The rise (and fall) of the public education disruptors
When it comes to Diane Ravitch, I am far from impartial. Like so many other public school teachers, I know her personally. We’ve spoken at various conferences, we email regularly, and she even writes about my education blog on her website from time to time. In fact, when the Democratic presidential hopefuls came to Pittsburgh’s Education Forum in December, she was instrumental in getting me a seat to hear them. You know that adage about never meeting your heroes? Nothing could be more untrue about Ms. Ravitch. She is one of the most generous and honest people I know.
After all, she’s most famous for changing her mind. As an assistant secretary of education for President George H.W. Bush, she promoted high stakes standardized testing, charter schools and the “failing schools” narrative. But then after seeing the facts, she did an about face. She publicly renounced her previous views and came to be one of the leaders of the opposition to them. In today’s soundbite culture, who else can you say that about?
So in reviewing Diane’s latest book, “Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America’s Public Schools,” I want to make my partiality extremely clear. In fact, I’m even mentioned in the book as a notable blogger. The whole text is about the community of teachers, parents, students and concerned citizens who’ve been fighting against the corporate interests trying to destroy public education.
And let me tell you, it’s like nothing I’ve ever read. This is a history torn from the front page. It’s a continuation of her previous two books — 2010’s “The Life and Death of the American School System,” which was a history of the decadeslong plot, and 2013’s “Reign of Error,” which was also a research-based guide to stopping the destruction. “Slaying Goliath” is a chronicle of how the movement to counter the disruptors is succeeding.
One of the things I love about it is that term — the “disruptors.” She says that it’s time we stop calling the anti-public school crowd “education reformers.” They don’t deserve that label. They aren’t trying to bring about the positive change typically associated with reform. They’re trying to disrupt our school system like a hedge fund manager or vulture capitalist would do to a business in a hostile takeover.
However, the tide has finally turned against them. After three decades, it’s become painfully clear that the snake oil they are selling just doesn’t work. Our public schools are NOT failing — they’re struggling under reduced funding and the needs of students who are increasingly living in poverty. Standardized testing is NOT an effective way to assess learning; it mainly reflects family income. Charter schools are NOT producing better academic outcomes than authentic public schools; in fact, they often do much worse while denying students basic services and scamming the public.
However, where the book is truly unique is in its celebration of the education activist community. Diane Ravitch talks about groups like Journey for Justice, United Opt Out, the Badass Teachers Association, and her own organization, the Network for Public Education. She talks about education bloggers, researchers, journalists, student protestors and parent groups.
She writes about educator Jesse Hagopian and his fellow teachers at Seattle’s Garfield High School who refused to give their students unfair standardized tests. She writes about Jitu Brown, a Chicago civil rights activist who went on a 34-day hunger strike to save his neighborhood school from closure. She writes about education professor Jesse Turner, who walked from Connecticut to Washington, D.C., to protest former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama’s education policies. She writes about Texas pastors Charles Foster Johnson and Charles Luke, who organized thousands of religious leaders to support public schools. She writes about Amy Frogge, a parent who was twice elected to metro Nashville’s Board of Education on a platform opposing charter schools. She writes about New York parent Leonie Haimon, who advocates for reductions in class size.
In short, Ms. Ravitch’s book is not just about the Goliath of the disruptors. It’s a celebration of everyday Davids who stand up to the hulking beast and armed with only their slingshots of facts have continually beaned him between the eyes.