Thank you, readers of this blog.
Last week, this blog has passed the mark for 2,000,000 page views.
I started it on April 26, 2012. It reached one million hits in mid-September. And reached a new milestone a few days ago.
The number of page views, however, is far less significant than the fact that the blog has created a space where educators, parents, school board members, and many others concerned about the future of schools tune in. We have become a community, a place to discuss issues, a place where the voices of educators and parents are heard and respected.
I moderate everything myself. I don’t censor any opinions, although I do not permit cursing and as a matter of personal privilege, do not like insults directed at me. It is my blog, after all. Those who feel they must write something nasty about me are invited to post it elsewhere.
My goal is to have a place where we can discuss better education for all. I don’t expect readers to agree with me, nor would I want them too. We have some regular contributors who disagree with me and with most readers consistently, but so long as they are civil and don’t try to monopolize the conversation, they too are welcome.
We haven’t solved the big problems, but we have together created a good place to discuss them.
As regular readers know, I sometimes forget to add a link, and you are quick to let me know when it happens so I can fix it. And sometimes my iPad makes an autocorrect error. You always forgive my trespasses, for which I am grateful. Bear in mind, whatever you see on this blog passed through my hands, no one else’s. I have no staff, no social media specialist. It’s just me.
I thank you for helping me and joining in this unusual endeavor.
Diane
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I am so grateful for you and your blog. I was becoming a very bitter and demoralized person. I felt I had no voice. Your blog has shown me that others also see the insanity in education as well. It has given me a place to read their (and your) wonderful opinions, voiced more eloquently than I could ever hope to. I know now that my concerns are valid ones. I am speaking out more against rheeform, unapologetically and confidently. Thank you.
Thanks Diane, for your support of all teachers. I am a teacher in New Zealand and read all the comments and links. We are just starting this journey of Charter Schools, what advice would you give our teachers and communities?
Please inform yourselves. Read the website of Parents Across America, also “charter school scandals.” And my most recent book will help too.
Google “The Myth of Charter Schools” and my name. What’s unfortunate is that many charters skim the best students, leaving the public schools worse off. Al ost all are non-union, so their employees have no rights or voice.
Thankfully I found this blog and your wonderful insight so that I and those I teach with have some hope. I share these posts daily and we discuss them during our 22 min lunch. It has inspired us to know that what we are experiencing and our perceptions are shared across the USA and that Louisiana doesn’t have to be the way our so-called leadership is forcing on this state. We learn from the posts you write, the responses shared and the links you provide that there are issues, alternatives and choices out there that we are never told about here; this allows us to know the facts and get them into all the committees, groups, meetings and interactions we have.
Thank you.
That’s great news Diane! We don’t have to let the mainstream media control the conversation over public schools and teachers anymore. Speaking of the mainstream media, please alert your readers to an article running on CNN with the headline “California Teachers Own 6% of Bushmasters.” Not only is the headline misleading, as it has actually nothing to do with actual teachers in California owning bushmasters, but rather with a stock investment of the California retirement system, but it is also an obnoxiously tasteless attempt to bash teachers and somehow blame them for the shootings in Sandy Brook. Can’t we let our teachers be heroes for more than just the weekend?
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/12/17/the-money-behind-the-massacre/?hpt=hp_t
Oh, that CNN again. I haven’t watched it since Diane’s interview.
Thank you for this space, Diane. Now when can we expect the release of your new book?
Maybe a free book to every teacher that posts on here? 🙂
Next fall. Major publisher.
Kind of sad, though, that out of 2 million, only 400 letters were sent to Obama (admittedly, though, some letters were signed by multiple parties). We’ll really be getting somewhere when the majority of those 2 million people begin to realize that their butts are in this too and they need to join in the fight.
Keep in mind that a great many of those page views were most likely repeated views from the same people and not necessarily one view per new individual each time. Still, the traffic is astounding on here.
Dienne,
Two million hits does not equal two million people. You and I combined probably have over a couple of thousand of those hits.
Diane thank you for providing this wonderful forum for sharing. This past weekend your blog was a godsend to many of us who needed validation. God less you!
Thank you. You sustain me. I have the platform and I count on your help. It is a colloborative venture.
Oops.. God Bless you!
Diane – I thank you for this blog. I appreciate all of your efforts in maintaining it and providing us with interesting links and outstanding articles. I have appreciated being able to air my concerns and to share information published here with my teachers and parents. I have appreciated having additional contacts with folks that have posted here as well. I do have some favorites!! I have gotten more strength and courage to stand up against standardized testing and the teacher evaluation system which I feel is so insulting and WRONG.
I am addicted to your blog. I apologize for the times when I have been so passionate in my outpouring that I have made typos. I tend to make my entries on an iPhone and the screen is so small.
Again, thank you for inspiring us and uniting us!!
Marge
Thank you for having this space. I reread “Death and Life” every year, and my resolve is solidified with each page turn. Your blog, your book, and your twitter feed should be required reading for all teachers, administrators, school board members, superintendents, legislators, parents…
Dianne, I often wonder how you manage to get it all done. You truly are an inspiration. I too am addicted to your blog. I discovered it many months ago just as I was feeling so discouraged that I was considering throwing in the towel. You gave me a place to come to that helped renew my resolve to continue the fight for the sake of my students and their families. If not for your support, I think I may have retired bitter and defeated. I now have a glimmer of hope that we will somehow survive, if we continue to stand together. Thanks for giving us a safe place to come, to have a voice, to share information and insight. Oh yeah, and to rant when necessary. I hope you know how important you are to our fight.
Thank you, Bridget. We will help each other, share what we know, and bring about a better day for those who follow.
Diane
Oops, Diane, sorry for misspelling your name, again???
Happy 2,000,000, DIANE. Room for many more.
THANKS in helping to further the truth. It is hard to find sometimes today. I also appreciate that you welcome diverse opinions and respond honestly to correct them as well. I have commented on some blogs that only post people’s comments who agree with their own, which eliminates the great opportunity for dialogue and discovery of truth. THANK YOU.
Thank you Diana. This has been an important site for information and connections. Your wisdom and dedication to this has been greatly appreciated by many of us, me included. I am able to regularly pass on important information to my other circles of communication. Sally
Thank you.
Sincerely.
You probably have no idea how much you help individual, rank and file, boots on the ground (any other clichés?) teachers feel heard, respected and armed for the fight.
Thank you for all you are doing.
Thank you, Diane! I shudder to think where we’d be without you, this space, this place- to share, to learn, to commiserate, to celebrate… Each morning as I enter my classroom, I check your posts and catch the news- and again in the evenings. I pass along posts to colleagues and friends and spread the information. We (those who care about public schools and public education) are thankful we have you as a voice for us. And we are thankful we have you to help us gather our voices together. You are truly the biggest hero of public education! Bless you!
Thank you. You give me the strength to stand up to the bullies.
Thank you for all you to to educate and connect our growing community.
Congratulations, Diane! You are so deserving of all accolades, awards, praise given you – and then much more. It is a pleasure to read your posts daily. I am a high school English teacher with five preps (including AP Lang and AP Lit) and I make time to read every post you send – so valuable, informative, and supportive of what we do every day.
Thank you so very much.
Thanks, Jay, you made my day!
Diane