2008 Woodie Awards
Don't miss Kozol's lecture Oct. 10
SAMANTHA REINHART MORA
Guest Opinion
Issue date: 10/5/06 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
On Tuesday, Oct. 10, National Book Award winner and education advocate Jonathan Kozol will speak at 7 p.m. in the Jordan Ballroom of the Student Union Building as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series. Anyone who cares about the state of education, institutionalized racism and the frightening power wielded by corporations in our country should run - not walk - to this
free event.
Kozol, who has worked in and written about schools for more than 40 years, wrote "Shame of the Nation," his 11th book, to decry the re-segregation of our nation's schools. In this gripping and heart-wrenching work, Kozol chronicles the betrayal of Brown vs. Board of Education by politicians and school officials across the nation and reveals how corporate sponsors are shamefully taking advantage of schools in poor districts to further their pecuniary interests.
Throughout the book, Kozol describes the disgraceful conditions of inner-city schools with "empty holes" in the walls, "rooms so cold in winter that the students had to wear their coats to class while kids in other classes sweltered in a suffocating heat that could not be turned down." There are also foul odors caused by overflows of sewage and children who are forced to wait in line for up to an hour for lunch shifts starting at 9:30 a.m.
These conditions in under-funded schools are poignantly described by children who attend these schools: "You have clean things that we do not have. You have a clean bathroom. We do not have that. You have parks and we do not have parks. We don't have no gardens … no Music or Art … no fun places to play … We have a gym, but it is for lining up." The poignant words of children added fuel to the fires of outrage when I read how corporations are taking advantage of these schools.
In "Shame of the Nation," Kozol describes a new model of education in which corporate ideas of management and productivity are embodied in the curriculum. Beginning in the early 1980s and continuing with little deviation right up to the present time, the notion of schools producing "products" who will then produce more wealth for the society has come to be embraced by many politicians and increasingly by principals of inner-city schools that have developed close affiliations with the representatives of private business corporations.
In New York City, for example, such a program was mandated for all elementary schools that had rock-bottom academic records.
In these curriculums, the most a child can aspire to become is a "manager." Kozol describes brain-numbing classrooms where critical thinking skills are discouraged and teachers must adhere to a scripted curriculum in which there is no room for creativity or deviance.
On the walls, instead of posters or displays of children's work, there are corporate logos displayed. Incredulous as this may sound, Kozol describes many of these classrooms across the nation and the oppressive effects they are having on students and teachers.
In "Shame of the Nation," Lucy Calkins (the distinguished literacy specialist at Teachers' College in New York) is quoted as saying: "It would be of great concern to me and most of the people I know if we had an educational apartheid system with one method of instruction for poor kids and another for middle-class kids."
Yet Kozol shows that, beyond a doubt, we see this kind of
educational apartheid in
our country.
Come listen to Kozol to find out more about this reprehensible truth and what we can do to change it.
Samantha Reinhart Mora
is a student in the College of Education
free event.
Kozol, who has worked in and written about schools for more than 40 years, wrote "Shame of the Nation," his 11th book, to decry the re-segregation of our nation's schools. In this gripping and heart-wrenching work, Kozol chronicles the betrayal of Brown vs. Board of Education by politicians and school officials across the nation and reveals how corporate sponsors are shamefully taking advantage of schools in poor districts to further their pecuniary interests.
Throughout the book, Kozol describes the disgraceful conditions of inner-city schools with "empty holes" in the walls, "rooms so cold in winter that the students had to wear their coats to class while kids in other classes sweltered in a suffocating heat that could not be turned down." There are also foul odors caused by overflows of sewage and children who are forced to wait in line for up to an hour for lunch shifts starting at 9:30 a.m.
These conditions in under-funded schools are poignantly described by children who attend these schools: "You have clean things that we do not have. You have a clean bathroom. We do not have that. You have parks and we do not have parks. We don't have no gardens … no Music or Art … no fun places to play … We have a gym, but it is for lining up." The poignant words of children added fuel to the fires of outrage when I read how corporations are taking advantage of these schools.
In "Shame of the Nation," Kozol describes a new model of education in which corporate ideas of management and productivity are embodied in the curriculum. Beginning in the early 1980s and continuing with little deviation right up to the present time, the notion of schools producing "products" who will then produce more wealth for the society has come to be embraced by many politicians and increasingly by principals of inner-city schools that have developed close affiliations with the representatives of private business corporations.
In New York City, for example, such a program was mandated for all elementary schools that had rock-bottom academic records.
In these curriculums, the most a child can aspire to become is a "manager." Kozol describes brain-numbing classrooms where critical thinking skills are discouraged and teachers must adhere to a scripted curriculum in which there is no room for creativity or deviance.
On the walls, instead of posters or displays of children's work, there are corporate logos displayed. Incredulous as this may sound, Kozol describes many of these classrooms across the nation and the oppressive effects they are having on students and teachers.
In "Shame of the Nation," Lucy Calkins (the distinguished literacy specialist at Teachers' College in New York) is quoted as saying: "It would be of great concern to me and most of the people I know if we had an educational apartheid system with one method of instruction for poor kids and another for middle-class kids."
Yet Kozol shows that, beyond a doubt, we see this kind of
educational apartheid in
our country.
Come listen to Kozol to find out more about this reprehensible truth and what we can do to change it.
Samantha Reinhart Mora
is a student in the College of Education
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Denis Lobo M.D.
posted 10/06/06 @ 7:06 AM MST
Samantha, Pl. Check our web site. We are a small San Diego Co. that is building up from bottom up with students, teachers and parents an empowerment of poor urban kids gr 6-12 and community college and Adult Ed. (Continued…)
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