Apartheid education, rarely mentioned in the press or openly confronted even among once-progressive educators, is alive and well and rapidly increasing now in the United States. Jonathan Kozol More Quotes by Jonathan Kozol More Quotes From Jonathan Kozol The future teachers I try to recruit are those show have refused to let themselves be neutered in this way, either in their private lives or in the lives that they intend to lead in school. When they begin to teach, they come into their classrooms with a sense of affirmation of the goodness and the fullness of existence, with a sense of satisfaction in discovering the unexpected in their students, and with a longing to surprise the world, their kids, even themselves, with their capacity to leave each place they've been ... a better and more joyful place than it was when they entered it. Jonathan Kozol teacher kids school Political struggle is the most important thing any of us can do as a citizen in a democracy; and that means the old joining the young to fight for elemental kinds of justice. Jonathan Kozol fighting struggle mean Young children give us glimpses of some things that are eternal. Jonathan Kozol glimpse giving children I write books to change the world. Perhaps I can only change one little piece of that world. But if I can empower teachers and good citizens to give these children, who are the poorest of the poor, the same opportunity we give our own kids, then I'll feel my life has been worth it. Jonathan Kozol teacher book children A dream does not die on its own. A dream is vanquished by the choices ordinary people make about real things in their own lives. Jonathan Kozol real dream people I feel, in the end, as if everything I've done has been a failure. Jonathan Kozol done ends feels The White House, in advancing the agenda for a [school] "choice" plan, rests its faith on market mechanisms. What reason have the black and very poor to lend their credence to a market system that has proved so obdurate and so resistant to their pleas at every turn? Jonathan Kozol white education school Nationally, overwhelmingly non-white schools receive $1,000 less per pupil than overwhelmingly white schools. Jonathan Kozol pupils white school The greatest difference between now and 1964, when I began teaching, is that public policy has pretty much eradicated the dream of Martin Luther King. Jonathan Kozol teaching kings dream Placing the burden on the individual to break down doors in finding better education for a child is attractive to conservatives because it reaffirms their faith in individual ambition and autonomy. But to ask an individual to break down doors that we have chained and bolted in advance of his arrival is unfair. Jonathan Kozol ambition doors children The primary victims of Katrina, those who were given the least help by the government, those rescued last or not at all, were overwhelmingly people of color largely hidden from the mainstream of society. Jonathan Kozol government color people Many of us regard ourselves as mildly liberal or centrist politically, voice fairly pleasant sentiments about our poor children, contribute money to send poor kids to summer camp, feel benevolent. We're not nazis; we're nice people. We read sophisticated books. We go to church. We go to synagogue. Meanwhile, we put other people's children into an economic and environmental death zone. We make it hard for them to get out. We strip the place bare of amenities. And we sit back and say to ourselves, "Well, I hope that they don't kill each other off. But if they do, it's not my fault. Jonathan Kozol nice summer children The rich...should beg the poor to forgive us for the bread we bring them. Healthy people sometimes feel they need to beg forgiveness too, although there is no reason why. Maybe we simply ask forgiveness for not being born where these poor women have been born, knowing that if we lived here too, our fate might well have been the same. Jonathan Kozol fate knowing people If we allow public funds to be used to support our relatively benign, morally grounded schools, we will have to allow those public funds to be used for any type of private school. Jonathan Kozol type support school By far the most important factor in the success or failure of any school, far more important than tests or standards or business-model methods of accountability, is simply attracting the best-educated, most exciting young people into urban schools and keeping them there. Jonathan Kozol accountability people school The cause of homelessness is lack of housing. Jonathan Kozol homelessness housing causes Children are not simply commodities to be herded into line and trained for the jobs that white people who live in segregated neighborhoods have available. Jonathan Kozol white jobs children I'd love to go back and teach primary school. I used to teach fourth grade and fifth grade. I'd love to spend several years teaching kindergarten or maybe third grade. Jonathan Kozol teaching years school Children, of course, don't understand at first that they are being cheated. They come to school with a degree of faith and optimism, and they often seem to thrive during the first few years. It is sometimes not until the third grade that their teachers start to see the warning signs of failure. By the fourth grade many children see it too. Jonathan Kozol teacher children school Racial segregation has come back to public education with a vengeance. Jonathan Kozol public-education segregation vengeance
