Author: Jean Anyon

Presenters: Mr. Jim Glass

Mr. Thomas E. Ferrell Jr.
Mr. Tyrus T. Lyles
Imagine…..
Jonathan
Derrick
Random
Student
 Few of these reforms have reached the
schools that I have seen. In each of the larger
cities there is usually one school or one sub
district which is highly publicized as an
example of restructured education; but the
changes rarely reach beyond this one
example…
 … Even those schools where some
restructuring has taken place…it struck me as
very little more than moving around the same
old furniture within the house of poverty. The
perceived objective was a more “efficient”
ghetto school or one with greater “input”
from the ghetto parents or more “choices” for
the ghetto children…
 … The fact of ghetto education as a
permanent American reality appeared to be
accepted.
Urban Math Classroom
In New Jersey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww
Cities, Urban Schools, and
Current Visions of
Educational Reform
• Here, Anyon begins to set the stage for
convincing readers of this text that
"educational change in the inner city, to
be successful, has to be part and parcel of
more fundamental social change" (p.13).
• Is fundamental educational change in
America’s ghetto schools really going to
result from reordered relations among
teachers and administrators?
• Throughout Ghetto Schooling, Anyon
presents evidence to answer these
questions with a resounding, "no."
 Social Class, Race, and
Educational Reform at Marcy
School
• Attitudes toward students at Marcy School
as hostile, with teachers making remarks
to students such as: " 'You're disgusting;
you remind me of children I would see in
jail or something’" (p.29).
• Anyon was careful to inform the reader
that many of the abusive remarks were
coming from teachers of the same race
and ethnic origin as the students (i.e.,
Black and Hispanic).
The Decline of Newark,
New Jersey
• “Between 1880 and 1920, more than
200,000 immigrants arrived in Newark"
(p.42).
• By the turn of the century, more than one-
half of those working in industrial Newark
were foreign born
• Growth in the number of city residents
contributed to the blight that would come
to characterize urban America—over-
population and insufficient infrastructure.
• Those who had the financial means started
moving out of the city and settled in
suburban neighborhoods.
The Increase of African
American Residents in
Newark
• Unlike European immigrants, African
Americans were not afforded opportunities
to benefit from the booming industry in
Newark.
• Most companies in the Newark area did
not hire Negroes.
• Of the approximately 4,000 employees in
the Essex County banks of Newark, only
150 were Negroes.
• All of these except three or so who were
tellers, either held custodial, messenger,
 The Corrupt Mayoral
Tenure of Hugh Addonizio
• "Despite huge increases in numbers
of students, Addonizio did not build
any new schools in his first 4 years,
yet increased the board of education
budget by 75% and raised taxes by
more than 200 points" (p. 109).
 Chronicling the Twenty
Seven Years between 1970
- 1997
• Increasing disparity in funding
between most of New Jersey’s
schools and Newark’s city schools.
• New Jersey is one of the most racially
segregated states in the nation—with
minorities concentrated in urban,
poor areas.
The Lessons Learned in Jean
Anyon’s Review of Newark’s
History:
• As city residents became more poor and
more Black, less money and energy were
expended on the public schools.
• The inequities in school funding in New
Jersey have gotten progressively greater,
and efforts designed to alleviate the
inequities have benefited the middle and
upper classes.
• School appointments based upon a system
of political favors, rather than on efforts to
improve the schools, have led to an
abundance of poorly qualified school
Ghetto Schooling is
• The story of Newark, with varying
degrees of similarity, parallels that of
many urban centers in America--
Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago.
• Newark public schools—one of the
leaders in the common schooling
movement—devolved into a
completely dysfunctional system.
• Racial desegregation of public
There is hope….
• There are high performing schools in
predominantly Black, poor
neighborhoods.
• There are many schools that triumph
over the conditions of poverty and
racial isolation and are safe places,
where children of color are valued,
educated well, and nurtured.
Team Academy, Newark
NJ Charter School
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbn
So…..
 The overarching premise of the
author is that significant investment
in racially, socially, and politically
isolated urban areas must be made if
school improvement (at least) and
the success of the American
democratic social experiment (at
most) are our goals…
 …Investment must come from
state and federal government and
corporate America because these
entities are culpable in the demise of
urban America…
 If poor, urban America is to
participate effectively in this
democracy, significant steps must be
taken to encourage their meaningful
involvement.
 Bibliography
• Anyon, J. (1997). Ghetto Schooling: A
Political Ecomony of Urban Education.
Texas College Press.
• Chesterfield County Public Schools. (2009,
July 1). Retrieved July 6, 2009, from
Chesterfield County Public Schools:
http://www.chesterfield.k12.va.us/
• You Tube. (2007, July 14). Retrieved 2009
6, July, from You Tube: http://youtube.com
• You Tube. (2008, August 1). Retrieved July
6, 2009, from You Tube: