Savage Inequalities Reflection

Segregation in school systems still exist today because of the inequalities among different
classes and races. In the book Savage Inequalities: Children in Americas School written by
Jonathan Kozol discusses the difference between education in different communities. East St.
Louis is a small city in Illinois that has one of the highest poverty and crime rate in the United
States. The city is composed of 98 percent blacks and the majority of the families are on welfare
and are unemployed. At East St. Louis High school, the school is run down. The city has broken
sewage pipes and in two occasions the school had to been closed down as there was a flood from
the sewage. Due to budget cuts teachers were lay off which meant that student vs teacher ratio
increase. In order to save money the school hired permanent substitute teachers .Even music
and sports programs were cut off. The football field is missing everything and the coach has to
fund his own footballs and equipment to at least allow some students to have access to the
facility. The chemistry labs are so outdated that students dont have the right equipment to do
labs.
Irl Solomons history class is one of the highlights of the school. Mr. Solomon devotes
his time in urban schools for more than 30 years. After pursing one semester in law school, he
decided it wasnt for him and decided to teach in the toughest places hoping to make a difference
in the lives of unprivileged kids.
In comparison, a high school in the suburban of New York resembled a different
environment. The schools architecture is like an Englands prep school. The school has a
majority of white students. They have pride in their school and the principal is eager for someone
to visit the schools. The school has student lounges where students can hang out and be
comfortable reading. They have a large library where students do homework and read from

sophisticated books and newspapers such as the New York Times. Most of the students learn
several foreign-languages and take advancement placement classes. In their classes the students
engage in discussions and use refine language.
In regards to equality and race the students agreed that the difference of funds in schools
matter in what the schools can offer. In addition, they agreed that racial integration for example,
busing urban school kids to elite schools would bring conflict and certain standards would
decrease. They also agreed that by students have equality some poor students would not fully
participate and be as engage to their learning because there are disadvantages like lack of
motivation for instance.
Jennifer, a student who whose family is originally from the Bronx responded that
schools in the Bronx are hell and that is the reason they move. She thinks its unfair that people
in that area have to play taxes to benefit schools in the Bronx. Since it wont benefit them as
much as their schools since they dont take the initiative to want it for themselves.
In my opinion, I think it is unfair the inequality of the public education system among
different classes and races. Schools in poor areas deserve funding as much as the wealthy.
Although, I agree that some students wont take advantage of all the opportunities because some
dont take school as serious. I think the government doesnt want to fund the poor schools
because they think the students will fail and dont deserve nice services and faculties because
they would destruct them. However, I think poor schools should be improve by giving them the
chance to prove them deserve to have successful futures.
Personally, I think our education system has changed. Today, we have large portion of
minorities attend colleges. I think it is great that colleges choose students based the

competiveness of their own school since not everyone has the same resources it wouldnt be fair
to compete bases on privilege and unprivileged students. In order to solve the educational gap
among different classes and races it would be appropriate to start small and educate parents first
and motivate children in poor areas the importance of education.