Primary Source Summary

One of my primary sources is a documentary titled “Children in America’s Schools with Bill Moyers”. The documentary is based on the book Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools by Jonathan Kozol. Both the book and the movie document the social and economic differences of schools in rural, suburban, and inner-city schools with the object of informing the public of the injustices of educational inequality. It seems that the movie particularly aims to initiate people’s interest in advocating for change in the nation’s schools. The documentary specifically focuses on both elementary and secondary public schools in Ohio. It reveals to viewers many examples of schools in poor areas, such as rural slums and inner-cities, that have unsafe buildings, lack the necessary supplies, and typically have larger class sizes than schools in wealthy communities. On the other hand, wealthier schools, most of which are located in suburban areas, have new buildings, smaller class sizes, and an abundance of academic, extracurricular, and athletic opportunities. The documentary was created in 1996 and written by Jeffrey Hayden. The explicit messages given by the documentary are that educational inequality exists because of lack of funding, or overabundance of funding, from local government and taxes. An implicit message of “Children in America’s Schools” is that both the government and the general public need to work harder to change the “Savage Inequalities” that exist in America’s schools. I hope to further investigate this source and figure out more specifics as to how educational inequality and work and class relate and to use those ideas to apply them to into my own life and future career.