Diane Ravitch on the great education-reform swindle
This country's schools aren't failing. In fact, students are performing better than ever.
By Cosmo Garvin
cosmog@newsreview.com
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And, sure, there’s a strong local connection. The book includes a whole chapter on Sacramento’s own self-styled “radical” reformer Michelle Rhee. Mayor Kevin Johnson appears in the book as well, when Ravitch explains how he pushed charter schools at the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
The Sacramento Bee had more important things to cover last week, however. For example, Bites counted at least five Bee bylines all over Shaquille O’Neal’s visit to the Capitol. Rather than covering Ravitch, the Bee instead gave a chunk of opinion-page space to the CEOs of two charter-school advocacy groups, so they could pan the book and tell readers how great charter schools are.
Not surprising then, that Ravitch finds the media are mostly terrible at reporting on education issues. By her lights, they are actively perpetuating the hoax that “our schools are failing” and must therefore be turned around, shut down, privatized,