The Shame of the Nation by Jonathan Kozol: A Review
Melissa Galindo
English 96
Marc Scott
OCT/5/2014
Hitting them hardest when they're small
The Shame of the Nation was written in 2005 by author Jonathan Kozol. In this book he discusses how underprivileged children in lower-income school districts are treated differently than the children in middle-class school districts. The middle-class children have easy access to pre-school but very few children in the lower-classes have access to pre-school. As a result, when lower-classes are finally able to attend school, they are below the grade level set by government, they are forced to deal with overfilled class rooms, unskilled teachers and inadequate resources. The children in financially restricted school districts must take and pass the same exams as the children who have had access to better schooling since they were a toddlers. He notes how tough it is for kids to do well under these circumstances and that those who do well are considered to have courageous talents. Kozol uses comparison and description to persuade the readers something needs to be done about the issues. Kozol uses comparisons to persuade readers that the way we treat some schools is bias. One very obvious way is the pay difference between teachers in wealthier school districts and teachers in financially restricted school districts. Teachers that are in richer school districts have a higher level of education and get paid a salary of $38,000 more a year than teachers with a lower- level of education in poverty-stricken school districts. So what does this tell us? This tells us educators with a higher level of education are more likely to seek or be sought out for employment in wealthier areas and teachers with lower level of education are not sought out and often end up looking for a job in a poverty-stricken school districts. This leaves the children to suffer the consequences; for instance lower test scores and classes being cut like music and art, which plays a
English 96
Marc Scott
OCT/5/2014
Hitting them hardest when they're small
The Shame of the Nation was written in 2005 by author Jonathan Kozol. In this book he discusses how underprivileged children in lower-income school districts are treated differently than the children in middle-class school districts. The middle-class children have easy access to pre-school but very few children in the lower-classes have access to pre-school. As a result, when lower-classes are finally able to attend school, they are below the grade level set by government, they are forced to deal with overfilled class rooms, unskilled teachers and inadequate resources. The children in financially restricted school districts must take and pass the same exams as the children who have had access to better schooling since they were a toddlers. He notes how tough it is for kids to do well under these circumstances and that those who do well are considered to have courageous talents. Kozol uses comparison and description to persuade the readers something needs to be done about the issues. Kozol uses comparisons to persuade readers that the way we treat some schools is bias. One very obvious way is the pay difference between teachers in wealthier school districts and teachers in financially restricted school districts. Teachers that are in richer school districts have a higher level of education and get paid a salary of $38,000 more a year than teachers with a lower- level of education in poverty-stricken school districts. So what does this tell us? This tells us educators with a higher level of education are more likely to seek or be sought out for employment in wealthier areas and teachers with lower level of education are not sought out and often end up looking for a job in a poverty-stricken school districts. This leaves the children to suffer the consequences; for instance lower test scores and classes being cut like music and art, which plays a