The Ecology Model of Inequality in Schools
Jonathan Kozol's searing book of 1991, Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools, exposed disturbing differences in the education of the wealthy and the education of the poor. His book was written as a result of visits in numerous schools nationwide, schools in approximately 30 neighborhoods from Illinois to Washington, D.C., and from New York to San Antonio. He met with children in their homes and spoke with teachers, principals, and ministers about the schools in each area. The result is a startling expose of persistent patterns of racial segregation and educational inequality.
A few years before, Urie Bronfenbrenner of Cornell University published an article which presented new ways of thinking about children and the factors in their existence. His work, "Ecology of the Family as a Context for Human Development: Research Perspectives," includes thought-provoking concepts of the many influences on the quality of life for the inner city child, a product of what he calls external environments (Bronfenbrenner, 1986, p. 723). It is the purpose of this paper to explore the Kozol work in terms of the Bronfenbrenner ecological concepts, including examples from both works and theories of other researchers.
Kozol cites example after example of situations in which the St. Louis Public School system scorns the East St. Louis poor, black children. He speaks of the Cincinnati and San Antonio Public School systems and notes that due to the significant funding inadequacies that do not permit children to have a voice in their school reform and due to the low socioeconomic status of their parents, no hope of an alternative school exists. In one dismal situation, the Martin Luther King Junior High School of St. Louis was evacuated on a Friday afternoon after sewage flowed into the kitchen. The kitchen was then closed and the students were sent home. This was the second occurren...