When I started speaking up against high-stakes testing in the era of No Child Left Behind, one of the common reactions I got from veteran teachers was, don't worry, this too will pass. They knew not to take anything seriously because of the pendulum swing of so-called innovation. I couldn't help but think there was more to what was going on than that, and I did worry. When I started to articulate that it's about the destruction of public education - they must have thought I was a paranoid conspiracy theorist. But with Diane Ravitch's new book, Reign of Error, subtitled "The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools," I feel validated. It is not a matter of a pendulum swing, it has been a planned takeover, a hoax.
Ravitch is a historian. She documents her claims with evidence. She carefully lays out the hoax, how the corporate reformers, or privatizers, have deliberately and stealthily misled the public and politicians to perceive a crisis, so that they can claim their ultimate prize - control of public education and thereby it's destruction. She documents how the corporate reformers have taken some originally well-intended ideas, like charter schools and Teach for America, and managed to distort them to meet their needs, to make them fit into the plan to destroy public education.
This is not a partisan effort. Bush's No Child Left Behind policy caused more than it's fair share of the harm, but the abuse became intensified with Obama's Race to the Top, and his administration's other programs that over-emphasized testing and a solely economic justification for education.
This is all meaty stuff - depressing and negative. But it is negative in the way that bad news is negative. It's bad, but it's still news. We must face the facts, so that we can do something about it.
This is what I love best about the book. Throughout the book, there is a thread of hope as she contrasts the corporate agenda to what it's supposed to be, what it should be, what it can be. I highlighted those silver threads whenever I saw them, here are a few, with positive solutions underlined:
"Once upon a time, education reformers thought deeply about the relationship between school and society. They thought about child development as the starting point. "(P.19)
"The reformers define the purpose of education as preparation for global competitiveness, higher education, or the workforce. They view students as "human capital" or "assets " one seldom sees ... the importance of developing full persons to assume the responsibilities of citizenship." (P. 34-35)
"Children who are poor receive less medical attention and less nutrition, and experience more stress, disruption, and crises in their lives.... That is why por children need even more stability, more support, smaller class sizes, and more attention from their teachers and others in their schools, but often receive far less, due to underfunding." (P. 36)
"Of course we can do better. Students should be writing more and reading more and doing more science projects and more historical research papers and should have more opportunities to engage in the arts." (P.54)
"If we were serious about narrowing the gap ... schools ... would have a stable, experienced teacher, a rich curriculum, social services, after-school programs, and abundant resources to meet the needs of their students." (P.59)
Regarding teacher evaluation based on student test scores: "If by great, we mean teachers who awaken students' desire to learn, who kindle in their students a sense of excitement about learning, scores on standardized tests do not identify those teachers." (P.113)
"...there remains the essential question of why scores on standardized tests should displace every goal and expectation for schools: character, knowledge, citizenship, love of learning, creativity, initiative, and social skills." (P.114)
"Also forgotten is that public schools were created by communities and states for a "civic purpose." In the nineteenth century, they were also called "common schools." They were a project of the public commons, the community. They were created to build and sustain democracy, to teach young people how to live and work together with others, and to teach the skills and knowledge needed to participate fully in society." (P.207 )
The last thirteen chapters focus on solutions and a brighter future, which have also been woven within the text of the previous chapters which define the many faces of the hoax and the many-pronged efforts to privatize public schools. So, reading this book, you come away empowered - you feel Power because you know the truth, and you know what to offer as an alternative to what is happening now.
I am a product of regular public schools as is my now-grown daughter and most of my family. I may not ever have grandchildren (I cannot lie, I hope to) but I still want to fight for public schools as a great cause. I believe in public schools like I believe in democracy. In fact, the two are intertwined.
If we envision a future society rich in culture and arts, thriving businesses, satisfied workers, happy and healthy families, a society peopled by good citizens who help each other, who vote, pay taxes to support the commons, and serve on juries to ensure the carriage of justice, then we must have schools that reflect that. Right now, if society is a reflection of the schools, there would be a shortage of music and art, chaotic physical activities, little science, poor health and nutrition, and little sense of history and no knowledge of what it means to be a citizen in a democratic society.
I hope there are bright lights out there. More and more instead of less and less. I want my experiences with my students be more a reflection of this healthy society. That's the teacher I want to be. Thank you Diane Ravitch for strengthening my stand.
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