Jonathan Kozol Quotes

A collection of quotes by Jonathan Kozol.

Jonathan Kozol is an American writer, educator, and activist known for his work in the field of education reform. He was born on September 5, 1936, in Boston, Massachusetts. Kozol studied English literature at Harvard University and later earned a Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford.

Throughout his career, Kozol focused on shining a light on educational inequality and advocating for equal educational opportunities for all children. He became widely recognized for his groundbreaking book "Death at an Early Age: The Destruction of the Hearts and Minds of Negro Children in the Boston Public Schools," which exposed the systemic racism and inadequate conditions present in inner-city schools.

Kozol's subsequent works, including "Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools" and "Letters to a Young Teacher," further examined the disparities in education, often drawing on his personal experiences and interactions with students and teachers in underprivileged communities. He has delved into topics such as unbalanced funding, racial segregation, and the impact of poverty on educational outcomes.

Known for his passionate and insightful writing, Kozol has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to education reform, including the National Book Award for "Death at an Early Age." He continues to be an influential voice in the fight for educational equity, advocating for progressive and just reforms in the American education system.

If there are amazing graces on this earth, I believe that th

If there are amazing graces on this earth, I believe that they are these good children sent to us by God and not yet soiled by the knowledge that their nation does not love them.

No Child Left Behind's fourth-grade gains aren't learning ga

No Child Left Behind's fourth-grade gains aren't learning gains, they're testing gains. That's why they don't last. The law is a distraction from things that really count.

Apartheid education, rarely mentioned in the press or openly

Apartheid education, rarely mentioned in the press or openly confronted even among once-progressive educators, is alive and well and rapidly increasing now in the United States.

I'd love to go back and teach primary school. I used to teac

I'd love to go back and teach primary school. I used to teach fourth grade and fifth grade. I'd love to spend several years teaching kindergarten or maybe third grade.

Love

When I was teaching in the 1960s in Boston, there was a grea

When I was teaching in the 1960s in Boston, there was a great deal of hope in the air. Martin Luther King Jr. was alive, Malcolm X was alive great, great leaders were emerging from the southern freedom movement.

Freedom

So long as these kinds of inequalities persist, all of us wh

So long as these kinds of inequalities persist, all of us who are given expensive educations have to live with the knowledge that our victories are contaminated because the game has been rigged to our advantage.

Knowledge

Racial segregation has come back to public education with a

Racial segregation has come back to public education with a vengeance.

Education

If you grow up in the South Bronx today or in south-central

If you grow up in the South Bronx today or in south-central Los Angeles or Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, you quickly come to understand that you have been set apart and that there's no will in this society to bring you back into the mainstream.

Society

At that time, I had recently finished a book called Amazing

At that time, I had recently finished a book called Amazing Grace, which many people tell me is a very painful book to read. Well, if it was painful to read, it was also painful to write. I had pains in my chest for two years while I was writing that book.

Amazing

I beg people not to accept the seasonal ritual of well-timed

I beg people not to accept the seasonal ritual of well-timed charity on Christmas Eve. It's blasphemy.

Christmas

By far the most important factor in the success or failure o

By far the most important factor in the success or failure of any school, far more important than tests or standards or business-model methods of accountability, is simply attracting the best-educated, most exciting young people into urban schools and keeping them there.

Failure

The human animal cannot be trusted for anything good except

The human animal cannot be trusted for anything good except en masse. The combined thought and action of the whole people of any race, creed or nationality, will always point in the right direction.

Future

The human animal cannot be trusted for anything good except

The human animal cannot be trusted for anything good except en masse. The combined thought and action of the whole people of any race, creed or nationality, will always point in the right direction.

Future

I believe we need a national amendment which will guarantee

I believe we need a national amendment which will guarantee every child in America the promise of not just an equal education but a high-quality equal education.

Education

Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.

Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win.

Conflict

I am opposed to the use of public funds for private educatio

I am opposed to the use of public funds for private education.

Education

A great deal has been written in recent years about the purp

A great deal has been written in recent years about the purported lack of motivation in the children of the Negro ghettos. Little in my experience supports this, yet the phrase has been repeated endlessly, and the blame in almost all cases is placed somewhere outside the classroom.

Experience

The inequalities are greater now than in '92. Some states ha

The inequalities are greater now than in '92. Some states have equalized per-pupil spending but they set the 'equal level' very low, so that wealthy districts simply raise extra money privately.

Money

Instead of seeing these children for the blessings that they

Instead of seeing these children for the blessings that they are, we are measuring them only by the standard of whether they will be future deficits or assets for our nation's competitive needs.

Future

The primary victims of Katrina, those who were given the lea

The primary victims of Katrina, those who were given the least help by the government, those rescued last or not at all, were overwhelmingly people of color largely hidden from the mainstream of society.

Government