Some people don’t like me. So I have heard. The good news is that I don’t care. When you get to be my age (78), you are no longer in a popularity contest. You can’t please all the people all the time, especially when they are angry for what you didn’t say, not what you did say.
Tom Ultican, whose pieces I have posted, writes here in my defense.
He reviews most of my critics and concludes that on the whole I am a pretty good ally for public schools and teachers.
What is my goal? Not making money. If it were, there would be ads all over the blog. It has more readers than many other blogs. My goal is to know that when I die, I can leave with a clear conscience, knowing I tried to do what was right. Is that vain? Maybe. But I think it is a good kind of vanity.
The only thing that surprised me was when he quoted Mercedes Schneider, who posted a link to the speech I gave to the National Association of School Psychologists (I had forgotten that Mercedes asked me to send her a copy of a speech I had delivered a few years back). My speaking fee for the event was paid by Pearson. Do you think it influenced what I said? Read it yourself. I enjoyed the irony. I had nothing good to say about standardized testing. If you follow the link, you too can read the speech. I think it is a good one.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It’s your blog, you can say whatever you want. The critics really need to get a life.
Darn tooting!
Aka
Right!
That’s why I have a blog, and don’t post a lot on Facebook.
The education corporatist does not want to get a life. He wants money from the children outside his gated community, outside his country club, beneath his penthouse suite, ashore of his yachts. No, he doesn’t want a life. He wants the life. He wants more. He always has. He always will.
Well said. Off the backs of everyone who actually work for a living, not ripping people off at every turn.
Two things are true for those who fund many of Diane’s critics: death and not taxes.
Diane,
My mother had a lot of wise lines. One of them was, “You are distinguished by your enemies.” Another one was, “I would think there was something WRONG with me if s/he liked me.” I think of those two lines a lot!
Your mother was a wise woman. Those lines are going into my book of things to remember…
I appreciate your blog. I do not care for wishy washy people and you are direct and to the point with your views. I respect that! I actually had my husband read your posts yesterday.
John Henry Newman once said that one would do nothing if she waited until she could do it so well that no one could find fault. You are gift. May you continue to fight for what is right and good and decent.
I agree, Diane and her blog are a rare and precious gift that we treasure and value. How many people of national stature openly and unashamedly support our actual real public schools? It seems to be a handful. Even most Democrats support charters and the whole school deform glop.
Being praised by a man who reads, and reads broadly, is a true compliment. 🙂
I’m surprised Pearson hasn’t demanded their money back.
Ha, ha, GregB–they can well afford it. ALTHOUGH–& here’s some GOOD news, for a change, The Wall St. Journal reported the other day that Pear$on $tock was down (30%?–don’t quote me on that).
My husband was supposed to save me the section, & now I can’t find it, of course.
Everyone has a past, and people can change views over time as they understand the consequences of decisions over time. You have been open about the evolution of your perspectives. I never really thought of Pearson as evil until I understood the evil of their intention. The difference is that you are a high profile scholar, and like Hillary, you are subjected to more scrutiny than the rest of us. The best defense is no defense, and make no apologies for who you are. It is more important that we focus on issues, and not personalities. You are doing a great service in defending public education!
Thank you for everything you do, Diane. You are my hero.
you are appreciated by so many, and i feel your legacy of having done all you could have is firmly cemented in history….that doesn’t mean i think you should stop blogging! you and BATs saved my sanity when i lost my career at the beginning of all the ed reform/VAM/bullying crap ….thank you…… oh, and i think the irony regarding pearson is sweet, too!
Yes, there are definite advantages to “mature” age. I am 75 and enjoy saying and doing what I want without fear of losing a job. The key to happiness in old age is to stay healthy and stay involved.
Diane, I calculated that your views are correct 98.14% of the time. That’s a fantastic number, really great! In fact, it’s 45 times better than those who criticize your blog.
Please keep ignoring the haters. You’ve got truth on your side, and faithful readers who recognize it.
Thanks, DL Paulson.
Diane, thank you for all you do! I mean really. Rarely do I comment but this is my go-to place every day for ed info. You are so prolific, it is amazing. I have no idea how much vitriol you must encounter in your own living room, where you work for free. It really does matter very much how we treat one another, we human beings.
And that’s why I’m commenting now. Several days ago, having not commented for many months, I left a comment on your blog disagreeing with you on a minor point in a very important Press Release that you had issued, the whole of which I fully agreed with.
I swear I felt bad about it almost immediately after posting it and I meant to go back and clarify and apologize but I never did. Please forgive me. Of all the positive things and thank yous I could have left, after an extended period of inactivity on my part, I chose to criticize and nitpick. Sheesh! I’m sorry!
This is the best classroom I have ever participated in. I have learned how to be a public school advocate and warrior. I have found my voice with administrators, school board members and legislators. I have been interviewed and quoted in my local paper supporting public ed. I thank you for all you do but especially for this blog. You are truly amazing!
Tsunami, don’t worry about it. Disagreement and debate keeps us engaged in the search for answers and better questions.
I can add nothing to the accolades above. God help us if we ever lose people of integrity willing to put it all on the line.
God bless.
I think you are all right.
Diane, keep on keeping on. We need your voice to continue advocating for public schools.
Diane,
People are strange. Look who’s president … a dirty old man who is filled with hate, vile, and a terminally bad mouth.
Thank you for all that you do. I am appreciative.
I am eternally grateful for what you do, every day, to shine a light on the truth. THANK YOU!
Well I like you Diane! And think everyone should check in with your blog.
Fan in Massachusetts
Thank you, Kay!
Diane, do any of the opposition have a poet? I didn’t think so.
Sorry, ‘does’, not “do”, any of the opposition…
You are fierce and dogged.
Thank you!
I read all the review of the criticism of Diane. The one I really do not understand is the suggestion that she does not call out some test in California. She does not call out states mistreatment of rural counties. That is my peeve. But why would I reject every idea a person has because that person did not talk about one of my ideas. This seems absurd.
Even more absurd is to attack a person at all. Why not simply argue logically with the specific ideas with which one disagrees? Love testing? Explain why your favorite test is valid. Love VAM? Defend VAM. But leave the messenger alone. Only a tyrant attacks people instead of ideas.
Tom ends by saying that:” I see Diane Ravitch as the greatest asset supporters of public education have.”
I agree. She is ‘dauntless’ in speaking the truth about the war on public education. Like Tom, I do not always see eye to eye with her, but she is unique… as in special, which means one of a kind.
Keep up the good work. I have learned more about politics and educational politics since I found your blog then any other time in my life.
Thanks
Well said.
David,
I will speak at Texas A&M on Feb 7
I would love to come hear you but my son has basketball that night. I will try to come the next time you’re close
Dear Dr. Ravitch:
You are very youthful at 75, and you will live beyond life expectancy of 100+.
Yes, as other blogger mentions that seniors need to be healthy and to engage or involve in education, you have done all and above and beyond.
Congratulations on your wonderful goal and joy in speaking out for the best interests of American students, families and society.
I love your earnest and profound love for educators and American Public Education.
Very respectfully yours,
May King