Instead of seeing these children for the blessings that they are, we are measuring them only by the standard of whether they will be future deficits or assets for our nation’s competitive needs.

Kozol criticizes a utilitarian, market-driven way of thinking about children—especially poor and marginalized children—in which their worth is judged primarily by projected economic “returns” to the nation. The line contrasts an ethical, humanistic view (children as “blessings” with inherent dignity) with a technocratic calculus that treats them as future “assets” or “deficits” in global competition. In Kozol’s broader work on educational inequality, this framing functions as a moral indictment: when policy debates reduce children to workforce inputs, society becomes more willing to tolerate segregated, underfunded schools and the avoidable harms they produce. The quote urges a shift from competitiveness rhetoric to compassion, rights, and equal educational opportunity.