Jonathan Kozol Was Right...

I read a book the other day about public schools in our nation
An indictment of our prevailing caste system
So many things I've taken for granted
Others can't access at all

I ditched computer class while others had no books
I learned to hate my halls
There's holes in walls in schools right in this town
Serving the rich, keeping the lower classes down

What do I mean by this statement, it seems only too clear
With your english class in a bathroom, how well do you think you'd fare?
I read of schools so overcrowded no room could be saved
Not auditoriums, cafeterias or closet space

When a school's income is determined by property tax
Well, how much money can you get
From poor Mexican and black families trapped in slums?
Poor kids need the most attention but they're untaxable so they'll get none

And because the system sucks, when the kids grow up
They'll have to send their kids back into the system that fucked them
It's a cycle that for years has not been broken
There's a name for this, it's social reproduction'

We maintain this caste system by letting them enforce it

We're all flowers growing in a garbage can
The teachers tell the kids
But how can a flower grow
When sunlight's blocked by the lid?

Distribute property tax more fairly
At least that's a start
'Cause little flowers can't grow in the darkness
They need everything we've got