Introduction
The book centers on dynamic processes in the American society. The major focus in the book’s content is on the concentration of the black and Hispanic students in schools. In some of the American schools, the entire students’ body engrosses pure races. It exposes schools where the entire students’ body might comprise of the blacks, or alternatively Hispanic individuals. This book emerges the contents and the particulars from a survey. The author conducted an extensive survey in most of the public schools in America. Kozol visited above 60 public institutions for the publication of the book. This is an approximate figure of the extensive survey. Definitely, this study was an informative mechanism about the social stratification in America. It brings a vivid analysis of the social system via the extensive evaluation of the public institutions.
According to his study, the findings were not as pleasant. The conditions in the schools recorded a worse trend in the past 50 years. In the past 50 years, the Supreme Court conducted a significant move in the condition of the institutions. The Court had dismantled the policy of segregation in schools. The regime had tossed the existence of the segregated institutions in America. The policy of the segregated schools advocated for the principle that indicated equality in separation. This was a definite reflection of antagonistic co-existence in the schools. The social stratification was mainly amid the wealthy whites and the blacks who lived squalid lives. These features mark the era that the Supreme Court dismantled the segregated institutions in America. As indicated previously, Kozol’s survey recorded a worse state. This condition was a major affliction to the inner-city children in America.
Re-segregation is a process that has been existent after the dismantlement. Since 1990, endorsement of the black apprentices to white schools has taken a depriving trend. This exercise recorded a dismal performance in the American institutions. Indeed, this recorded the lowest trend. This trend has spread all over the nation in a minimum span. Over this era, it remains a national concern. This is after the situation graduated from a regional concern. The crisis had lacked attention from all sectors. The media was as well very reluctant towards exposing the facts in the American institutions. Kozol had an obligation to expose the submerged condition. He conducted an extensive survey and made a publication. The book tackles diverse issues on the segregation of the American institutions. According to Kozol, a segregated institution could engross 98% of the entire populace as the blacks and Latinos. He tackles this disparity in his book. This is definitely inclusive of the aspects that engulf the segregation in the institutions. The disparity manifests in diverse factors like the expenditure. The institutions in the central cities and in the suburbs have deviant allocation of budgets. The school facilities in diverse metropolitans also recorded deviant allocations. According to his survey, closely located schools provide an entirely varied opportunity scope. In this case, it was evident that the white schools provided more opportunities than the black schools. This was a constant factor regardless of the location proximity of the institutions.
Martin Luther King and Thurgood Marshall were historic combatants of the racial disparity. It is a frustrating phenomenon that the schools named after them are defenders of segregation. This is an immense dishonor towards the efforts of the significant combatants. These institutions are key perpetuators of contemporary segregation. These urban institutions exhibit an elevated degree of segregation. According Kozol’s survey, the institutions engrossed the highest percentages of the minorities. For instance, Thurgood Marshall Elementary school reflects a 95% record in the number of minorities. Definitely, majority of the apprentices in these institutions are foreign towards the efforts of the heroes. This is regardless of the tag of the institutions. The students do not recognize the deeds of the significant heroes. This entire condition in the institution is highly attributable to the segregation in the urban centers, for instance, there is a lofty segregation trend in New York. These trends are an immense dishonor of the anti-segregation heroes.
The disparity has a starting point. The inequality amid the whites and the minorities initializes at a specific spot. The whites emerge from the suburbs. The minorities dominantly hail from the urban centers. The starting point of the disparity is mainly before the acquisition of formal education. The disparity reflects in recessive bits before the infants gain access to the formal education. In this stage, the inequality does not take a lofty trend. In this stage, the majority of the underserved minorities does not gain access to pre-school. This trend is attributable to the limited resources since the preschool programs require funding from the educational system. This factor has an immense effect on the underserved minorities. It contributes towards segregation.
Urban public schools follow a particular educational system. The system defines their entire curriculum and the levels of success in the institutions. Tutors in the urban schools teach the recommended curriculum to the students. Much of the curriculum lacks flexibility. The students in the public schools limit their focus on a single curriculum that emerges from the educational system. The regime advocates for this system since it maintains formality. This educational system entails an immense demerit. The schoolchildren undergo much frustration in the announcement of their reading levels. Level 1 marks the lowest as Level 4 marks the highest. At the annunciation, the children take the brand of their performance. For instance, a person may refer to a student as a Level 2. This is a dominant phenomenon in public schools. This causes much negative impact on the students in public schools. Consequently, teachers spend much time in promoting the students rather than educating them.
There exists some curriculum shifts in the urban schools. These shifts are non-existent in the affluent institutions. In the urban institutions, teachers lay much emphasis on the aspect of jobs in the class. The regime recommends this curriculum in the urban institutions. The teachers tend to affiliate job themes in the lessons throughout the day. This trend emerges from Elementary levels of education. In this scenario, learning is definitely not the basic requirement. It appears as a secondary objective in the classroom. Job posts appear in pinned form in the institutions. In the urban institutions, the students have the encouragement to choose their career path. They believe that the choice dictates their course work in the institution. Evidently, college education lacks effective advocacy. In the urban institutions, the local corporations are responsible towards the additions in the schools’ curriculum. This paints the entire institution with managerial themes. This does not exist in the suburb institutions. This deprives the academic performance of the urban institutions.
The examination systems are very deviant in urban and suburb institutions. Examinations are a paramount tool towards testing the performance and the content of the students in a course. The terms and conditions of the examinations manifest diverse effects on the students. In the urban institutions, high stakes tests have a destructive effect on the students. Evidently, failure is significantly attributable to limited resources around the students. In the urban schools, there are drastic measures that raise the scores. This move significantly impedes the flexibility of the curriculum. This fact justifies the rigid curriculum in the urban institutions. The urban institutions give standardized tests to 6-year-old children. These students undergo much frustration in examination. The majority of them cannot read effectively. This is understandable due to their developmental stage. The failure of these exams stipulates that students to repeat several grades. This fact justifies the elevated rates of dropouts in the urban institutions.
The separation amid the privileged and the minority children marks an elevating trend. The affluent schools require a prior application of approximately one year. This is a challenge to the minorities. The minority parents who cannot comprehend English cannot fill these applications. Additionally, these applications only target the literate. The minorities only have a single choice of registering their children in the urban schools. Many segregated schools are in a state of disrepair. The negative appearance of the institutions deprives the motivation of the students to be in school. Overcrowding is a dominant feature in the segregated schools. The trailers are insufficient and leak throughout. The institutions lack the sufficient supply of the general facilities such as books, desks, among others. The educational system formulates programs to improvise the conditions in segregated schools. These programs exist as ideals since they lack implementation procedures.
