Ravitch Warns Obama on Education Policy: 'Change Course Before it is Too Late"
Q) Why do you think your book became a best seller? What space is it filling? A) My book is in its 7th printing in its first three months and it continues to do well. The book has a couple of important pluses: As a historian of education, I am able to explain the historical background of many current policies; readers like that. Also, I write for non-specialists; I avoid jargon. Readers like that too.
I truly think that its popularity has been driven by teachers and parents who are looking for an alternative narrative about the current era of "school reform." Teachers and parents don't understand why President Obama latched onto charters and testing, and my book provides historical context. I have received literally hundreds of emails from teachers thanking me for giving them hope. I am not sure why they find it hopeful, because the situation these days looks hopeless.
As a historian, I cling to the belief that bad ideas eventually lose steam and that evidence will eventually prevail. So much is at stake -- really, our children and our future as a nation -- that we can't afford to lose hope, to stop pushing for a broader, more generous conception of education. We must stop blaming the schools and teachers for social conditions that are beyond their control. We need a far better vision of education than NCLB, the Race or Obama's Blueprint
offers.
<http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/22-3>
Hopefully she's right, hopefully these bad ideas run out of steam. But as it stands now, an entire profession is under attack by this administration, and worse, an entire generation is being lost. This is our future we're talking about here, do we really want to continue to destroy our future?