Blog 5

Quote 1 – Kozol 217

“I am thinking of dozens of those ardent young idealists whom I meet… they’ve studied teacher education but also immersed themselves in social history and social justice programs and the history of civil rights.”

Kozol does something here that will do everyone some good. He focuses a lot in his book about the awful conditions in certain schools in this country, but that is not the only thing he does. He acknowledges the teachers and individuals in education who are making a difference and are working towards creating meaningful educations for students. He also mentions how it is not enough to study teacher education. The student needs to come out of the professional program with knowledge about different cultures and the way society works outside of his/her own and desire to change.


Quote 2 – Kozol 218

“They do not accept the notion that apartheid is a faded vestige of a distant past. They can’t because they see it daily in their classrooms.”

Again, Kozol is telling the readers that there are individuals in education who refuse to believe the statistics, who refuse to believe what they hear in the media, and they do this because everything they see in their classrooms contradicts the information. For a suburban family, it probably pretty easy to believe that inner city schools are well-served, that the students receive the same type of treatment and resources and opportunities. However, when you speak to an inner city teacher, you will hear the real truth. Sometimes it takes the drastic media to receive attention. So why not focus on the terrible conditions in struggling inner city schools instead of the violence that happened in the same school. By making this violent act seem like it is one of many makes for great news, even if it is fabricated. Where are our values in our society. We’re hearing a news brief for an entire 7 seconds and making generalizations about a school of which we really know nothing.


Quote 3 – Kozol 220
“We’re going to see the same 50-year cycle that began with Brown all over again.”

When reading this quote, it confirms the fact that the teachers Kozol talks about in Quote 2 are so important in education today. We cannot rest as a nation until certain aspects of our school systems are changed. Again, it is easy to ignore the facts if you are not affect, living in a wealthy neighborhood with good schools. It might be easy to ignore the problem but can it really be possible that we are going 50 years as far as progress goes?


Quote 4 – Kozol 225

“Nothing in the way choice systems actually work favors class or racial integration. Choice has had desegregative impact in some cities…only because there were strict guidelines in effect to make sure it would have this end result.”

This is an extremely touchy subject. To be honest, I am not sure I want to see the results of this legislation. Choice schools should be monitored and the actions of the citizens in towns/ cities where this applies, but it is not being monitored in a way which would avoid segregated schools. Parents who are knowledgable about schools and the choices that they have will be able to apply for the best school possible. For the parents who are working 2 jobs, or do not speak English, or for the children who are not living in permanent homes, they get the short end of the stick. They will not be able to receive the same type of education because this program is not controlled. Yet, where the program is controlled, there is hope. Will funds be put towards the betterment of all children?


Quote 5 – Kozol 234

“No matter what the social obstacles that children, both minority and white, must learn to overcome, not matter what the necessary games that must be played and roles that must be filled in adolescent years…a strange phenomenon – normality, humanity – kicks in; and, not in every case, but far more often than a social order with our racial history has reason to expect, they do reach out across the structural divide time and again and we are better, as a nation.

This quote is a testament to what should be happening in our world. Kids would learn so much about their peers if this would occur. Parents are in support, the children love it, and this occurs because the schools are integrated. These kids are given a chance to prosper and discover the world that surrounds them, not a fabricated, supervised, hidden world. Kids have a way of showing the world how we, as adults, should behave. Unfortunately, because they are kids, they are almost dismissed because of their youth. Children have a way of looking at the world that some adults cannot see or choose not to see. Maybe kids voices should be politics in charge because those in politics now think about themselves, business, closing schools, and not focusing on integration, all things kids would focus on.


Quote 6 – Kozol 238

“ ‘The small-minded triumphalism’ of contemporary political leaders who grew up in ‘isolated worlds of white male privilege’ and have, as a result, ‘inadequate education for the responsibilities they hold.’ ”

This reminds me of the statement that schools then to represent the society in which they reside. If white males who do not know any other society continue to run schools, the schools will represent the same lifestyle. These children will not know anything of the other world that exists in this country. If this problem persists, change will be impossible. This also reminds me of the leaders who have pioneered Goals 2000, NCLB, and now Race to the Top. This is not anything new. White males having control and unwilling to let this change has been around for centuries and it is occurring now. We are perpetuating the problem and education is just getting worse.