Thank you for reading the blog.
Thank you for joining what must surely be the liveliest discussion about education issues anywhere on the Web.
I did not know how this blog would evolve when I started it on April 26 last year. Since then, it has had more than 2.7 million page views. So I know it meets a need for a place that welcomes candid exchanges about the issues that concern us all.
This is an unusual platform. It is a place where the voices of educators, parents, and students get a full hearing. It is a place where those who exhibit unusual courage on behalf of public education and freedom of expression are honored. It is a place for the candid exchange of ideas.
I want to share a few thoughts.
Some bloggers post once or twice a week. I post anywhere from six to twenty times every single day.
In other words, I work very hard to provide you with information and discussion from all parts of the nation–and occasionally from other nations as well.
And I expect a lot from you. You get lots of posts from me every day. Some people don’t like that. They have a right not to like it, and if they don’t want all that information they should not subscribe. No one is compelled to read here. You have freedom of choice to stay or go.
I also count on you to correct any errors I make. Sometimes I forget to add the link. A few times I have posted without the title. Sometimes I make typos. You help me by pointing out my errors so I can fix them.
I don’t have all the answers. I often turn to you to get your thoughts. I lean on you for your knowledge. I respect your experience as teachers, students, administrators, parents, and school board members. If we put our heads together, if we listen to one another, if we learn from one another, we can move forward. I believe we are having a national impact. Some posts from this blog have been quoted in the national press.
Because I respect your views and want to hear them, because we need a space to share our ideas, I take offense when people use the comment section to behave in a rude and uncivil manner. I won’t permit it. I also won’t permit anyone to ride a hobbyhorse and bash teachers or any other group. There is unlimited space on the blog for disagreement, but not for prejudice and bile..
Sometimes people ask me how I get so much information from districts across the nation. The short answer is that I depend on the kindness of strangers. Readers send me clippings from their local and state media. I don’t post everything I get but I try to share what I find interesting. And I frequently post your comments. If you sign your name, I include it. If you don’t, then I reprint your words without your name. I understand why many people–especially educators–need anonymity in a time when dissent is not welcome.
Sometimes I get guest posts, and I share them with you.
As I have pointed out in the past, I am the sole moderator of the comments. I read them all. The only ones I block are those that contain obscenities; those that insult me personally (sorry, it’s my space); and those that go on a rant about how Newtown never happened or 9/11 was a U.S. government plot or other nutty themes. I believe in freedom of speech, but I have my limits. This is my living room, and I don’t want rude, uncivil people to dominate the conversation or to insult the host.
This is a site to discuss better education for all. It is a conversation. I thank you for joining the conversation and making it a place where the voices of parents, students, and educators are welcomed with respect.
Let me know what you think. My goal is to let you know you have allies in our shared vision for better education for all. My goal is to provide a forum where we can figure out how to survive the deluge of misguided reforms that are overwhelming our schools. My goal is to support those who are doing the work of society by educating children. My goal is to give you a realistic picture of where we are, what is happening, and why we must continue to work for real change.
I believe that good sense and good ideas will eventually prevail so long as we work together and demonstrate courage on behalf of what’s right, not what’s demanded or imposed by higher powers.
We are everywhere.
Diane
Thank you Diane, for all you do. For being a voice for the people in the trenches, for recognizing the public school as a sacred place in our communities, and most importantly, for fighting for what is best for our children.
I support all that you do and your policies for the blog as well. I keep coming back to this as one of the best descriptions of the context of the attack on education (and everything else) that is our commons. http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13998-the-new-extremism-and-politics-of-distraction-in-the-age-of-austerity
My deepest thanks to you, Diane, for keeping us informed. Each and every day, your online work connects thousands of people to each other. Whether your visitors read everything you post, or just a portion, many have arrived at your website because they recognize that their public schools are under attack and that a great deal of damage is being done.
It is here where they’ve been able to learn that they are not alone with what they are experiencing in their communities. It is here where they are helped to understand the exact manner in which a permanent and massive structural change is being imposed on our nation that is driven by a small number of extraordinarily wealthy and powerful people.
Your website has become the central place where Americans can go for complete information about the efforts to privatize this nation’s public education system. The fact that you’ve collected over 2.7 million page views just since last April demonstrates that many citizens have an interest in learning about this menace. And the more who learn, the more who will fight it!
Best wishes for 2.7 million more.
Thank you Diane,
This blog has been an inspiration. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication.
