Paul Thomas of Furman University in South Carolina is so prolific and so well-informed (he taught high school for 18 years before he became a professor at Furman) that he has emerged as one of the most articulate voices in the education reform debates today.
This morning he posted an informative analysis of the ongoing discussion about KIPP on this blog and elsewhere. It is well worth reading.
I am aware that KIPP has a rapid response team, as noted in the first post. I don’t intend to keep this particular debate going. At a certain point, as a Monty Python skit once memorably said, back-and-forth becomes not a debate but a contradiction, and that’s not interesting.
But I will not shy away from asking questions in the future. I now have several years of experience with the so-called education reform movement, and I am aware that one of its tactics is to smear critics. Having been the target of reformers on several occasions, I can assure you that I am unbloodied, unbowed, and unimpressed. When I am groundlessly attacked, it makes me even more determined to speak up, not fearful. A word to the wise should be sufficient.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Unbloodied, unbowed, and unimpressed”–awesomely put.
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Diane: I went to the link you posted, and then to the original post by Jonathan Schorr [34 comments when I viewed including KatieO’s impassioned commentary].
It is invaluable to get people like Mr. Schorr and his followers to commit their thoughts on the web for all to see. Makes it harder to duck and dodge the tough questions. One unstated point stood out for me.
Mischaracterizing you and many of those who post on this blog is inevitable when you don’t even care enough to understand [in some cases, perhaps deliberately misunderstand] what is being said. Quite simply: look at the subheading below “Diane Ravitch’s Blog” where it clearly states “A site to discuss a better education for all.” NOT “A site to promote public schools only” or “A site to label all Catholic schools/charters/homeschooling as anti-american frauds” or “A site to help a few succeed at the expense of others.”
Your challenge is literally what the subheading to your blog says. In other words, trying to take a collaborative, cooperative and constructive approach to the messy and complicated difficulties in education and trying to find the best [even if imperfect] solutions for all students. Or, failing that, at least make it clear which problems might be resolved and which might always be in the process of being worked out [I tend to think many fall into this last category].
You make no claims to coming up with miracle cures or magic bullets. But many of your postings [and those of others] make the point, over and over and over again, that when the privateers make the widely touted success of a few students come at the express expense of many students — that is unacceptable. Period. End of story. And the fact that you won’t back down on this point makes the edubullies even angrier.
And they should be angry. You engage them on a field of battle they find maddeningly unfavorable: that of civil discourse, facts, logic, experience, caring. I don’t always agree with you, but you are on the right track.
Keep on keepin’ on.
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