Re: Public education is in 'peril,' Ravitch warns

[aburke5054@aol.com]

Public education is not in peril because some vocal critics don't like 
it.  That makes as much sense as saying that religion is in peril 
because atheists don't like it.

Art

-----Original Message-----
From: Monty Neill <monty@fairtest.org>
To: ndsgroup@yahoogroups.com; ARN-L <arn-l@interversity.org>; 
arn2-strategy <arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tue, 19 Feb 2008 1:41 pm
Subject: [arn-l] Public education is in 'peril,' Ravitch warns


Another piece in which Diane Ravitch attacks teaching to high stakes 
tests and
privatization. Itis in the current - March 08 - School Board News -
www.nsba.org/sbn - Monty



    Public education is in 'peril,' Ravitch warns

                  3/08 -- There have always been critics of public 
education who
called for drastic reforms, but today, "public education, as we have 
known it
all our lives, is in genuine peril," Diane Ravitch, a professor at New 
York
University, warned school board leaders.

                  In the 1950s, there was a lot of criticism of public 
education
but reformers "did not challenge the very existence of public 
education." That's
no longer the case, Ravitch said at NSBA's Leadership Conference Feb. 1 
in
Washington, D.C.

                  Today, critics say "public education itself is 
obsolete," she
said. "There is a large and growing movement to dismantle public 
education."

                  Today's critics blame the public schools for the 
mediocre
performance of U.S. students on international assessments but that is 
really
more of a "long-term problem, not a crisis," Ravitch said. And schools 
can't be
blamed for a culture that honors athletes and entertainers but not 
those who
choose careers in science, education, or public service.

                  Ravitch believes the real crisis in education today 
has to do
with a classroom environment, that, due to the influence of No Child 
Left
Behind, emphasizes the subjects tested, while neglecting "creativity,
originality, and disciplined thinking."

                  Many of today's critics want to replace public 
education with
a "completely choice-based system of vouchers, privatization, and 
charter
schools," under the assumption that "in an open market, good schools 
would
thrive and bad school would die," she said. But this is a "ludicrous 
model to
apply to public education, which is a public service, not a private 
good."

                  Some of the loudest critics want to turn schools into 
business
organizations, with schools managed by people with no experience in 
education
and whose only focus is the "bottom line" -- with the bottom line being 
test
scores.

                  But when you pay teachers and students for higher 
test scores,
this is the only thing that will matter to them, Ravitch said, and they 
will
spend all their energies on test prep.

                  Ravitch was particularly critical of the Tough 
Choices or
Tough Times report issued a year ago by Marc Tucker's New Commission on 
the
Skills of the American Workforce, which called for schools to be turned 
over to
private managers. But she notes, there is no evidence that privately 
run schools
or charter schools are any better.

                  And schools are not a business, she said. "They are 
not
churning out products, but shaping lives and character."

                  Nevertheless, these ideas are already being 
implemented in New
York City. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein have 
abolished the
central and community school boards, spent hundreds of millions of 
dollars on
no-bid contracts, and forced parents to choose among a confusing array 
of new,
specialized high schools with no track records.

                  Without a school board, "there is no democratic 
participation
in education," Ravitch said. "There is no place where parents and other 
members
of the public can stand up and ask questions and get answers. Decisions 
are made
behind closed doors" and "there are no checks or balances on executive
authority."

                  For Ravitch, "The survival of public education in our 
nation
is intimately tied up with the survival of our democracy."

                  Schools run by the market will favor the haves, not 
the
have-nots," she said.

                  "The purpose of public education is to level the 
playing
field. We cannot let the key fundamental principle of public education 
--
equality of educational opportunity -- die," she said. "We cannot kill 
a system
that has flaws and needs improvement and replace it with something that 
will
almost certainly be even more flawed and more inequitable."

                  Reproduced with permission from School Board News. 
Copyright ©
2008, National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed in this 
newspaper
do not necessarily reflect positions of NSBA. This article may be 
printed out
and photocopied for individual or educational use, provided this 
copyright
notice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise 
transmitted or
reproduced in print or electronic form without the consent of the 
Publisher. For
more information, call (703) 838-6789.






    © 2008 National School Boards Association
     1680 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
      Phone: (703) 838-6722   Fax: (703) 683-7590   E-mail: 
info@nsba.org
     Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
     Site Index





Monty Neill, Ed.D.
Executive Director
FairTest
342 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-864-4810 x 101;  fax 617-497-2224
monty@fairtest.org
http://www.fairtest.org
Donate: 
https://secure.entango.com/servlet/donate/MnrXjT8MQqk-------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe ARN-L:
http://interversity.org/lists/arn-l/subscribe.html






________________________________________________________________________
More new features than ever.  Check out the new AOL Mail ! - 
http://webmail.aol.com