I only recently subscribed to your blog and I am fascinated and grateful for the amount of information and thought and consideration reported here – it is admirable and inspiring. No wonder there are millions of views – we come here for truth and inspiration and energy and your wise, articulate and passionate point of view – for education – for our children. Thank you.
Diane–everlasting thanks to you for consistently speaking the well-researched truth.
Because, as an insider, you KNEW NCLB and, further, as a respected (if not the most highly regarded) educational historian in America, you–and you alone–have been able to legitimize all of the fear and anxiety older students, parents, teachers, administrators and communities have on behalf of the preservation of public education.
Only you were the one to say, “I was wrong,” do a 180, and write a book that started the movement to reverse the doomsday clock. There are no words of thanks that are adequate. I cannot wait to read your next book which, hopefully, will lead all of us to the final, successful movement to end privatization once and for all.
I deeply appreciate all the work you go to. Thank you. I notice mistakes here and there, but they are unimportant. The ideas, facts, trends and results you bring me and the rest of us are enlightening. I wish I could read every one of the posts. I read what I can, and I send some of the posts along to my children, two of whom are teachers, and all of whom have children. Thank you again, Diane.
Thank you for providing a forum to discuss the issues.
Your posts have provided me with information I might otherwise have missed. I appreciate the effort and work it takes to post so frequently each day. I believe your efforts are educating parents, students, teachers, and community members about the educational issues and supposed solutions. Please continue your work.
You are making an enormous contribution, Diane. I follow your blog via rss feed because I don’t want to miss a single one of your posts.
The corporate media, and many or most in government, are in the thrall of the corporate privatizers, so your honest, clarion, incredibly knowledgeable voice is…. priceless.
On behalf of all of the schoolchildren in this country, I thank you.
Thank you Diane. I am retired but keep up with education as much as I can. Your blog has been the glue that has held me together through some terrible years both personally and politically. You give me hope that we can turn this nonsense around. I hope you never stop until we’re done — and then of course there will be something new to fight for I am sure!!
Diane,
I have been a dedicated fan of yours since I read your history of the New York Public Schools. You have done public education a great service throughout your professional life. I look forward to your blogs and appreciate your efforts to keep us all informed.
Whatever mistakes there are are minimal in comparison to the service you provide.
This blog gives me hope, not just for public education, but for a renewal of real democracy In the United States. It has plugged me into a whole community of people who are concerned about how our country has morphed into an oligarchy that feeds a market view of life. What an ugly way to live! I can’t say I have ever had warm feelings thinking about my life as a profit and loss statement. I was a fierce protector of my students, many of whom fell into someone’s loss column. We cannot let the “reformers” win. Thank you for making us a community.
Thank you for sorting through this information for all of us. It really is a place for educators and those interested in public education to come together. I appreciate that you have elected to keep the tone respectful.
My son texted me last year when you were interviewed about your book “The Death and Life of the Great American School System.” He said, “Mom, you have to get this book, she talks just like you.” At the time, I was a burned-out high school teacher who has found renewal by teaching at the university level. It has been refreshing to read and hear from an educator/professional of your stature and experience who respects and advocates for teachers, and understands what damage has been caused by this addiction we have for high-stakes testing. Don’t ever feel you have to apologize for a few typos. Thank you so much for saying what needs to be said. I will always be reading and learning from this blog.
I DEPEND on your blog to navigate what I consider to be THE civil rights issue of our time. It has become my primary source of “breaking news” in the Ed de-form community. Through your blog I have gained information, historical perspective, I’ve met humorists (Jersey Jazzman, Ed Schyster), detailed statistics (Brandenburg) and courageous superintendents on your Honor Roll. Your energy, compassion and generosity have inspired me. I don’t know how you do so much every day sans entourage. I always cite your blog when it comes up on my blog, “Yo Miz,” (in which I attempt to cast my posts in the spirit of The Daily Show.)
I am still working on my book, (working title, “Yo Miz”), my adventures as an ATR rotating through 25 Manhattan high schools, while performing my one woman musical comedy at The Cherry Lane Theatre last year. When I write, I feel so exposed and yet , I feel “called” to tell these stories. I think anyone who attempts to tell their truth in public forum like your blog, for example, faces criticism, crazies and cursing. To continue to do so requires courage and tenacity, and I believe you have a healthy supply of both.
Anyway, I am so glad (and not at all surprised) that the comments you are receiving thus far show how respected and admired you are and how many people’s lives you have affected. Before I started reading your blog, I had no idea there such a large community existed. You a much more than an educator. Your blog is a VITAL source of information and you are a leader of our movement which is simply set on restoring sanity…and defending American public education. I believe you deserve a great deal of credit for helping this community to identify each other. Your blog takes away the isolation. We are growing in numbers, our collective voice is getting louder and certain policy makers are beginning to listen.
