Jonathan Alter Kicks the Hornet's Nest
It has happened again. An "education reformer" has used the pages of corporate media to go on the attack against a leading critic, Diane Ravitch. And lived to regret it. Jonathan Alter, an MSNBC commentator and former Newsweek columnist, penned an op-ed two days ago in the Bloomberg website. Titled, "Don't Believe Critics, Education Reform Works," the piece was long on ad hominem attacks and short on substance.
I wrote a response and posted it on the site - and was soon joined by scores of others, almost all scathing. Then came the next round of responses, on the blogs of educators around the country.
Alter has been given a shellacking he will not soon forget. And the paragraph that perhaps inspired the most heat was the one where he quoted Arne Duncan, who said,
"Diane Ravitch is in denial and she is insulting all of the hardworking teachers, principals and students all across the country who are proving her wrong every day."
I don't know about principals and students, but teachers have put Arne Duncan on notice that he does not speak
