"In the book, I write about children in first grade who were taught to read by reading want ads. They learned to write by writing job applications. Imagine what would happen if anyone tried to do that to children in a predominantly white suburban school"
About this Quote
The specific intent is to puncture the polite language of “practical skills” that often papers over neglect. Want ads and job applications aren’t neutral texts. They smuggle in an expectation: your future is low-wage work, your role is to fit a market’s needs, and school is primarily training for that fit. In contrast, the unspoken curriculum in affluent schools is possibility - reading as imagination, writing as voice, childhood as protected time.
The subtext is accusation by comparison. Kozol knows the suburban thought experiment is unfair on purpose: it reveals what we already believe children deserve. If the idea feels grotesque for white middle-class kids, it should feel grotesque for anyone’s kids. The context, consistent with Kozol’s broader work on segregated, underfunded urban schools, is an indictment of an education system that claims to offer equal opportunity while quietly rationing it. He’s pointing at a moral scandal hiding in plain sight: we don’t just fund schools differently; we script lives differently.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Kozol, Jonathan. (n.d.). In the book, I write about children in first grade who were taught to read by reading want ads. They learned to write by writing job applications. Imagine what would happen if anyone tried to do that to children in a predominantly white suburban school. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/in-the-book-i-write-about-children-in-first-grade-144213/
Chicago Style
Kozol, Jonathan. "In the book, I write about children in first grade who were taught to read by reading want ads. They learned to write by writing job applications. Imagine what would happen if anyone tried to do that to children in a predominantly white suburban school." FixQuotes. Accessed February 3, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/in-the-book-i-write-about-children-in-first-grade-144213/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"In the book, I write about children in first grade who were taught to read by reading want ads. They learned to write by writing job applications. Imagine what would happen if anyone tried to do that to children in a predominantly white suburban school." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/in-the-book-i-write-about-children-in-first-grade-144213/. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
