An article in the latest issue of Education Next ("New York City's Education Battles", below) has been stirring up some controversy thanks to -- surprise! -- Diane Ravitch, who was so upset by it that she resigned from the editorial board of Education Next in a petulant snit.
If you were questioning whether Ravitch has gone off the deep end in a personal vendetta, this Op Ed she published in the NY Sun a couple of weeks ago (below) should remove all doubt. In it, she calls the thoughtful, balanced article in Education Next "a deeply flawed account of Mayor Bloomberg's school reforms" and "a thinly veiled puff piece for reforms that have been both costly and ineffectual", and asserts that 100% of the facts are on her side and that anyone with contrary opinions (naming me) is wrong, writing: "If facts matter, Mr. Tilson's opinion is wrong."
Oh puh-leeeeeze! This is a massively large and complex school system -- by far the largest in the country -- and the data is equally massive and complex. As I note in my letter to the editor (below) and as any reader of the article will see, the data is mixed and reasonable people can come to differing conclusions. I'm willing to acknowledge that, but Ms. Ravitch is obviously not. Given her illustrious career -- she's no Linda Darling-Hammond hack -- it's sad to see her undermine her own credibility -- and, worse yet, reform in general -- with her rabid, out-of-control attacks.
Here's the beginning of Ravitch's NY Sun article:
A story on Wednesday in the The New York Sun reported that I resigned from the editorial board of Education Next. I resigned because Education Next published a deeply flawed account of Mayor Bloomberg's school reforms. I resigned with regret because I admire Education Next. I have found it to be the most consistently interesting and lively publication about American education currently available.
That is all the more reason why I was surprised to read Peter Meyer's article, "New York City's Education Battles," which is a thinly veiled puff piece for reforms that have been both costly and ineffectual. As a member of the editorial board of Education Next and as someone who has written extensively about education in New York City, I was stunned that I did not see the article until after it was published.
The article treats school reform in New York City as a matter of conflicting opinions, of "he-said, she-said," rather than as a matter of verifiable fact, even when facts are available.
-------------------
<< Home