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Mira, Jessica
Professor Ortega
Sociology 001
April 5, 2018

Savage Inequalities

In Jonathan Kozol’s book Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools we are

presented with the various inequalities that the education system in America faces. Although a

few educational institutions invest large amounts of money into their school not everyone has the

same equal opportunity. Many schools are still suffering and unable to provide basic learning

tools for their students. Most of these differences in opportunity lies based on an individual’s

social class or even race.

These educational inequalities are showcased in Kozol’s account of visiting Irl

Solomon’s history class. After reading accounts from journalists of Solomon’s high esteem at

East St. Louis High, he decides to pay a visit. Solomon is a devoted teacher that has been

teaching for almost 30 years. What is unusual about Solomon is that he attended a private

university and graduated and got accepted into law school but ended up withdrawing because he

felt that he had another calling. Solomon felt that he needed to find the place that needed him the

most, a place that was tough and if he liked it there, then that’s where he needed to be. Solomon

shares the adversities his students are faced with while attending school. Teenage pregnancy,

living in a low-income neighborhood, low-graduation rate, lack of school equipment (no lab

equipment or typewriters), and even deficiency of proper teachers, are all the adversities that the

young, coming-of-age men and women face. However, it isn’t the hardships these children face
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that take Kozol aback, but rather the words that he hears from a young 14-year-old girl. When

Kozol asked the students what they have learned about the civil right campaigns throughout

school, he found out that the young students are very observant. The students claim that there is

irony in attending a school named after an important civil rights figure to only be faced with a

school that has been neglected, a school that is suffering from infrastructure problems, and the

doors have been chained. The young girl believes this is occurring because they are a school of

only black children, a segregated school.

What happens when a student leaves behind the hardships of a bad neighborhood? Do

you believe that they would give back and give a lending hand to those in need? A student

named Jennifer that currently attends a suburban Rye, New York school has a few interesting

points of view regarding the topic. Jennifer is a student that originally lived in the Bronx, New

York and attended the schools that she defined as “hell”. Jennifer believes that to progress in life,

it is essentially up to the individual to do whatever is possible to get out of a bad situation.

Jennifer feels no sympathy for the people her family left behind and feels that there is no reason

for people that are more financially secure to pay more taxes to help these low-income schools,

claiming that in no way would it benefit her.

The differences between East St. Louis and the school in Rye, New York are

overwhelming to say the least. Unlike the school in Rye, East St. Louis is affected not only but

its infrastructure but by the urban environments it is immersed in. Poor sewage systems, school

employee layoffs (include teachers, cooks, cafeteria workers, teacher aides, custodians, painters,

electricians, engineers, and plumbers), subpar learning environments (outdated classrooms), and

overcrowding of students are all issues that the school must face to get by each day. Those issues

are nonexistent to the school in Rye. The school in Rye is a school that resembles a New
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England Prep School. A new restored auditorium, a student lounge, lack of student diversity

(mainly white or Asian students), wide range of extracurricular and advanced placements classes,

are all features that the school in Rye possess. While examining both schools the differences can

be spotted early on: fiscal dissimilarities, racial incorporation into schools, and the lack of

motivation to help underprivilege kids are evident.

After examining and reflecting on my own experiences I feel that in certain areas changes

and accomplishments have taken place that affect change, most notably racially segregated

schools in public school is illegal. It has been 64 years since the Supreme Court decided to end

school segregation in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education – thus creating one of the

biggest changes in the educational system. However, in the grand scheme of the education

system, I believe that not much has changed since then. Many schools are still suffering from

lack of opportunities, whether it be because of funds or not enough people wanting to help them

out. This has stayed this way because many people share the same mentality as the student

named Jennifer in Kozol’s book. Many people do not care about issues that do not directly affect

them. People tend to think that it is not up to them to lend out a helping hand, but it is up to the

specific individual to get themselves out of those subpar environments. Due to this mentality,

schools are failing the children they are set up to help.