Alexander Russo has written an interesting paper on how TFA has managed to have unusual influence inside the Beltway.
If you wonder why members of Congress seem determined to support unpopular and ineffective programs like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, read this.
Interesting that the two TFA state commissioners (John White in Louisiana and Kevin Huffman of Tennessee) work for two of the nation’s most reactionary governors
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I always thought it was ignorance. Now we know.
BTW- This an interesting question:
Can Democratic Education Survive in a Neoliberal Society?
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/12126-can-democratic-education-survive-in-a-neoliberal-society
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The answer is “no”. Neo-liberal culture is inherently anti-democratic, rejecting the idea of distributing political power equally among those entitled to vote as interfering with individual liberty, since it considers the sort of strictures that are needed to maintain a democratic system (maintaining equal voting power; protecting minority rights) unjust. Instead, by emphasizing individual power, neo-liberal culture values the concentration of power in an oligarchy or plutocracy.
Uniform free public education, vital to supporting democratic culture, is considered by the neo-liberal another stricture on individual action. Instead of paying for education for all, and thereby forcing those who do not desire education to either receive an education or pay for the education of others, the neo-liberal will ultimately create a system that educates only those who have the desire and wherewithal to pay.
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Reblogged this on Transparent Christina.
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Really?
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someone’s removing comments from your blog, @dianeravitch — what happened to the open exchange of ideas?
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No one has removed any comments from my blog.
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When a blogger links to a paper you’ve written and calls it “interesting,” how about just saying thanks? (esp. when that blogger has a much bigger audience) The complaints listed by A. Russo on his blog seem fussy and pointless.
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you’re obviously new here. there’s a lot of fussiness going around.
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yep, i posted a comment here last night, and now it’s gone.
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I control access to this blog and I did not remove any comment of yours.
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one artifact — your 11:37 comment “really?” what were you responding to there?
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