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FREEDOMWAYS THIRD QUARTER 1973 DANGEROUS, IRRESPONSIBLE STUDY OF EDUCATION INEQUALITY: A REASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF FAMILY AND SCHOOLING IN AMERICA. By Christopher Jencks, et al. Basic Books, New York. 399 pages. $12.50. PROFESSOR Christopher Jencks has written a book about his personal philosophy of income inequality or equalization of the distribution of income and has used education as a whipping boy. This is a grave disservice to this democracy, engaged in the implementation of the concept that mass education in a democratic republic is an essential component of the system. The book ("study") embodies Jencks' interpretations, judgments and prejudices and mostly his obsessions. He also gives advice! However, there is a "disclaimer" and from the preface I quote: "these [interpretations] are not shared by all the co-authors." The nation might have been less confused and more enlightened if Mr. Jencks had completed "The Limits of Schooling" - rather than engaging in "war on schools." But war on anything is the "in thing" these days, and the equalization of income, a new theory. This text frequently fails to take into account the data and findings of his collaborators. No original research was done during this process; therefore Jencks' interpretations and conclusions are limited by the variables of the original studies and to quote him "are based on problematic inferences of uncertain validity" and "evidence of our senses." Is this the new scientific method at Harvard? Or is it just Jencks? The Jencks document is a dangerous, irresponsible publication couched in the respectability of prestigious educational centers and institutions. It tells more about Jencks' social philosophy than it does about education or inequality. And it is likely to give comfort to those voters, policy makers, social reformers and educational administrators who desire to respond to the continued oppression of the Blacks and the poor by stating that they have "scientific" data and findings on which to base actions. His thesis is that since God created man with genes differential, it is man's democratic task to equalize economic rewards. The book jacket and advertisements for the book would lead one to believe that the subject is education, but it is in reality a book about equalization of income, with the conclusion that schools are not a significant factor 258
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