DIANE RAVITCH
FROM CONSERVATIVE CRUSADER TO PUBLIC EDUCATION'S FIERCEST DEFENDER
In the sprawling landscape of education reform, few figures have managed to pull off a plot twist quite like Diane Ravitch. Imagine a former Assistant Secretary of Education under George H.W. Bush, a staunch advocate for standardized testing, charter schools, and accountability, suddenly flipping the script. Yes, Ravitch didn’t just change her mind—she rewrote the entire narrative. Today, she’s the poster child for “I was wrong, and here’s why,” a rare breed of intellectual who swapped her pom-poms for privatization and corporate-style reforms for a megaphone in defense of public schools. And oh, what a noise she’s making.
From Texas Roots to Ivy League Heights
The Conservative Years: Testing, Choice, and Accountability
For much of her early career, Ravitch was the darling of conservative education reform circles. She championed policies that emphasized standards, accountability, and school choice—buzzwords that made reformers swoon and teachers groan. Serving as Assistant Secretary of Education in the early ’90s, she led efforts to promote voluntary state and national academic standards. Her affiliations with think tanks like the Hoover Institution and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation further cemented her reputation as a conservative powerhouse.
During this era, Ravitch was all-in on initiatives like charter schools and high-stakes standardized testing. She believed these measures could whip America’s struggling schools into shape faster than you could say “No Child Left Behind.” And for a while, it seemed like she had found the golden ticket to educational nirvana.
The Great Epiphany: When Ideals Meet Reality
But then came the reckoning. By the mid-2000s, Ravitch began to notice that the reforms she once championed weren’t just failing—they were actively harming public education. High-stakes testing? It narrowed curricula to little more than math and reading drills. Charter schools? They morphed from small-scale experiments into sprawling chains run by profit-driven corporations. Accountability? It turned into a euphemism for punishing teachers and schools rather than supporting them.
Her breaking point came with No Child Left Behind (NCLB), a policy she initially supported. Its utopian goal of 100% student proficiency by 2014 was, in her words, “totally unrealistic.” What followed was a cascade of unintended consequences: schools gaming the system, teachers teaching to the test, and entire subjects like arts and history being sidelined. By 2010, Ravitch had had enough. She laid out her case against these reforms in her best-selling book *The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education*. It was less a mea culpa and more a manifesto—a call to arms for anyone who believed in the sanctity of public education.
The Reformer-Turned-Rebel
If Ravitch’s earlier career was about building the case for reform, her later years have been about dismantling it—brick by brick, policy by policy. She’s taken aim at everything from for-profit charter schools (“They care more about their bottom line than your kids”) to high-stakes testing (“It corrupts everything it touches”). Her critiques are not just fiery; they’re forensic, backed by decades of research and an insider’s understanding of how these policies were crafted.
One of her most scathing observations is how market-based reforms treat education as if it were a widget factory. Competition! Efficiency! Accountability! These buzzwords sound great in a corporate boardroom but fall flat when applied to classrooms filled with diverse learners facing real-world challenges like poverty and systemic inequities. “You can’t test your way out of poverty,” Ravitch argues, pointing out that socioeconomic status is one of the strongest predictors of academic performance.
Enter the Network for Public Education (NPE)
In 2013, Ravitch co-founded the Network for Public Education (NPE), an advocacy group that might as well have “Public Schools Forever” tattooed on its metaphorical bicep. The NPE opposes high-stakes testing, privatization, and mass school closures while championing equitable funding, reasonable class sizes, and teacher professionalism. Think of it as the Avengers of public education advocacy—minus the capes but with plenty of data-driven arguments.
The NPE doesn’t just talk; it acts. It publishes reports exposing the pitfalls of privatization, mobilizes grassroots campaigns, and even offers an “education equivalent of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” for political candidates who align with its mission. Ravitch’s leadership ensures that the organization isn’t just reactive but proactive, shaping the narrative around public education rather than merely responding to it.
Critics Gonna Criticize
Of course, not everyone is a fan. Critics accuse Ravitch of painting all charter schools with the same broad brush or conflating school choice with privatization. Some argue that her portrayal of reformers as out-of-touch elites is overly simplistic, ignoring the many state and local educators who genuinely believe in these policies. Others claim she romanticizes traditional public schools while downplaying their flaws.
But Ravitch is unbothered. She acknowledges that no system is perfect but insists that public education is worth defending precisely because it’s one of America’s most democratic institutions—a place where every child, regardless of background, is entitled to learn.
Legacy: A Life Lived Loudly
Diane Ravitch’s career is a masterclass in intellectual courage. It takes guts to admit you were wrong—especially when you’ve spent decades at the forefront of a movement. But Ravitch didn’t just admit her mistakes; she turned them into a rallying cry. Her transformation from conservative reformer to public education warrior has made her one of the most polarizing yet respected figures in education today.
Even in retirement from her NYU professorship, Ravitch remains a force to be reckoned with. Her blog attracts millions of readers, her books continue to spark debate, and her advocacy work through NPE ensures that public education has a tireless champion in its corner.
In an era where changing your mind is often seen as a weakness, Diane Ravitch stands as a reminder that growth is not only possible but essential. She’s proof that you can be both fierce and flexible, both critic and defender—and that sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is change your mind.
An Education: How I Changed My Mind About Schools and Almost Everything Else: Ravitch, Diane: 9780231220293: Amazon.com: Books https://www.amazon.com/Education-Changed-Schools-Almost-Everything/dp/0231220294/ref=sr_1_1?
Diane Ravitch's upcoming memoir, "An Education: How I Changed My Mind About Schools and Almost Everything Else," set to be released on October 21, 2025. Ravitch, a historian and former conservative education reform advocate, recounts her ideological shift from supporting standardized testing and privatization to advocating for public schools and addressing systemic inequality in education. The book blends personal reflections with decades of research, making a compelling case for greater investment in public education.
