Summary Of Public Education By Jonathan Kozol

"In a sixth grade classroom, brownish clumps of plaster dot the ceiling where there once were sound-absorbing tiles" (p. 137). “We don’t have encyclopedias in classrooms. That is for the suburbs” (p. 85). These words are not my own - I am quoting from Jonathan Kozol, a Harvard-educated activist who observed several school districts spanning the range of the socioeconomic spectrum, from industrial Camden, New Jersey, to tony Great Neck, New York. In his time at each of these schools, he uncovers many truths that governments and the wealthy tend to glaze over in discussions of educational fund allocation. Through his vivid descriptions and carefully selected phrasing, he moves the reader to appreciate the significant chasm between public education for the rich and for the poor. Overall, the variety of examples demonstrate our society's inability to unite

As I write this, and the reader reads, there are children who are thrown into buildings that barely pass for schools. They are educated without proper materials, and in many cases, without a teacher. In other places, there are teachers who are masters of pedagogy and command the room with their engaging lectures. There are students who perform elaborate experiments on Bunsen burners. It is for public education's transformation into the latter that Jonathan Kozol writes so emotionally and thoughtfully. His beliefs ring true - why should any student have any advantage over another? Why should a wealthy runner be given the head start in the educational race? As Kozol points out, "All of these children say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. Whether in the New York suburbs, Mississippi, or the South Bronx, they salute the same flag. They place their hands across their hearts and join their voices in a tribute to “one nation indivisible” which promises liberty and justice to all people" (p.