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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. Which one of the following does Kozol not mention as a place where the men in East St. Louis go when they disappear from the community?

2. According to Kozol, what demographic lives predominantly to the east of East St. Louis?

3. What system of schools does Kozol say are highly attractive to more sophisticated parents, who are disproportionately white and middle class?

4. What song does the group of children in the Villa Griffin homes say they sing after the flag pledge?

5. How do the chemical plants get away with not paying taxes in East St. Louis?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. How does Coral Hawkins stand out from most of the teachers Kozol meets at Mary McLeod Bethune School?

4. Why is employment limited in East St. Louis?

5. What financial cuts are proposed for the schools in East St. Louis? Why do cuts have to be made to the schools in East St. Louis? Who is responsible for making the cuts?

6. How does the pre-desegregation of schools compare to the post-desegregation?

7. How does Kozol describe the Lawndale neighborhood?

8. 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?

9. What reasons does Irl Solomon give for young teachers not staying at Martin Luther King Jr. High?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Kozol focuses on state and federal regulation of schools. In what ways do the states regulate the schools? In what ways does the federal government regulate American school system? How are these responsibilities divided amongst the state and federal entities? Please use specific examples from the book.

Essay Topic 2

Chapter 6 is entitled, The Dream Deferred, Again, in San Antonio. What dream was Kozol referring to and how was it deferred again? Who or what caused the dream to be deferred? Is there any way to save the dream from being deferred? If not, how could the dream be revitalized after being deferred? Please use specific examples from the book.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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