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From: Andrew J. Rotherham
To: Diane Ravitch
Subject: Death and Life is being debated as a policy prescription. That's a problem, because it doesn't offer an agenda.
My e-mail inbox contains missives from people claiming your book,The Death and Life of the Great American School System, is the most important written work about education in decades. They’re right next to other ones from people urging me to use it for kindling. Like too many debates in education, the one stemming from your book is turning into a Manichaean affair, in the eyes of too many a battle of good versus evil. Close observers of education policy debates increasingly wonder if the field knows how to debate any other way.
The stridency is unfortunate because The Death and Life of the Great American School System is not without its merits. But it’s also not without its problems.
The merits are straightforward. Diane, your stature as arguably the most important
