Tearing down the gates : confronting the class divide in American education / Peter Sacks.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sacks, Peter.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Educational equalization--United States.

Educational equalization.

Discrimination in education--United States.

Discrimination in education.

Social classes--United States.

Social classes.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (390 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, CA ; London : University of California Press, c2007.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

audio file

Summary:

We often hear about the growing divide between rich and poor in America. This compelling exposé, backed by up-to-date research, locates the source of this trend where we might least expect to find it-in our schools. Written for a wide audience, Tearing Down the Gates is a powerful indictment of American education that shows how schools, colleges, and universities exacerbate inequality by providing ample opportunities for advantaged students while shutting the gates on the poor-and even the middle class. Peter Sacks tells the stories of young people and families as they struggle to negotiate the educational system. He introduces students like Ashlea, who grew up in a trailer park and who would like to attend college, though she faces constant obstacles that many of her more privileged classmates can't imagine. Woven throughout with voices of Americans both rich and poor, Tearing Down the Gates describes a disturbing situation that has the potential to undermine the American dream, not just for some, but for all of us. At the heart of this book is a question of justice, and Sacks demands that we take a hard look at what equal opportunity really means in the United States today.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Figures and Tables

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Lost Illusions

Part 1. Rich Families, Poor Families

Part 2. Struggle for the Soul of Public Schools

Part 3. Affirmative Action for the Rich

Part 4. Experiments in Gatecrashing and the Backlash of the Elites

Part 5. American Dreams

Appendix A: Supplementary Figures

Appendix B: Supplementary Tables

Notes

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9786611752439

9781281752437

1281752436

9781429471770

1429471778

9780520932234

0520932234

9781433709739

1433709732

OCLC:

476050157