Unequal Opportunities in America's Schools.
Savage Inequalities, written by Jonathon Kozol, is a book about poor children in America's school. Most of the events take place in East St. Louis and Chicago from 1988 to 1990. It describes how racism and money affects the lives of these children. "According to a story published in Life magazine, black leaders in East St. Louis said, "it looked suspiciously like a racist nation"" (Kozol 19). Jonathon Kozol believes that the children in America's school are lacking a good education, safety inside school buildings, and comfort from their peers and elders, all due to racial discrimination and unequal government funding. .
Every child deserves the right to an education. A good education means going to a school that fulfills the needs of every child enrolled. This includes providing books, lab materials, and computers. Many schools in East St. Louis and Chicago, however, do not qualify simply because they don't have enough money. Some schools cannot even afford books. Many of their texts are outdated or are missing pages. Therefore, they are useless to those who read it. One particular school provides only 12 computers for a population of 2,000 students. As a result, many confessed that they have never touched a computer in their lives. One student states, "The typewriters in my typing class don't work" (30). Too many students and too few classrooms can also cause a problem in children's education. Students sometimes must share a classroom with other classes or they may have to move to a tiny room next to the gym, where other kids are playing sports. Such distraction can affect the children's motivation to learn, and therefore cause them to fall behind in school. .
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Safety is also a major concern in schools in America. East St. Louis is described as the most distressed city in America by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (7). It frequently experiences problems such as uncollected trash, chemical spills, toxic air, and exposure to raw sewage.