Diane Ravitch "Changed Her Mind" to What? Not Much
Another spot-on critique of Randi Weingarten's new book (ooops, I mean Diane Ravitch's; seriously, I have yet to read a single word in her book that couldn't have been written by her close friend Randi (not surprisingly, Randi is hosting a book party for Ravitch on Monday)), by Peter Murphy of the NY Charter School Assoc.:
Dr. Ravitch, for all her knowledge and experience, comes off with her latest treatise as oh-so-conventional by falling back on the same shibboleths and excuse-making typical of so many urban school districts. She even dusts off that golden oldie: blaming "poverty" for low student academic performance, rather than the adults in charge of the school systems doing such a disservice to so many young people in need. Weak-kneed public officials and stultifying teacher union contracts she finds no fault, even as Time magazine's Joe Klein (here) and Newsweek's Evan Thomas (here) challenge this ongoing education malpractice.
For a more detailed critique of Dr. Ravitch's book, see Tom Carroll's review in the Huffington Post (here).
Not only is Dr. Ravitch the latest and consummate champion of conventional thinking in public education, but she's a vapid one at that. She opposes charter schools, and federally-inspired testing and accountability, yet is bereft of anything thoughtful or useful in their place. Instead, Ravitch presents bland truisms like supporting "coherent curriculum" and that the "government should commit a good school in every neighborhood in the nation." (Wow.) Incidently, isn't that precisely what Chancellor Joel Klein--with whom Ravitch sharply disagrees--has been trying to do by approving new charter schools all across New York City?
In some ways it's pathetic to observe Dr. Ravitch revert to something so opposite of what she herself was for many years: innovative and willing to try new things. Perhaps that field got too crowded in the last two decades; now, she's the latest critic, making a new splash. Her criticisms should come with more than prosaic drivel.
For a more detailed critique of Dr. Ravitch's book, see Tom Carroll's review in the Huffington Post (here).
Not only is Dr. Ravitch the latest and consummate champion of conventional thinking in public education, but she's a vapid one at that. She opposes charter schools, and federally-inspired testing and accountability, yet is bereft of anything thoughtful or useful in their place. Instead, Ravitch presents bland truisms like supporting "coherent curriculum" and that the "government should commit a good school in every neighborhood in the nation." (Wow.) Incidently, isn't that precisely what Chancellor Joel Klein--with whom Ravitch sharply disagrees--has been trying to do by approving new charter schools all across New York City?
In some ways it's pathetic to observe Dr. Ravitch revert to something so opposite of what she herself was for many years: innovative and willing to try new things. Perhaps that field got too crowded in the last two decades; now, she's the latest critic, making a new splash. Her criticisms should come with more than prosaic drivel.
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Tuesday, March 09, 2010
http://blog.nycsa.org/2010/03/diane-ravitch-changed-her-mind-to-what.html
Diane Ravitch "Changed Her Mind" to What? Not Much
posted by Whitney Tilson at 4:53 PM
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