So thanks:)
I so appreciate your blog. The situation is so dire, it’s heartening to feel part of a community.
Beth
Diane, you have introduced me to Carol Burris, Jersey Jazzman, edushyster, Gary Rubenstein, NYCEducator Arthur Goldstein – and good old Katie O – this blog, and the links to other writings have been a lifeline to me. I love my kids, I love what I do, and am very committed to teaching in public schools, but often find myself slogging along and buried under jargon and bundles (I work in NYCDOE) I have thought of quitting a few times, but when I read the great stuff on here, I feel less alone and more committed to stay and fight. Keep it coming, I need to “hear” you to stay and fight. Thanks, all.
Dr. Ravitch,
Because of your willingness to expose so much, I have gotten the courage to write a blog specifically to the impact these policies are having on literacy practice. Thank you for all you are doing!!
Thank you for all you do. You give me hope that things will change.
Thank you, Diane. I have taught in Title 1 public middle schools for 20 years. The current reforms and the way they play out in the day-to-day demands on me as an educator, my relationship with my students, and the education I am asked to provide are demoralizing and on occasion reduce me to tears. Knowing that others across the country feel the same way and are fighting for change provides hope that the pendulum will swing in the other direction sooner rather than later and helps me find the strength to carry on.
Your blog is invaluable. I don’t know how you manage to do so much but know how much your efforts are appreciated and shared by your readers. Thank you.
Diane,
Thank you for this informative, thought provoking blog. I heard you speak a few years ago at the Florida School Boards Association conference in Tampa and was encouraged to hear “real talk” about the challenges faced by public education. Board members are being forced into compliance by the threat of losing funding to an already reduced budget. Uninformed, agenda driven legislators are harming children in their quest for a business solution to a very complex problem. There is no magic bullet, yet many believe high stakes testing and privatizing education are the answer. It is easier to blame teachers and polarize communities than to work towards solutions that benefit ALL learners. Thanks for what you are doing to bring awareness to the issues public schools are facing throughout the country.
The number of posts get a little overwhelming at times and I sometimes have to pick and choose what I read. But there is so much information out there that those interested or involved in Education need to know that I can see why you do so much. I hope you run for public office. It would be interesting to see huge numbers of posts about what the government is doing. Arne Duncan’s position would be good for you. Shame he is not elected.
Please put on your posts how to send you articles. I would like to send you things about Bobby Jindal’s mess from the local papers but don’t know how.
Diane:
Yours is a blog that I look to each day for information, stories of hope, and connections to other educators. I so appreciate your hard work. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I wonder if you would be interested in learning what is happening in Hawaii? This is just a taste, and something that got my goat this week. I think it goes to show that ominous forces are connecting us all throughout the nation. This is my blog. http://dianehsta.blogspot.com/
You are, indeed, serving a very special place during an incredible historical moment for public education in America. My suggestion: continue, continue, continue.
To Bill.
I think Newt was looking for an escape plan or maybe he wished he had just taken Callista jewelry shopping. Watch his face at the end….he looks shell shocked.
I became a fan during my M.Ed. program when I read your book “The Language Police”. I remained a fan throughout my Ed.D. and can honestly say that you inspired my beliefs about social justice in education. You made sense out of what I felt about education after teaching students living in a very poor socio-economic area who had to deal with negative stereotypes about their abilities to succeed. I’ve always aspired to be an advocate for those students. Without sounding too much like a sycophant, you are a role model for anyone who believes that equal access to a quality public education is the backbone of our society.
Thank you, Michele, I will consider that my valentine for the day!
Diane
Yes, you post a lot…and I get behind a lot (you can tell, as I’m just now commenting on this post). BUT…I think you and your blog have saved me.
After 25 years of teaching I was looking around me and thinking, “This is wrong. This is all wrong.” I thought it was me. I thought I’d lost touch. I thought I was reaching the point that, sadly, I’ve seen colleagues reach where they’re mentally drained and pretty dysfunctional in the classroom. But yet I was still liking my kids, and they were learning, and they still liked me. What was happening in my classroom was as enjoyable and productive as ever, but outside those walls was insanity. The jargon, the mandates, the crazy theories, and the lack of common sense…
Then I ran across your blog. I started reading…and thinking…”oh my god, I’m not alone,”
I gain power from you, your blog, and the people who comment every day.