In chapter 8 Kozol touches on something that is so important for us as future teachers, and I don’t know why we aren’t talking about it more in our education classes. That is “No Child Left Behind” and the idea of accountability. The chapter starts out discussing programs that are meant to help students in low income schools succeed, and the failure and false promise of those programs. Declaring their purpose was to “help children who do not live up to their potential” Kozol talks about several programs with catchy names and slogans to suit. Also discussed is the idea of “authentic heroes” in the school system and principals like Joe Clark who “walk the halls with a bullhorn and a baseball bat”. The men in this chapter who make real changes in the school systems either resign or are fired, while Joe Clark is some sort of national hero and ends up the subject of a film. Still, the most interesting part of this chapter has to do with the federal policies about education, the history behind them and the way schools react. The result is cheating and lying about test scores, such as the school system in
Texas, or holding teachers accountable for the inability of a school to make improvements in test scores deemed appropriate by the president. Also disturbing is the misuse, or lack of use, of funds for education.
In chapter nine Kozol explains that integrating schools by bussing or crossing over districts is happening in Milwaukee, Louisville and
St. Louis and it is successful. Once children can break through the initial awkward social situations that they experience, they seem to have no problem working together and forming friendships. Kozol points out that black students who attend an integrated school are more likely to go to college, graduate and have a successful career. Gary Orfield suggests that the most effective way to tackle the segregation problem is to take it on with the same upheaval and political mayhem as was done during the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. The most important part of this chapter, in my opinion is that Kozol points out that most parents, community leaders and teachers support integration of schools. Not only is this beneficial academically for minority students, but the socioeconomic boundaries are crossed and crushed….even if just temporarily. Orfield is smart to point out that Kozol shouldn’t try to take on
New York at once, that he should start smaller and work his way up.
