Re: Pew mid course correction

[Monty Neill <Mneillft@AOL.COM>]

Our reaction at FairTest was also that Lemann was ending his book by talking
about something he had not thought through very well. Nonetheless, he has
been promoting his view, which is test-based "meritocracy" only based on
different tests. He argued the point at a Forum at Harvard a few months ago
-- tho if I recall correctly he agreed that making major decisions based on a
test score was not appropriate. Still, he gives aid and cover to the creators
of this problem since he cannot be accused of blindly supporting tests since
he strongly criticizes the SAT.

When I read his book "The Promised Land" I thought that he had far too narrow
a take on the issues he was addressing (the "war on poverty") by focusing on
the bureaucratic battles without considering the much larger contexts of the
capitalist system of the US in which both northern migration and the "war on
poverty" occurred, and he consistently minimized the struggles of the poor.

He still does not get the bigger picture, but that's fine for those who will
use his words who don't want anyone talking about the larger consequences of
"school reform" of the sort Lemann supports.

Monty Neill

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