Jonathan Kozol Is Still Fighting for Equal Schools With His Last Book

There are certain motifs in Jonathan Kozol’s half-century of writing about America’s failure to adequately educate poor Black and Hispanic children, which began with “Death at an Early Age,” a blistering account of his year teaching in the Boston Public Schools.

Decrepit school buildings with rancid bathrooms and leaking ceilings. Students stultified by scripted curriculums and endless test prep. Bleak urban neighborhoods with neglected parks, crumbling apartments and harried, underpaid teachers. The despair is punctuated by bright and vivacious children, who bluntly note the obvious unfairness . . .