‘A Deep Wedge Between the Races’

Noted education writer Jonathan Kozol is so concerned about No Child Left Behind that he's on a 'partial fast' to oppose reauthorization of the law.

By Peg Tyre | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Sep 20, 2007 | Updated: 2:02  p.m. ET Sep 27, 2007

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  • Posted By: MistyCarmichael @ 03/22/2008 8:14:41 AM

    In the Central Valley of California the reason test scores are low is because of the enormous number of students that disrespect their teachers, bully their classmates, and disrupt the classroom. I am shocked at student behavior. Many "minority" parents declare they have little or no influence over their child's behavior when the school administrators and teachers contact them. Here in the Central Valley the "minority" is the majority. All races get the same opportunity at an education except that the "minorities" have more programs to help them.

  • Posted By: RashiKesarwani @ 12/17/2007 9:42:08 PM

    Uhh...isn't NCLB bad for everyone, regardless of race? Perhaps Kozol means to say that blacks and browns always face the brunt of bad policy b/c they're often already screwed in woefully underfunded schools. The federal government ought to step in to ensure that schools in poor neighborhoods, at the very least, receive the same level of funding as rich schools. Can we have, say, a tenth of what we've spent in Iraq, please?

    • Posted By: sammy2008 @ 12/23/2007 8:16:10 AM

      Didn't you hear that the new spending bill just went through Congress? It gives just over $60 Billion to U.S. Education and $70 Billion to continuing the wars in Iraq and Afganistan... That's more than 1/10! See, now that you know, don't you feel better?

  • Posted By: sammy2008 @ 12/23/2007 8:15:22 AM

    Didn't you hear that the new spending bill just went through Congress? It gives just over $60 Billion to U.S. Education and $70 Billion to continuing the wars in Iraq and Afganistan... That's more than 1/10! See, now that you know, don't you feel better?

  • Posted By: DJW123 @ 11/20/2007 12:08:29 PM

    A wedge between the races or a wedge between economic classes? Are poor white children not receiving a similar education as the poor black and hispanic children? This man seems to be oversimplifying the issue and is assumming that poor children who are affected the most are only children of color.

  • Posted By: fayz @ 11/12/2007 5:50:50 PM

    Comment: There is a huge demand on reading, writing and mathematics that the arts are left far behind, or are totally discredited. What we fail to realize is that we need the entire combination to produce innovation. A fair number of children think that school is boring! We need to rethink our education process and make it more hands on.

  • Posted By: B.E.JRobinson @ 10/24/2007 10:04:08 AM

    It saddens me a great deal when I discuss "No Child Left Behind", many of the parents that this act effects dont even truly know what it is or requires. As a junior in high school knowing more than parents about something that affects their children now and forever is sickening. We must ban together students and parents and demand change from those in Washington, who are supposed to be representing us!

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