On Jonathan Kozol: Passionate Impatience and Savage Inequalities

I remember reading Jonathan Kozol’s Savage Inequalities when I was in high school and having two distinct responses; the first was a sense of relief at the recognition of what I experienced as a student of inner-city public schools (I wasn’t imagining things); the second was a combination of hurt and anger that what I saw and felt was not an isolated experience -- it wasn’t just a symptom of the unique qualities of my school or the city, but was much more pervasive. While I didn’t quite have the vocabulary yet, it, was through reading that book that I began to understand the problem of miseducation for many poor and students of color as systemic.

I recognized this even as I experienced some of the best the system had to offer.  Having been “tracked” from first grade, I had great teachers and participated in great programs.  But I was one of the lucky ones.  My “success” was always colored by the knowledge that such an educational experience was not available to the masses of students who looked like me and who grew up in the same neighborhoods.... And it didn’t feel right.

Kozol’s book included the reflections of students in their own words (students I could identify with) and connected those experiences with policies regarding how schools are funded, governed and managed on a daily basis.  It was an important part of my education as a student and provided more fuel for the engine of justice that helped to propel me through my college years and subsequent career in nonprofit and education work.  I wish I could have been there for his talk, but am glad to be connected through this blog and the presence of my colleagues from ACOE.