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Jonathan Kozol: Why I am Fasting<br><br>
By Jonathan Kozol<br><br>
The Huffington Post -- September 11, 2007<br><br>
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-kozol/why-i-am-fasting-an-expl_b_63622.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-kozol/why-i-am-fasting-an-expl_b_63622.html<br>
<br>
</a>This morning, I am entering the 67th day of a partial<br>
fast that I began early in the summer as my personal<br>
act of protest at the vicious damage being done to<br>
inner-city children by the federal education law No<br>
Child Left Behind, a racially punitive piece of<br>
legislation that Congress will either renew, abolish,<br>
or, as thousands of teachers pray, radically revise in<br>
the weeks immediately ahead.<br><br>
The poisonous essence of this law lies in the mania of<br>
obsessive testing it has forced upon our nation's<br>
schools and, in the case of underfunded, overcrowded<br>
inner-city schools, the miserable drill-and-kill<br>
curriculum of robotic "teaching to the test" it has<br>
imposed on teachers, the best of whom are fleeing from<br>
these schools because they know that this debased<br>
curriculum would never have been tolerated in the good<br>
suburban schools that they, themselves, attended.<br><br>
The justification for this law was the presumptuous and<br>
ignorant determination by the White House that our<br>
urban schools are, for the most part, staffed by<br>
mediocre drones who will suddenly become terrific<br>
teachers if we place a sword of terror just above their<br>
heads and threaten them with penalties if they do not<br>
pump their students' scores by using proto-military<br>
methods of instruction -- scripted texts and hand-held<br>
timers -- that will rescue them from doing any thinking<br>
of their own. There are some mediocre teachers in our<br>
schools (there are mediocre lawyers, mediocre senators,<br>
and mediocre presidents as well), but hopelessly dull<br>
and unimaginative teachers do not suddenly turn into<br>
classroom wizards under a regimen that transforms their<br>
classrooms into test-prep factories.<br><br>
The real effect of No Child Left Behind is to drive<br>
away the tens of thousands of exciting and high-<br>
spirited, superbly educated teachers whom our urban<br>
districts struggle to attract into these schools. There<br>
are more remarkable young teachers like this coming<br>
into inner-city education than at any time I've seen in<br>
more than 40 years. The challenge isn't to recruit<br>
them; it's to keep them. But 50 percent of the glowing<br>
young idealists I have been recruiting from the<br>
nation's most respected colleges and universities are<br>
throwing up their hands and giving up their jobs within<br>
three years.<br><br>
When I ask them why they've grown demoralized, they<br>
routinely tell me it's the feeling of continual<br>
anxiety, the sense of being in a kind of "state of<br>
siege," as well as the pressure to conform to teaching<br>
methods that drain every bit of joy out of the hours<br>
that their children spend with them in school.<br><br>
"I didn't study all these years," a highly principled<br>
and effective first-grade teacher told me -- she had<br>
studied literature and anthropology in college while<br>
also having been immersed in education courses -- "in<br>
order to turn black babies into mindless little robots,<br>
denied the normal breadth of learning, all the arts and<br>
sciences, all the joy in reading literary classics, all<br>
the spontaneity and power to ask interesting questions,<br>
that kids are getting in the middle-class white<br>
systems."<br><br>
At a moment when black and Hispanic students are more<br>
segregated than at any time since 1968 (in the typical<br>
inner-city school I visit, out of an enrollment that<br>
may range from 800 to 4,000 students, there are seldom<br>
more than five or six white children), NCLB adds yet<br>
another factor of division between children of<br>
minorities and those in the mainstream of society. In<br>
good suburban classrooms, children master the essential<br>
skills not from terror but from exhilaration, inspired<br>
in them by their teachers, in the act of learning in<br>
itself. They're also given critical capacities that<br>
they will need if they're to succeed in college and to<br>
function as discerning citizens who have the power to<br>
interrogate reality. They learn to ask the questions<br>
that will shape the nation's future, while inner-city<br>
kids are being trained to give prescripted answers and<br>
to acquiesce in their subordinate position in society.<br><br>
In the wake of the calamitous Supreme Court ruling in<br>
the end of June that prohibited not only state-enforced<br>
but even voluntary programs of school integration, No<br>
Child Left Behind -- unless it is dramatically<br>
transformed -- will drive an even deeper wedge between<br>
two utterly divided sectors of American society. This,<br>
then, is the reason I've been fasting, taking only<br>
small amounts of mostly liquid foods each day, and,<br>
when I have stomach pains, other forms of nourishment<br>
at times, a stipulation that my doctor has insisted on<br>
in order to avert the risk of doing longterm damage to<br>
my heart. Twenty-nine pounds lighter than I was when I<br>
began, I've been dreaming about big delicious dinners.<br><br>
Still, I feel an obligation to those many teachers who<br>
have told me, not as an accusation but respectfully,<br>
that it was one of my books that diverted them from<br>
easier, more lucrative careers and brought them into<br>
teaching in the first place. Some call me in the<br>
evenings, on the verge of tears, to tell me of the<br>
maddening frustration that they feel at being forced to<br>
teach in ways that make them hate themselves.<br><br>
I don't want them to quit their jobs. I give them<br>
whatever good survival strategies I can. I tell them<br>
that the best defense is to be extremely good at what<br>
they do: Deliver the skills! Don't let your classroom<br>
grow chaotic! A teacher who can keep a reasonable sense<br>
of calm within her room, particularly in a school in<br>
which disorder has been common, renders herself almost<br>
inexpendable.<br><br>
At the same time, I always recommend a healthy dose of<br>
sly irreverence and a sense of playful and ironical<br>
detachment from the criticisms of those clipboard<br>
bureaucrats who come around to check on them. (Teachers<br>
call them "the curriculum cops" or "NCLB overseers.")
