Synopses & Reviews
In a country long divided by race and class, Susan Eaton set out to see if separate can ever really be equal. She immersed herself for four years in one of the best all-minority schools: Simpson-Waverly Elementary, which has been declared a Blue Ribbon school by the Bush Administration. Located in Hartford, Connecticut, the poorest city in the wealthiest state in the nation, it is a glaring example of the deepening educational disparity found across the country in cities like Detroit, Miami, Newark, Providence, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Fresno.
In the style of a documentary filmmaker, Eaton follows Simpson-Waverly's star student, his classmates, and their extraordinary teacher in a school that is racially isolated, overburdened, and cut off from mainstream society. She reveals the long odds against the success of even the brightest students and the way cities like Hartford have become ghetto-ized.
Meanwhile across town, Eaton follows an intrepid team of civil rights lawyers as they fight a legal battle to end the enduring segregation that beleaguers not only Simpson-Waverly but hundreds of other schools around the nation. In this groundbreaking account, Eaton goes inside the classroom and the courtroom to disclose the unsettling truths about an education system that is leaving millions of children behind.
Review
"This tightly written account culminates with vignettes from both suburban and urban classrooms about the relative effects of high-stakes testing in both settings, thus ending with a reminder to activists everywhere that the fight for equality never ends." Library Journal
Review
"In her expertly constructed narrative, Eaton investigates what it truly means to say we will leave no child behind." Kirkus Reviews
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"Susan Eaton documents the corrosion of our nation's deepest faith. Rarely do journalists who have the chops for such difficult subjects possess the intellectual dexterity to hold together the many strands of information the rigorous research imparts. Rarer still are those who also have the writerly skill to tell complex stories beautifully and compellingly. Most cannot remain emotionally open because the experience will absolutely break their hearts. Eaton has it all: the artistry, the brains, the soul. The Children in Room E4 is our lucky gift. It is an outstanding book." Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, author of Random Family
Review
"The Children in Room E4 is a vivid and compelling book. To a subject of daunting complexity, Susan Eaton has brought a remarkable clarity of vision and also a deeply humane spirit, the kind of spirit that some, thank God, still struggle to bring to public education." Tracy Kidder, author of Among School Children and Mountains Beyond Mountains
Review
"Two contrasting approaches to the crisis in American public education...serve as the parameters of Susan Eaton's compelling book." Chicago Tribune
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"Eaton has examined urban education in such a manner that no reader will soon forget what she writes." Seattle Times
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"[T]his is a book that combines a journalist's eye for detail with the detached contextual perspective of a Harvard-trained researcher. If she never completely succeeds, it is hardly Eaton's fault." Hartford Courant
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"Eaton has created a marvelous ensemble piece, and she makes familiar ground fresh and alive." Miami Herald
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"Eaton's book is thorough and informative, a great read and a call to arms." Newsday
Synopsis
Explores the racial and economic divide found in the educational systems of urban areas across the United States, in an account that follows the struggles of one bright third-grader from Hartford, Connecticut, and his indomitable teacher.
Synopsis
With our nation's urban schools growing more segregated every year, Susan Eaton set out to see whether separate can ever really be equal. An award-winning journalist, Eaton spent four years at Simpson-Waverly Elementary School, an all-minority school in Hartford, Connecticut. Located in the poorest city in the wealthiest state in the nation, it is a glaring example of the great racial and economic divide found in almost every major urban center across the country.
The Children in Room E4 is the compelling story of one student, one classroom, and one indomitable teacher, Ms. Luddy. In the midst of Band-Aid reforms and hotshot superintendents with empty promises, drug dealers and street gangs, Ms. Luddy's star student, Jeremy, and his fellow classmates face tremendous challenges both inside and outside of a school cut off from mainstream America.
Meanwhile, across town, a team of civil rights lawyers fight an intrepid battle to end the de facto segregation that beleaguers Jeremy's school and hundreds of others across America.
From inside the classroom and the courtroom, Eaton reveals the unsettling truths about an education system that leaves millions of children behind and gives voice to those who strive against overwhelming odds for a better future.
About the Author
Eaton, formerly assistant director of the Harvard Project on School Desegregation, has covered education for daily newspapers in Massachusetts and Connecticut.