Shame of the Nation
Both of my classes this semester are a little more advanced than last semester and I'm in with a fair number of other folks who want to be math teachers. Last week, my Geometry teacher told us going into secondary ed. that we were "really brave" for teaching HS in the public schools. She pointed out that in the less-white, less economically priviledged schools around here the kids aren't even allowed to have textbooks, the teacher has to photocopy everything for the students. One young, white fellow classmate of mine commented "why can't they just do like my high school did and charge the kid/family for any books that are lost" and my teacher just looks at him and asks him where he went to school, and of course he went to a mostly white suburban upper class school.
I just ordered Kozol's "The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America " which deals with this subject matter. You can find an interesting interview with him here.
I just ordered Kozol's "The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America " which deals with this subject matter. You can find an interesting interview with him here.