I<br>
urge them to develop mischievous and inventive ways to<br>
convince these gloomy-looking people that whatever they<br>
are teaching at that moment, no matter how delectably<br>
subversive it may be, is, in fact, directly geared to<br>
one of those little chunks of amputated knowledge,<br>
known as "state proficiencies," they are supposed to be<br>
"delivering" at that specific minute of the day.<br><br>
But I've also felt the obligation to bring this battle<br>
to its source in Washington. I've tried very hard to<br>
convince a number of the more enlightened Democrats who<br>
serve on the Senate education panel to introduce<br>
amendments that will drastically reduce our<br>
government's reliance upon standardized exams in<br>
judgment of a child, school, or teacher, and attribute<br>
greater weight to factors that are not so simple-<br>
mindedly reducible to numbers.<br><br>
Sophisticated as opposed to low-grade methods of<br>
assessment would not only tell us whether little Oscar<br>
or Shaniqua started out their essays with "a topic<br>
sentence" but would also tell us whether they wrote<br>
something with the slightest hint of authenticity and<br>
charm or simply stamped out insincere placebos. (A<br>
child gets no credit for originality or authenticity<br>
under No Child Left Behind. Sincerity gets no rewards.<br>
Endearing stylistic eccentricity, needless to say, is<br>
not rewarded either. That which can't be measured is<br>
not valued by the technocrats of uniformity who have<br>
designed this miserable piece of legislation.)<br><br>
On a separate battlefront, I've also tried to win<br>
support for an amendment to the law that will take<br>
advantage of one of the loop-holes in the recent<br>
segregation ruling, an opening that Justice Kennedy has<br>
offered us by his insistence that criteria that are not<br>
race-specific may be used in order to advance diversity<br>
in public schools.<br><br>
There is a provision in No Child Left Behind that<br>
permits a child in a chronically low-performing school<br>
to transfer to a more successful school. Up to now, it<br>
hasn't worked because there aren't enough successful<br>
schools in inner-city districts to which kids can<br>
transfer. The Democrats, I've argued, have the<br>
opportunity to make this option workable if they are<br>
sufficiently audacious to require states to authorize a<br>
child's right to transfer across district lines, and<br>
provide financial means to make this possible, so that<br>
children trapped in truly hopeless schools could, if<br>
their parents so desired, go to school in one of the<br>
high-spending suburbs that are often a mere 20-minute<br>
ride from their front door.<br><br>
I was surprised that none of the senators with whom I<br>
spoke rejected this proposal as too controversial or<br>
politically unthinkable. More than one made clear that<br>
they enjoyed the notion of helping to "improve" a<br>
flawed provision that the White House had included in<br>
the law for reasons that most certainly were not<br>
intended to enable inner-city kids to go to beautiful<br>
suburban schools with 16 or 18 children in a room,<br>
instead of 29, or 35, or 40, as in many urban systems.<br><br>
It was, however, on the testing issue that I received<br>
the most explicitly unqualified and positive response.<br>
Several of the senators made a lot of time available to<br>
think aloud about the ways in which to get rid of that<br>
sense of siege so many teachers had described and to be<br>
certain that we do not keep on driving out these<br>
talented young people from our schools.<br><br>
The only member of the Democratic leadership I have<br>
been unable to get through to is the influential<br>
chairman of the education panel, Senator Ted Kennedy,<br>
who, one of his colleagues told me flatly, will<br>
ultimately "call the shots" on this decision. I've<br>
asked the senator three times if he'll talk with me.<br>
Each time, I have run into a cold stone wall. This has<br>
disappointed me, and startled me, because the senator<br>
has been a friend to me in years gone by and has asked<br>
for my ideas on education on a number of occasions in<br>
the decades since I was a youthful teacher and he was a<br>
youthful politician.<br><br>
Senator Kennedy is, of course, a very busy man and has<br>
many other issues of importance he must deal with. But<br>
it's also possible, aides to other senators suggest,<br>
that he does not wish to contemplate dramatic changes<br>
in the law because he co-sponsored the initial bill in<br>
a deal with the Republicans. He is also renowned as a<br>
gifted builder of consensus in the legislative process.<br>
Lending his support to either of the two proposals I<br>
have made would almost surely guarantee a knockdown<br>
battle with conservative Republicans and, perhaps, with<br>
some of the Democratic neoliberals as well.<br><br>
Still, Senator Kennedy has displayed a genuine nobility<br>
of vision in defense of elemental fair play for low-<br>
income children many times before. Is it possible that<br>
he may rise to the occasion once again? If he does, I<br>
may finally listen to the worries of my friends and<br>
decide it's time to bring this episode of fasting to an<br>
end. If not, I'll keep slogging on. It's a tiny price<br>
to pay compared to what so many of our children and<br>
their teachers have to go through every single day.<br><br>
[Books by this author This Blogger's Books from Amazon<br>
Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools<br>
Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools by<br>
Jonathan Kozol The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration<br>
of Apartheid Schooling in America The Shame of the<br>
Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in<br>
America by Jonathan Kozol.]<br><br>
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