Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education. Peter Sacks. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007. Pp. 388. $24.95, cloth. ISBN-13: 978-0-520-24588-4. TEL: 510-642-9737
We often hear about the growing divide between rich and poor in America. This exposé, backed by up-to-date research, locates the source of this trend where we might least expect to find it—in our schools. 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 on the middle class.
Peter Sacks tells stories of young people and families as they struggle to negotiate the educational system. The book 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.
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