Class 11 Readings

Class 11 Readings

1.       The Times observed, “the New York City school system last week admitted that the Higher Horizons program is being closed down.” (Kozol ch. 8, pg.189)

This quote is interesting to me because throughout this whole chapter it talks about how the New York Times has an influential role in the public schools. Everything that was happening in the school system, The Times was reporting on it. I just do not think that the media or newspaper should have this much of a role in what is going on in the public school system. In all honestly it is really just the newspaper, because I never see stories about the education problems on the TV news, but it is always in the newspaper. Why does the newspaper have the right to leak everything going on behind closed doors? It is funny how the newspaper is the first media to leak the positive when everything in the Higher Horizons program was going smooth, but it is also the first to talk about the negative when it closes down after a long run in years. I understand our public education is “public,” but the positive and negative aspects of something should only be for the people involved in the school, such as, teachers, parents, and students.

2.       “Here Are Seven Ideas That Work”-remarkably enough, exactly the same number that The Times identified a decade earlier. (Kozol ch.8, pg. 195)

This amazes me that throughout ten years of education, the times still only have seven ideas that work and seven reasons why the education is good. This brings up the question, what has the public really been doing in a decade? Or this could have just been a media trick to bring down the “flawed” education system.  What I get out of this quote is that the public education is not doing their job by teaching students. They have been settling for the same techniques and teaching styles from 1991 to 2001, a decade of the same stuff. The funny thing about this quote is how Kozol says “remarkably enough,” kind of like he is making a joke of the public education in the inner cities because there has not been any real improvement. You think ten years there would be some kind of change, whether little or dramatic. I am going to be a future educator and I can tell you there is definitely more than seven reason why the public school system is working or works.

3.       Rudy Crew, a black administrator who was also greeted…………Right or wrong he was convinced that much of the harsh treatment he’d received in his last year in office had been tinged with racial condescension….  (Kozol ch.8, pgs. 197-198)

After reading this quote it’s funny to think how times have changed in the United State over the past few years. To think a black principal was being treated unfairly, receiving harsh treatment, mainly because of the color of his skin. Now, in 2010 we have an African-American president leading our country, oh have times changed or what? But when I read this quote it becomes clear to me that it is much easier to treat a principal harshly because of his skin color than treating the President of The United States harshly because of his skin color. After this quote, he goes on saying that many of the other black school officials would have to agree with the statement from Rudy Crew, which makes it clear we had or have a problem in the education system when it comes to African American authority figures. It amazes me we still have these racial issues in the working world, especially education, to this day. So does this mean Rudy Crew was let go or fired because of the pressure other people put on the board of education or did he really deserve to be fired?

4.       After Clark threw out 300 students who were often late for class or had high absence rates, who he described as parasites and leeches. Two thirds of the students he threw out ended up in Passaic County Jail.  (Kozol ch.8, pg. 199)

After reading this quote, readers can go two ways with this, either for or against, but in my opinion I think I, myself, stand in the middle. Okay, it was proven that Clark initiative to throw students out of his school if they had high absence rates or late for classes had a positive effect on the schools profile. But, as a teacher or administrator should we only be worried about the school? There is another part of this quote that refers to the students who were kicked out of the school. It says that two thirds of the student who were thrown out ended up in the county jail, so was Clark doing a good thing? I told you I stand in the middle of this tactic because it benefits the school, but it does not benefit the students. It says in the book that Clark was applauded for this tactic, but can you really applaud the man? I feel he just gave up on the students, instead of educating and giving them chances, but most of all listening to them and seeing why they were having these problems in school. Kicking the students out just put them back on the streets, so it was as if Clark was telling these kids they were no good. That’s not how education should be handled.

5.       I don’t believe a good school or a good school system can be built on miracles or on the stunning interventions of dramatically original and charismatic men or women. (Kozol ch.8, pg. 200)

This quote is the complete opposite of the one above. Clark was known to be a strong principal and some believed he changed the school himself. But this says that not one man or woman is responsible for miracles in the school. I have to agree with Kozol when he says this because making education better is a group effort. Changing schools for the good take an equal amount of effort from the teachers, students, and parent. All three of these people need to have voices pertaining to the education and they have to work together to make their voices heard. I think what Kozol is trying to say is that building a good school or school system takes time, just like everything else in the world and people cannot dramatically come in to the school and expect quick change, and I agree. Yes, I believe it is good to have original and charismatic people in the education system, but it takes a huge effort as a whole to provide change. So do tactics such as cleaning house with students or teachers work?

6.       “As far as intelligence is concerned, the tests have told the truth…..” (Kozol ch.8, pg. 211)

I have to say I do not agree with this quote one bit. In Kozols book he uses a quote by Lewis Terman, an educational psychologist, who believed that intelligence was directly related to race. What? This belief is out of control and I cannot believe people that ignorant take place in the world. The first problem is that Lewis is referring to the all and mighty test scores that so many educators care about. The only people who care about test scores are the administrators, because test scores do not explain how intelligent a student is or can be. To be honest I had low SAT scores, but I happened to think I am a very intelligent person and student. In my eyes, test score are bogus.  The other problem is, Lewis Terman actually thought that races of lower intelligence should actually be segregated in schools and classes. These races included Mexicans, Negroes, and Indians. I mean, come on, how absurd is this thought? But as ignorant is Lewis Terman was, he was right in a ways, because inner city schools are still segregated to this day.