of the inequality that African American and Hispanic children face within todays public education system. In this essay, Kozol shows the reader, with alarming statistics and percentages, just how segregated Americas urban schools have become. He also brings light to the fact that suburban schools, with predominantly white students, are given far better funding and a much higher quality education, than the poverty stricken schools of the urban neighborhoods.…
Throughout America’s communities today, the quality of schooling varies from school to school. In the book Our Kids the author, Robert Putnam, believes that the increased gap between the wealthy and poor is what causes the differences in school quality and opportunities for the students (Putnam, 2015). Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing two of today’s youth, Josh and Erin. Their names have been changed for the sake of anonymity. Josh is a 17-year-old student at Shawnee Mission East High School, in Prairie Village, Kansas.…
The Essay; A Tale of Two Schools: How Poor Children Are Lost to the World; was written by Jonathan Kozol. The essay reveals the contrast in our nation's school system by comparing one of the most affluent schools in the country, with a poor inner-city school. Du Sable High School in the ghettos of Chicago and New Trier High in a near by Chicago suburb. Kozol examines many of the problems that face public schools today, and the gap in education funding between inner city schools and schools like New Trier.…
Before reading the book “Savage Inequalities” by Jonathan Kozol, I was highly unaware of how poor and neglected some schools are in America. I thought that every school in America had a great educational system and educators, but clearly I was mistaken. I knew that every school in America was not equal; there were obviously some schools that were better than others. However, upon reading “Savage Inequalities” I discovered that it was far worse than I actually knew. The book exposed me to racism/inequality in the educational system, and at some points I had no words for such disgust and mistreatment.…
“a continuing recession, escalating political polarization, rising racial/ethnic tensions, a growing national debt, and a widening divide between the haves and the have nots portend a future fraught with unprecedented challenges to and clashes over the form and substance of public education in America” (p.1).…
On May 22, 2013 the largest closing of public schools, in history of the United States, occurred. The board of education of the Chicago Public Schools voted to close down 50 schools in the Chicago area (Bartlett). To no surprise, most of the schools if not all came from areas that had low-income neighborhoods consisting mainly of African Americans and Latinos on the south and west side of Chicago (Bartlett). Although the ex president George Bush said popular quote“ No child left behind”, what is happening in the Chicago Public schools is exactly the opposite. Even if every kid is given the opportunity to go to school some are being given a…
Educational programs demand effort and dedication to be successful. Barber expresses his concern for the lack of literacy in America. In Barbers essay, he states, “As America’s educational system crumbles, the pundits, instead of looking for solutions, search busily for scapegoats” (Barber, 2014, pp.210). America’s government takes minimal actions toward the educational crisis. The situation resembles a hole in the wall that needs fixed, but instead of fixing it America’s society hangs a picture over the hole. The lack of educational reforms causes the America’s youth to fall behind other countries youth in literacy. The lack of effort from the government, from schools, parents, teachers, and students put a strain on learning. Some American citizens proclaim that they want a change in the school systems, but nothing results from it. Barber states, “With all the goodwill in the world, it is still hard to know how schools can cure the ills that stem from the failure of so many other institutions. Saying we want education to come first won’t put it first” (Barber, 2014, pp.217). Society labels schools as “prisons,” and sadly, some are less safe than actual prisons. The lack of safety forces students to focus on their own safety rather than learning. Not all schools provide safe environments for students; The result of this problem is conflicts and disinterest for learning. The lack of effort put forth by America’s society and government is only one factor in this multitude of…
In his essay “Still Separate, Still Unequal,” Jonathan Kozol gives us a very detailed presentation of the emergent trend of racial segregation within America’s urban and inner-city schools. Kozol provides substantiation to his claim based on his research and observations of different school environments, its teachers and students, and personal interviews with them. It is very clear that color of education in America is not green like the dollar bill; it is white if you’re rich and brown if you’re poor. What’s more atrocious is how the government of the people gives more educational benefits to the rich and less to the poor.…