Reflections on the March on Washington, July 30, 2011 - Bridging Differences - Education Week

Reflections on the March on Washington, July 30, 2011 - Bridging Differences - Education Week:

Reflections on the March on Washington, July 30, 2011

by Diane Ravitch

Editor's note: Bridging Differences resumes its regular Tuesday-Thursday publication schedule today.
Dear Deborah,

Well, we certainly had an eventful summer! The high point for me, as it may have been for you, was the SOS (Save Our Schools) march on July 30 in Washington, D.C. I had the great pleasure of following you in the line-up, and then being followed by Matt Damon. Matt took an overnight flight from Vancouver, where he was making a film. He was introduced by his mother, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, who is a professor of early-childhood education at Lesley University, and a great champion of children. A friend later said to me, "Did you ever imagine you would be on the same platform with Matt Damon?" Of course, I never imagined such a thing. Even at my age, I was star-struck.

But then, I never imagined an event where I would get to meet face to face with so many of the education activists—teachers and parents—with whom I had corresponded or whom I knew only from Twitter. Each of them