Book excerpt: Nashville’s Amy Frogge used ‘grassroots resistance’ to counter corporate school reform - The Washington Post

Book excerpt: Nashville’s Amy Frogge used ‘grassroots resistance’ to counter corporate school reform - The Washington Post

Book excerpt: Nashville’s Amy Frogge used ‘grassroots resistance’ to counter corporate school reform
From Diane Ravitch’s new boook, ‘Slaying Goliath’

Diane Ravitch’s new book, “Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America’s Public Schools,” introduces readers to advocates who she says have successfully fought off the people she calls “Disrupters, ” those who were trying to privatize America’s public education system.

The day before Knopf published it, the book was already in the top five books on Amazon in the categories of government social policy, charter schools and education administration books.

Here is an excerpt from “Slaying Goliath” about one public education advocate who fought back: Amy Frogge of Nashville.

Amy Frogge is a lawyer and a parent of children who attended Gower Elementary School in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2010, the city suffered a devastating flood, and people came together from across the city and even from out of state to help rebuild the damaged neighborhoods. Frogge was impressed by the energy that is generated when people coalesce behind a common goal. Aware that the Parent Teacher Organization at Gower Elementary was moribund, she and another parent decided to rebuild it. Over a year, they enhanced parent engagement, developed new community partnerships, and helped to bring about major improvements in the school’s performance, atmosphere, and culture.

Determined to “give back to her community,” Frogge decided to run for the Metro Nashville school board in 2012. With the help of many volunteers, she rang doorbells across her district. She raised $25,000. Her opponent was endorsed by Nashville mayor Karl Dean, the Chamber of Commerce, the local teachers’ union, and the Gates-funded group called Stand for Children. Her opponent spent $125,000, five times what Frogge spent. But Frogge won by a two-to-one landslide. When she ran, she was unaware of the national debates about privatization. She just wanted to do her part as a citizen. She quickly learned about the efforts by national charter chains to gain a foothold in Nashville and decided that this was not good for the local public schools.

When Amy Frogge was elected, the Metro Nashville school board was in the midst of a battle with the state over whether to CONTINUE READING: Book excerpt: Nashville’s Amy Frogge used ‘grassroots resistance’ to counter corporate school reform - The Washington Post