My review of the Council on Foreign Relations’ report on US public schools as a “grave threat to national security” is now available online. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/jun/07/do-our-public-schools-threaten-national-security/?page=1
I hope it is widely read. I urge everyone who reads it to send it to their friends and colleagues.
The report I reviewed was written by a task force chaired by Joel Klein and Condaleeza Rice. I believe the report is part of a campaign to undermine public education. Public education needs constant improvement, of that there can be no doubt. But it does not need to be disparaged and demeaned as a national security threat.
As I say in the review, the real threat to our future is growing poverty and income inequality and intensifying racial isolation. The report mentions these issues but fails to offer any suggestions to reduce their negative impact on our society.
The report goes out of the way to find every possible way to show public education in a negative light. It does not mention that high school graduation rates and NAEP test scores in reading and math are at historic highs for all groups. This is a hit job on one of our society’s essential democratic institutions.
I wish I had said more in the review about the role of public education in creating citizens for our democracy. In teaching students what they need to know to vote wisely, to serve on a jury, to develop the judgment they need to make good decisions for themselves and their community. Test scores are not the same as education. They are not even the same as achievement. Our metrics are too narrow. They distort the work of the schools. Schools have a far larger role to play than raising test scores. They shape character and they develop citizens.
Those who insist on trashing our public schools and ignoring their importance are really attacking our nation. They forget that we live in the world’s most powerful nation with the largest economy and the most creative thinkers and entrepreneurs (yes, entrepreneurs–I have no objection to money-making as long as entrepreneurs are not invited to make money by running schools). Public schools, which educated 90% of our population, deserve credit for our national success. The constant carping and criticism strike at one of the mechanisms that made this success possible.
It’s time to stand up for public education, to stand up for the dignity of the teaching profession, and to speak out against those who attempt to do them harm.
Diane
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Well struck, Diane. I would only add: before it’s too late. Time is money too.
Amen. The only threat to our nation is from politicians in bed with corporations.
The only threat to our national security is crooked politicians in bed with corporations ready to siphon public dollars for private greed. I know little of Joel Klein but Ms. Rice helped lead us into Iraq which is/was our worst national blunder in our history.
I read it in print yesterday and thought it was great. I appreciated the historical context and the way you pointed out that even in the dumb genre of unnecessarily alarmist reports (A Nation at Risk, etc.), this report is particularly weak, without even any good phrasemaking!
The writing style and complexity of the report seems to mirror the findings of a study that congress articulates at a 10th grade level.
The 10% who were not educated in public schools reminds me of the concept of “the 1%.” In many ways, it is very similar, because a large number of the “billionaire philanthropists” who are trying to rewrite history by destroying the value of the education system in this country were very likely not educated in the institution they are undermining. It is very easy to criticize something that the critic has never experienced.
In my view, it is nothing less than hypocrisy when some of these same “philanthropists” are busy reinventing themselves as innovators when in fact, many of them are the men and women responsible for the tattered state of our economy and our culture. Innovators, they are not! Any student of history can point out many examples of people like this, from the carpet baggers in the post civil war South, to the conquistadors who destroyed native South American culture. The attack isn’t simply on public education. The attack is pointed directly at the “have-nots” (or as we call them, the middle class).
Diane,
This is an episode of This American Life from 2004, about school reform. The synopsis is : Students were motivated. Last year, changes at the school dismantled some of the programs that had made for the school’s success, and one of the best teachers in the school is thinking about quitting. We devote the whole hour to this story, about the rise and fall of school reform.
I wonder if you are familiar with this story. If not, please give it a listen. If you are, I’d love to hear your comments about it. The title is “Two Steps Back.”
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/play_full.php?play=275
I am a principal in FL. Our new appraisal is set up to rate most teachers as just effective or less. We have been told we can visit highly effective land but no one lives there. The teachers in my school are totally demoralized by this appraisal. I am sick about doing these appraisals. Any words of wisdom for a long time educator in the trenches? Do you believe we have real hope of salvaging public education?
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Public school has nothing to do with national security in any way. You are correct that the system needs constant improvement. But it is because it\’s broken by design. Sending children to an institution 40 hours a week isn\’t normal. And it certainly isn\’t normal for them to spend 40 hours getting over-stimulated and thoroughly brainwashed.
I raised 3 kids at home. And they turned out to be the best kids in the world. My siblings raised kids too. And they all turned out lost. Guess what? They went to public schools.
What many parents don\’t realize is that children need to spend at least the first 10 years of their life at home. From 5 to 10 years of age is a very impressionable age and a confusing one as well. The last thing they need is academics and tests shoved at them. My kids learned those things at a much slower pace. Yet, by the time they reach high school age, they scored far above all the public school kids. More importantly, they were much wiser about life. Whereas, most public school kids get nothing but academics and come out of high school with no wisdom. The government designed the public school system around catering to corporations. They define intelligence as being book-smart. I base intelligence on wisdom and you won\’t get any of it at schools.
With all that said, I won\’t change my stance against public schools. They cannot and will not be fixed. You can\’t measure a child\’s intelligence or abilities using test scores and textbooks. They learn a whole lot more by using less. And they should spend more than 15 hours a week (at most) focusing on academics. The rest should be used for personal reflection, fellowship, volunteer work, and other practical things. We are humans, not robots. But if the public school sticks around, it\’ll make robots. It\’s already making puppets.