Jonathan Kozol delivered the M. Virginia Biggy lecture during inauguration week.

Addressing a standing-room-only audience at the annual M. Virginia Biggy lecture, author-activist Jonathan Kozol delivered a powerful assessment of public education and highlighted its many shortfalls.

The lecture, which honors the late dean of the College of Education, helped mark the 25th anniversary of the Graduate School of Education (GSE) and was one of many special events leading up to the inauguration of Chancellor Marty Meehan.

Wearing his trademark blue sneakers, Kozol discussed his latest work, “Letters to a Young Teacher.” The book, in which the veteran educator exchanges ideas with a young, idealistic first-grade teacher in Roxbury, is “perhaps the first cheerful book I have ever written,” he said.  The book is a series of letters written during a year of correspondence between the two and is what Kozol called “a tribute and invitation to the beautiful profession of teaching.” 

During the lecture, Kozol discussed the vast inequalities such as prejudice and lack of resources facing children in low-income areas.  He also described the pressure facing teachers for students to perform on standardized tests.  Kozol said the pressure is highest for students from inner cities and low income areas, many of whom have received little to no pre-K foundation.  He said those schools face the toughest challenge because they will be penalized for poor test performance by losing funds, and argued that the same pressures do not exist for teachers and students in wealthier suburban schools.   

He was particularly critical of the No Child Left Behind Act, joking that it must have been written by people “who don’t like children very much.”   He counted the “mania of obsessive testing” as the top reason why talented educators leave inner-city teaching jobs. 

At the beginning of his talk, Kozol offered praise to the Lowell school system, saying, “I want to pay respect to the good things going on this community” and noting that “Lowell is a wonderful exception to patterns I describe in my books.”

He also commended Chancellor Meehan, calling him, “courageous ethically, enlightened socially and irreplaceable nationally.” 

Speaking at the beginning of the program, Meehan credited Kozol’s work to his own early interest in education and his understanding “that education isn’t always about equality.”

Following Kozol’s lecture, the graduate school assembled a panel to provide a cross-disciplinary response.  Panelists included UML’s Prof. Stephanie Chalupka, who discussed the connection between children’s health issues and learning; Lawrence High School arts teacher David Meehan; Lowell High School teacher and UML doctoral candidate Charles Caragianes; and Dana Mohler-Faria, president of Bridgewater State College and Special Adviser for Education to Gov. Deval Patrick.

Visit UML's photo gallery to view an array of photos from the event. 

Chancellor Marty Meehan was in the front row listening to M. Virginia Biggy Lecturer Jonathan Kozol.