I confess, I had to take a break from reading Savage Inequalities, because it was so devastating. So I began reading the articles I had printed from the Charlotte Observer. What a refreshing change! It was encouraging to see that there are schools so close to us that are still fighting for the best interests of the students and the teachers. It was interesting though that the theme for the article "Willing to Buck the System' and "How Do You Grow Good Principals?" seem to be similar. It appears that the principals that are showing growth within their schools are not buying into the one-size-fits-all theory. They are allowing teachers to do what is best for their students. They are "bending the rules" and shielding teachers from time consuming tasks and encouraging the energy to be directed towards activities that are more beneficial to the students.

I feel very fortunate to be in a school where that also seems to be the major concern. The decisions put the education and safety of the children first.

O.K., with this break for an optimistic moment, I'll return to Savage Inequalities.

Hi! I also feel very fortunate to teach at a school which has the children and safety as top priorities. While reading Savage Inequalities, I started thinking about the inequalities that exist between the schools in the school system where I teach. Last spring the superintendent wrote an article that was printed in our local newspaper entitled, "We have to fix the inequality among Iredell County schools." I will bring a copy of the article to class on Tuesday.
Elizabeth

Savage Inequalities is a very depressing book. I would hope that the picture isn't as bleak as it is shown but there are many rural schools in the same sad state.

I found "Savage Inequalities" to be difficult reading as well. The disparities among school systems, and even individual schools within systems, very discouraging. It paints such a bleak picture.
On the idea of growing good principals, the one word that came to mind is "flexible." It takes a very flexible person to encourage the creativity that happens in a classroom, and yet manage to serve as a buffer in a large bureaucratic organization. That is no small feat.