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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the population of the town of Sauget?

2. Why did Sam Morgan, principal of East St. Louis High, not attend the school as a student?

3. What does the school board in Dearborn Park do that they think constitutes as making school choice equally accessible?

4. What Supreme Court decision found that segregated education was unconstitutional because it was "inherently unequal"?

5. Why does Kozol think the most enthusiastic and skilled teachers will not be attracted to urban schools, like Mary McLeod Bethune Schools?

Short Essay Questions

1. How the suburban public schools funded compared to the urban public schools?

2. What does the media, parents, and teachers think the issue is with public education?

3. How does Kozol describe the neighborhoods in which the urban schools he visited were located?

4. What type of health issues exist in East St. Louis? Why do these illnesses exist?

5. Why does Kozol condemn business leaders and legislators for not improving public education?

6. Compare the two court decisions, Brown v. Board of Education and Plessy v. Ferguson.

7. Compare Coral Hawkins to the gospel teacher at Mary McLeod Bethune School.

8. How did East St. Louis become so poor?

9. How do many of the children know that they are receiving an inferior education? What happens to many of the children after they realize they are receiving an inferior education?

10. Where does Kozol go on his journey to speak with students in the public school system? How does Kozol choose the schools that he visited?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The book Savage Inequalities depicts the inequalities that exist in the nation's public schools. What two problems seem to be common among the school systems that Kozol describes in the book? Describe these two problems and why they are considered problems. What suggestions would you make to improve these problems? Please use specific examples from the book.

Essay Topic 2

Kozol shows the financial differences between the amount that public urban schools spend per pupil and the amount that public suburban schools spend per pupil. Why do these differences exist? Why don't the parents of students attending poor urban schools fight the school board for school funding equal to that of the suburban public school systems? Please use specific examples from the book.

Essay Topic 3

Racial discrimination is a major theme in the book Savage Inequalities. What reasons does Kozol give for racial discrimination being the reason that poor urban schools receive less funding? Why does Kozol think the inequalities have more to do with race than with economics? Do you agree with Kozol's reasons for why the inequalities exist at poor urban schools? Why or why not? Please use specific examples from the book.

(see the answer keys)

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