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Monday, Oct 13, 2008
Author and educator Jonathan Kozol assesses the impact of the election on American children.
Nov 10, 2000 | Amid much sniping, keening and complaining about the disputed outcome of the presidential election, Jonathan Kozol comes across as amused, calm and remarkably optimistic. Perhaps his experiences as an educator and advocate for inner-city children (and their parents) for the past three decades has made Kozol better suited to political adversity and the need for patience than the rest of us. His struggles, described as "noble" by Elie Wiesel, have been meticulously and elegantly documented in his award-winning books: "Death at an Early Age" (about his first year as a teacher), "Rachel and Her Children," "Savage Inequities" and "Saving Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation." His gentle manner and good humor are much in evidence as he contemplates our current political entanglements.
Kozol, on a promotional tour for his recent book, "Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope," says that the constant travel has given him an opportunity to sample American political attitudes from coast to coast. He spoke to Salon from his home in Massachusetts -- he was fresh off a plane from Michigan and on his way to Boston for dinner with "recovering Republican" Arianna Huffington. Salon asked Kozol for his interpretation of election outcomes that dealt specifically with education.
How do you interpret the various election outcomes on educational issues nationwide?
What I see is a strong vote of confidence for public schools. It's an interesting shift. The scenario that comes out of a number of different votes in different states suggests that the electorate is having very strong second thoughts about the privatizing agenda that has received so much press attention during the 1990s. Also, it seems there is a greater willingness to support public education without draining off money to the private sector.
On a larger scale, there seems to be less emphasis on the severe punitive agenda that came into fashion the last few years and more emphasis on actually providing resources for students to do well in public schools.
I'll give you an example: First of all, there are two referenda, in Michigan and in California, in which the voters resoundingly rejected voucher schemes. The rejection in California, I somewhat expected. The rejection in Michigan was not at all certain in advance, yet the vote, at least as it stood a few hours ago, represented a definitive rejection of vouchers. The last vote I saw had it at about 70 to 30 percent. [The most recent report indicated 69 percent against the voucher scheme and 31 percent in favor with 95 percent of the votes counted.]
Many of us expected vouchers would be rejected in California -- even advocates for vouchers did not think it was presented in a convincing way. The fact that it was also rejected by a large margin by voters in Michigan is a very interesting sign of the times.
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