"Waiting on the World to Change"

Kozol – Still Separate, Still Unequal:  America’s Educational Apartheid

In this article Jonathan Kozol uses both qualitative and quantitative data to describe the stark inequalities that face public schools across the United States.  He brings to light the clear discrepancies that plague inner city schools vs. their suburban counterparts.  In the beginning of the article, he provides statistics of the number of black and Hispanic students who made up the majority of the population in urban districts in the 2003-2004 school year.  According to his research, 94% of students in Washington, DC, 82% in St. Louis, 84% in Los Angeles, and 96% of students in Detroit were black and Hispanic. (Kozol, 3)

Kozol continues to point out that these numbers are not a reflection of the areas where these schools are located.  One Seattle neighborhood that he visited actually was made up of about 50% white families, but the population of the local elementary school was less than 5% white.  Instead of attending the neighborhood public schools, the children in white families were bused to a school that was further away, but predominantly white. 

Throughout his article, Kozol also shares interactions with students who attend urban elementary and high schools.  He shares stories about the inequalities that the students recognize and talk about somewhat freely.  To highlight a few,

·         "If people in New York woke up one day and learned that we were gone, that we had simply died or left for somewhere else, how would they feel?"

"I think they'd be relieved," this very solemn girl replied. (a 16 year old in New York)

·         "we do not have the things you have. You have Clean things. We do not have. You have a clean bathroom. We do not have that. You have Parks and we do not have Parks. You have all the thing and we do not have all the thing. Can you help us?" (an 8 year old in the Bronx)

In addition to these quotes, Kozol describes severely overcrowded schools and classrooms, classrooms in California where students attend school year round with no air conditioning, bathrooms that are constantly under stocked and frequently not working correctly.  He continues by examining the curriculum of these schools which is described as “pre-packaged” lessons which are “intended "to ensure that all teachers-even novices or the most inept"-would be able to teach reading. (Kozol, 16).

Kozol also interviews teachers about the common practices that they are forced to enact in their classrooms.  Many teachers that he spoke with admit that they don’t agree or aren’t sure about their “professional ethics” (Kozol, 16) surrounding such a cookie cutter approach to education.  Their fear is that if they stray from the educational practices as determined by the principal, they may lose their jobs.

At the end of his article, Kozol demands a response from people to work to change this huge discrepancy that is facing schools.  He states, "If it takes people marching in the streets and other forms of adamant disruption of the governing civilities, if it takes more than litigation, more than legislation, and much more than resolutions introduced by members of Congress, these are prices we should be prepared to pay." (Kozol, 22)  It has been far too long, and far too many students have suffered the consequences of these inequalities in education.  As stated in the beginning of the article, "You're either part of the solution, or part of the problem" - Eldridge Cleaver, 1968, and Kozol challenges all of us to become a part of the solution.