A Tale of Two Schools: How Poor Children Are Lost to the World

The Essay, "A Tale of Two Schools: How Poor Children Are Lost to the World," was written by Jonathan Kozol in 1991 and appeared in the Los Angeles Times that same year. The essay reveals the inequality in our nation's school systems by comparing one of the nicest schools in the country, New Trier, with an inner-city school, Du Sable. Kozul himself was an inner-city school teacher in Boston in 1964, therefore he saw first hand the terrible school conditions in the poor neighborhoods (61). He points out many of the problems that face these schools today, and the fact the gap between the inner-city schools and schools like New Trier is widening, instead of narrowing. Kozol is clearly upset by this injustice and the need for change is undoubtedly implied all throughout the essay. The author, Jonathan Kozol, effectively uses logic, emotions, and his background as an educator to encourage a change to benefit deserving children all across the country.

The type of argument that Kozol employs in his essay is implied. He never comes out and says that drastic changes need to be made or that anything needs to change at all. Kozul simply shows the difference between one of America's premier public schools, New Trier, and a school from Chicago's inner-city, Du Sable. This contrast implies that something needs to be done to Du Sable to help those kids be on a level playing field with the rest of the country, and the children of Du Sable need to receive the same type of opportunities as the children who attend New Trier. This is effective because it causes people to think about what kind of education they would want for their children or for themselves. This use of people's emotions to influence their opinion is the central method used in this essay.

Jonathan Kozul can be trusted when it comes to inner-city schools, because he used to teach at one in Boston, Massachusetts (61). He has seen the education that kids in those situations receive, so his opinion and experiences in this area is very credible. Also, Kozul has witnessed the alarmingly large amounts of high school graduates who are not prepared to go to college or have no plans to even graduate high school (63). These schools do not give the children who attend them a future and this obviously disgusts Kozol. He represents himself as a former educator who still has a passion for the education and the well-being of children. His motives in this are purely for the benefit of the youth in our nation today, which gains him credibility in the eyes of many. Kozol's argument is one of justice, equality, and fairness for all which gains him credibility as a writer.

This essay is full of facts about both New Trier and Du Sable High Schools, which provides an excellent comparison of two very different schools. Kozol does a great job of showing the difference in the two schools by stating class size, graduation rates, facilities, and curriculum