Letters to the Editor
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I'm not sure what David Sugarman is suggesting
I tutored in the same neighborhood in which Kozol taught a few years after Death at an Early Age (reading it was one of the prerequisites for being allowed to tutor; the other was reading Judge Garrity's desegregation ruling, which described a far more insidious kind of de jure segregation than the national press ever reported on).
Some kids showed up for their sessions, and others did not. The ones who did show up showed a thirst for knowledge I found it difficult to satisfy. I remember one young man telling me Africa was where the savages were, and when I searched the school, I could not find (in 1978) a single map that showed post-colonial Africa so we could discuss where his ancestors came from and what it was like at the time. If I was lucky, I could get a copy of Sports Illustrated out of the school library (I should say *the* copy of Sports Illustrated) to get a sports mad ninth grader to read something that actually interested him.
No, I'm sorry Mr. Sugarman, I don't think it was the kids who were the problem.
A teacher was reassigned to an administrative position and replaced, under union rules, with the next person on some seniority list. He would not follow the agreed curriculum but instead sought to teach what he might have taught ninth graders at Boston Latin. He would stand in front of the uncomprehending students and drone on, losing their respect and any chance to educate them.
No, I'm sorry Mr. Sugarman, I don't think it was the kids who were the problem.