In this detailed and shocking book, Jonathan Kozol describes the horrific and unjust conditions in which many children in todays society are forced to get their education. Kozol discusses three major reasons for the discrepancies in Americas schools today: disparities of property taxes, racism, and the conflict between state and local control. The first of these reasons is that of the differences of available property tax revenues. Kozol discusses the inconsistencies in property tax revenues and the problem that the poorer districts arent getting the same opportunities for education as the more affluent neighborhoods. He says the reason for this is that the poorer districts dont receive as much money as the affluent districts because their property isnt worth as much, therefore they get less money in return. Therefore, if they demand more money for the school systems, they end up taxing themselves more money. Kozol uses shocking statistics to get the readers attention. For instance, a classroom in Chicago received approximately $90,000 less each year than would have been spent on them if they were pupils of a school such as New Trier High (54). Kozol also discusses a solution for this problem, the Foundation Program, which is meant to set a standard of basic or minimum education for the less fortunate neighborhoods. Although this program seems to work on the surface, it makes a bigger gap between the rich and poor districts. Using descriptive details and scenarios, he informs the reader of the awful conditions these children attend school in. For example, he tells about a conversation with a little boy whose sister was raped and murdered, but the child cannot recall if this took place last week or last year. These children suffer many health problems, including terrible pain in their teeth from bad dental health. They are also subjected to dreadful amounts of sewage in their schools and in their backyards, contaminating th...
