Peter Goodman is a former New York City high school teacher who blogs insightfully about state and local politics and education.
In this post, he analyzes “Reign of Error,” noting that I am neither left or right, as those words are ordinarily used.
He concludes:
“I finished the book on an intellectual high – how could anyone not read the “Reign of Error” and be convinced of the idiocy of the current destructive policies? Yet, Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee and Eva Moskowitz and Arne Duncan continue to badger and threaten and bluster.
“Will Diane turnaround a decade of failed, selfish policies?
“I hope the “Reign of Error” is a beginning of a new era in education.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Ravich’s book brings the issues to light but that does nothing to stop it. Only boots on the ground like here in L.A., Chicago, now N.Y., Bridgeport the real activists who do not just talk but go out and kick butt are the ones who will make it happen. We need Diane to bring the issues to the mass of people and to excite them to do things as happened in the election of Monica Ratliff to the LAUSD Board of Education to change the dynamics as her blog activated people across the country to help as is needed in all these other cities also. You cannot just read books, I spend 10-12 hours/day 7 days a week educating myself and then I have to put into action. Just look at the information I have been providing on the iPads and next week is the “BOMB” on that issue with full documentation and explanation and in the boards face with it. Do you think it is an accident that this is exploding and happened because the press is so good? Don’t fool yourself. This is only because a few of us activists who have full knowledge and communication skills have put our you know what on the line time after time to force the resignation of Jaime Aquino and for once moved ahead of the billionaires with the concept of public process for high district officials like Aquino as we accept no more billionaire sneak attacks with positioning their people in those positions with no options. This is what they do not know how to handle is the public process and that is what we must demand as it is all our districts not theirs alone as they are just one other citizen with the rest of us.
We, The People, must make this happen. In L.A. in the last 6 months we have beaten the billionaires on the tax until 2069 with one paragraph of language for $90 billion, or $300 billion with interest, we have beaten them with the Steve Zimmer election and now Zimmer is stepping up to the plate for the people and students, then, with the help of the Ravich readers the billionaires were beat and Monica Ratliff was elected. Monica Garcia, after 6 years of destruction was taken from the board presidency and Richard Vladavic was elected, Steve Zimmer vice president and chair of the Committee of the Whole to do serious investigations and presentations on important subjects and he has stepped up to the plate. On Oct. 14 at 7:30 Steve Zimmer is going to have an important meeting on Title 1 at the Venice High School Auditorium. I will video the event and post it to George1la on you tube where all my video is of board meeting and students performing, Michelle Rhee in L.A. last year and Gloria Romero from DFER. You can see it uncut. How about Deasy running from students. Have that.
Diane, please help us get out the word on Steve Zimmer’s meeting on Title 1. He did such a great job of MC’ing your speach at Occidental and the meet and greet before and he needs all the support we can give as the gates and Broadfather’s administrators have declared war on the board of ed. I think they forgot that the board is on the top of the org chart.
In fact, I think that’s how it used to be for more leadership. . .right? Elected Republicans and elected Democrats used to look far more similar than they did different, from what I understand.
Here I am awake in the night again, thinking about education and public schools.
In considering leadership that might be more centrist, I would also add that I think a lot of the coalitions among “leaders” (Chiefs for Change, Conservatives for whatever it was, Education Excellence, etc) are actually diversions from true leadership. I always figured most people in leadership positions as adults would know that “it’s lonely at the top.” You learn this in high school, for example, if you are President of a club. I propose that many of the PACs and professional coalitions we see are not even really for moral support or strength in numbers, they are subconsciously motivated to avoid actual leadership.
When moms band together (moms being, often, the leaders of domestic life in their homes. . .making many of the decisions about what the family will eat, wear, making sure appointments are kept and health is maintained and that the living environment is safe and clean, and that the quality of life for children and parents is sound); anyway if you get a group of moms who have, say, a weekly play date with their children (5 or 6 moms, 8 or 10 kids). . .trying different parks and backyards to share in playtime and compare notes, seek friendship etc. it is a given that any mom might back out at any time because the more important, immediate needs of her children and family might trump the weekly play date. A child might have a fever or cold. Company might be coming that weekend and the house needs extra attention to get ready for them. Mom might have gotten things settled after a morning where a box of noodles was spilled in the kitchen, a plant was knocked over and she finally has the children calm and doesn’t want to disrupt it (even creatively) by taking them to a play date. Moms know this. We support each other through those type decisions as much as we do in showing up for the play dates.
How can Governors and heads of large school districts etc. possibly find the time to attend this many coalition meetings and retreats? I think they are ignoring the fevers and colds; I think they are ignoring that when things are calm after a rough morning, you don’t bother it. I think they are keeping themselves far too busy to actually be leading the people who have entrusted them with the task of doing so. It is a bad pattern in leadership right now. And it needs to stop. Leaders need to be at home, paying attention to their folks who work and eat and need healthy, safe and clean living environments. They need to be traveling their state, touring factories, touring farms, touring labs and going into schools.
We have a lot of scaredy cats trying to lead these days. They are too scared to take on being lonely at the top. And so they divert the job all together.