Deck 33: Jonathan Kozol, the Shame of the Nation: the Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America

Question 1

10The discovery by the public that private money is raised to supplement the education of wealthy children at a much greater rate than that of poor children has led to a budget overhaul in the New York City public schools.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Parents of children who attend public schools in New York City's affluent suburbs supplement public funds with their own private funds for purchases such as:

A) building and stocking a school library
B) art and music lessons
C) hiring extra teachers to reduce class sizes for their children
D) all of the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In one New York community in the 1990's, the rate of pediatric asthma was exacerbated when the city chose to build this in the neighborhood:

A) a medical waste incinerator
B) a paper mill
C) an automobile factory
D) a crematorium

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In which U.S. city did Kozol visit numerous schools, only to find great disparities in resources?

A) Baltimore
B) New York City
C) Chicago
D) Los Angeles

Question 5

Why does Kozol disagree with political leaders in New York who blame shifting economic factors for steep declines in school services? To what does he attribute the "permanent short-changing of the city's students" ?

Question 6

Kozol argues that is it problematic to use private subsidies to supplement the tax-supported budgets of some schools in affluent communities. What do you think? Use evidence from the reading to support your argument.

Question 7

Some critics argue that the disrepair and overcrowding of some New York City public schools is due to race.

Question 8

Private money is contributed by families whose children attend specific public schools in New York City to pay for extra teachers, music and art programs, science programs, and furniture repairs.

Question 9

The New York City Board of Education spends an approximately equal amount of money per year on the education of children, regardless of whether they are educated with the city's schools in the outlying suburbs.

Question 10

Which factor is blamed by political leaders in New York as the explanation for the steep declines in services to students?

A) the changing racial demographics of the student population
B) the inability of low-income parents to raise private funds as effectively as more affluent parents
C) shifting economic factors, such as budget crises
D) physical conditions in some school buildings that had become dangerous and too costly to repair

Question 11

The present per-pupil spending level in the New York City schools is approximately what fraction of per-pupil spending in the nearby well-to-do suburban district of Manhasset?

A) one-fifth
B) one-fourth
C) one-half
D) three-fourths

Question 12

Teacher salaries in New York public schools are approximately equal to those of teachers in the affluent white suburbs.