1. “Savage Inequalities” Jonathan Kozol
Children In America’s Schools
ED 252
Carlos Amaya
Savage Inequalities

2. Video of East St. Louis
Savage Inequalities

3. Introduction
Savage Inequalities

4. Within Savage Inequalities
• Kozol argues that America’s schools are more segregated now then they were in 1954.
• His points are based on two years of
observations and interviews with students,
teachers, and parents.
• Shows how much work still needs to be done in
public education in the U.S.
Savage Inequalities

5. His Journey 1988 • Set off in 1988 for a two year journey visited
schools and spoke with children in about 30
neighborhoods (Illinois, Washington D.C., New
York, San Antonio, etc.)
• In his travels he was shocked about how much
racial segregation still persists in the public
schools.
Savage Inequalities

6. Brown v. Board of Education
• Kozol found that this supreme court decision
that found segregated education
unconstitutional because it was inherently
Unequal did not have much effect on the urban
schools he visited.
• Schools were percent non-white.
• No school he saw in the US had nonwhite
children in large amounts mixed with white
children.
Savage Inequalities

7. The Reality in East St. Louis
98 % of the population is black
75% are in welfare
1/3 of families earn $7500 per year
The city has one the highest rate of child asthma in the U.S (Kozol p.7)
Underpaid teachers
Lack of textbooks and supplies
East St, Louis is a toxic dumping ground
Budget cutbacks and layoff of 280 teachers, 25 teacher aids, 166 cooks, and 16 custodians. (Kozol p.24)
Savage Inequalities

8. North Lawndale and South Side Chicago, founding is based on property taxes.
Where white people lives homes worth on average $400,000 in 1990, in 2010 $1.8 million.
Teachers salaries average above $60,000
Money spent on each elementary student $7,800
Libraries average 60,000 volumes
High school dropout rates 3%
Counselor ratio 25 to one
North Lawndale
Where most black people lives homes average value $68,000
Teachers salaries bellow $40,000
Money spent on each elementary student $2,900
Libraries average 13,000 volumes
High school dropout rates
from 71 to 81%
Counselor ratio 400 to one
Savage Inequalities

9. Public Education in New York “The contrast between public schools in each of these 2 neighborhoods is obvious to any visitor” (Kozol, 84).
South/ East side of Bronx
Most people who lives here are Black or Hispanic.
Riverdale Northwest of Bronx
Home of the most sophisticated and well educated people live( mostly White)
Savage Inequalities

10. Public Education in New York
Riverdale Northwest of Bronx
South/ East side of Bronx
Expenditure per pupil from $11,000 -$15,000
Most children at Riverdale are white or Asian, if they are Hispanic or black they are usually placed in a “special” class.
The elementary school in Riverdale has windows that are decorated with attractive brightly colored curtains that look out on flowering trees.
Expenditure per student $5,500
This can not be compared to some schools in the South side where there are no windows.
Footnote: Kozol mentions that if in N.Y city 90% 0f inmates are former school dropouts. The cost of yearly incarceration for each inmate is $60,000 far less that it would cost to provide a decent education to each student.
Savage Inequalities

11. Camden, New Jersey Camden (mostly Black and Hispanics)
Cherry hills ( White neighborhood)
The 4-poorest city of more than 50,000 people in the U.S
Its children have the highest rate of poverty in the U.S
Has 200 liquor stores, 180 gambling establishments, no movie theater, 1 chain supermarket.
“East Orange” high school, 99.9 Black students, 2000 students, no tract field, no weight room, and only 4 physical educators
Example of “ Mount Clair” high school, it has 1,900 students, with 4 gyms, outdoor/indoor tract field, weight rooms, wrestling rooms, 13 full-time physical educators
Savage Inequalities

12. Washington D.C
One is the Washington of cherry blossoms, the sparkling white monuments, the magisterial buildings of government…, of politics and power” (Kozol p. 181)
Affluent neighborhoods
Schools that receive more money and resources.
Just a mile away, the other world is known as Anacostia.” (Kozol p. 181)
Schools with very little resources and money.
Schools with holes in the walls and ceilings.
School flooding and rats in the cafeteria.
Savage Inequalities

13. The Dream Deferred, Again, in San Antonio
“…a society in which a family’s wealth has no relation to the probability of future educational attainment and wealth and station it affords. By this standard, education offered to poor children should be at least as good as that which is provided to the children of the upper-middle class.” (Kozol p.207)
Savage Inequalities

14. San Antonio, Texas Located in San Antonio, Texas
96% of students are nonwhite.
Edgewood’s residents pay one the highest tax rates in the area.
Edgewood spent $231 for each student whereas, Alamo Heights, the richest section of the city, was able to spend $543 on each student. (Kozol, p. 214)
Savage Inequalities

15. A class Action Suit
Resident Demetrio Rodriguez and other parents filed a class-action suit on behalf of their children. “ A sample of 110 Texas districts at the time showed that ten wealthiest districts spent an average of three times as much per pupil as the four poorest districts…” (Kozol p. 214) The federal district court in San Antonio ruled that Texas was in violation of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. This was appealed and reversed
heights is a part of San Antonio but operates as a separate system.
Twenty-three years later…
Alamo Texas’s school funding system was found to be unconstitutional under state law.
Later the Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision.
Savage Inequalities

16. Conclusion
“All of our children ought to be allowed a stake in the enormous richness of America. Whether they were to poor white Appalachians or to wealthy Texans, to poor black people in the Bronx or to rich people in Manhasset or Winnetka, they are all quite wonderful and innocent when they are small. We soil them needlessly (Kozol p. 233)
Savage Inequalities

17. A Different Ending
After Reading this book the president of the United States, the Senate and Congress have unanimously voted to completely overhaul the current education system. Furthermore, they also have agree to equally distribute per pupil expenditure in all school district of the nation and to end once for all student segregation. All schools that are in poor condition will be repaired, fully equipped and staffed. The government is proposing that each school class must have the maximum of 20 students per teacher.
Savage Inequalities

18. A different Ending
In addition, the government is prepare to hire one million teachers for the current year and give a 20% raise to all current teachers. Also, the federal government has issue a new mandate that put an end to standardized testing in all public schools. The government said after reading “Savage Inequalities” by Jonathan Kazol they were touched by these realities and from now on, no more Inequalities in the public school system.
Savage Inequalities

19. Citations
Kozol, J. (1992). Savage Inequalities. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.
Savage Inequalities