Has anyone read any of Savage Inequalities yet? IT is quite amazing that any school could even be called said name with such horrible conditions! It is also quite odd that we work so hard to upgrade goodf schools when there is much more work to be done elsewhere. No judgement here, just observing.

This is the second time I have read Savage Inequalities. Again, as I read it, I am disgusted and horrified. It is hard for me to imagine what these kids are feeling and thinking as they attend school everyday in such cities as St. Louis and Chicago. What do these children have to live for if schools are denying our young people a safe haven for dreaming and believing? On top of not having a safe and healthy place to learn a majority of them are dealing with health issues that at their age, they shouldn't be having to deal with. On page 20 (last paragraph) Kozol states, " Although dental problems don't command the instant fears associated with low birth weight, fetal death or cholera, they do have the consequence of wearing down the stamina of children and defeating their ambitions." He further states on pg. 21 (first paragraph) "The gradual attrition of accepted pain erodes their energy and aspiration." Isn't this sad?
When things get rough at my school or I think I have had a bad day, I often think about Savage Inequalities and I then count my blessings for what I have.

Upon first reading Inequalities, I found myself angry and disgusted at the conditions that these children face every day. I attended school in Westchester Co., N.Y. until the age of 14, and although my school was no where near the conditions of the schools mentioned in the book, I am familar with some of the conditions. I also found myself counting my blessings that I am no longer near these conditions. I have realized how safe I feel in the rural and suburban school systems in N.C. However, I am not so sure I like the safe feeling I have. Am I doing all I can by staying in school systems that are not poverty-stricken and in need? I'm not sure...........

I too have read S.I. and each time I delve into Kozol's tome I am amazed at the intensity of my emotions. I am so angered by the gross injustice, it seems to surround me like a fog. It is so much so that when my wife walked in on me as I read S.I., she recoiled and asked me why I was so mad! Perhaps the thought that makes me so upset is the question: What can we do about it?!? It seems so hopeless, so out of control, so unfair that the immensity of the problem staggers the imagination. I want so much to help these children, teachers, and administrators - but I feel helpless, unable to act, and unsure what I might say or do were I given the chance to really affect change. While I feel everyone should read S.I., I almost regret the experience because you so very much want to do something and yet you can't. For me, inaction is depressing and demoralizing and doing nothing is like a gaping wound into my soul that no suture can close.

I agree with you Michael. It is very depressing know that children need help, yet you can't help all of them. It does become frusterating when you know situations are occuring,yet you don't have the means to fix them. I think as educators we need to start small within our communities and focus on aspects that assist in making a difference. Generosity can go a long way. If you spread the wealth and create a domino effect, somehow, someday hopefully we invertly will make a difference in the struggling schools.