With A Brooklyn Accent: The BATS, Diane Ravitch, and the DeBlasio Victory

With A Brooklyn Accent: The BATS, Diane Ravitch, and the DeBlasio Victory:

The BATS, Diane Ravitch, and the DeBlasio Victory

Bill DeBlasio, a candidate who decisively rejected most of Michael Bloomberg's Corporate Education Reform agenda, has just won election as Mayor of NYC with a 49 Percentage Point Margin, the largest any mayor has achieved since 1985. Although Education was not the only area where Mr DeBlasio sought to sharply distinguish himself from his predecessor, opposition to excessive testing and school closings , and support for pre- school and after school programs, were pivots of his winning formula and was one of the reasons that Diane Ravitch, and many NYC BATS, mobilized so aggressively behind his campaign.

I still remember that night in July when my wife Liz and I attended a fundraiser for Bill DeBlasio sponsored by Diane Ravitch at the home of her son Michael, a parent in my wife Liz's schools, and a former leader of the gay right group Act- Up. At that time, Mr. DeBlasio was still an underdog in the Democratic Primary, and Liz and I attended more because we mistrusted the other candidates education platforms and because we respected Diane, than because we thought DeBlasio could win

Well two things happened that even which proved to be prophetic: