This link will take you to the opening pages of the revised “Death and Life of the Great American Dchool System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education.” The book was originally published in 2010. It became a surprise national bestseller.
The publisher at Basic Books, Lara Heimert, invited me to lunch a year ago and made an unusual offer. She said that I could revise the book any way I wanted. This was an extraordinary offer. Publishers usually warn you not to add or subtract unless you keep the line count exactly the same. They want to avoid the expense of resetting the entire book. But I was offered the opportunity to change, add, delete as I wished. It was an offer I could not refuse.
The two big changes I made were these:
I removed my long-standing support for national standards and tests in light of the Common Core debacle.
Second, I revised my estimation of the 1983 report, “A Nation at Risk,” which gave rise to the myth that American education was broken.
I hope you will take the time to read this new edition. It reflects much of what I have learned from YOU on this blog over the past four years.
Diane
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Book tour in the works?
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Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
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I’ve been retired from elementary school teaching for about 15 years and have been very outspoken regarding this testing frenzy!
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As you state, turning education over to the marketplace is a horrible, very bad, no good idea. “Reform” has failed to deliver on every level. Most families in this country value their public schools and think they are doing a good job. I cannot see most middle class families accepting unprofessional teachers for their children or a steady diet of personalized computer learning that would bore students to tears. Middle class parents would revolt. We are also seeing the poor starting to reject the false assertions of “reform.” I truly hope the poor rise up and call “reform” out for what it is, a cheap, anti-democratic lie. Separate and unequal should never be accepted in this country.
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Dear Retired One…the problem is that most parents in the LAUSD system, on other California public school systems, are NOT MIDDLE class. In our state and in LA, the preponderance of students are inner city lower socio-economic residents (about 80%), most of whom are Spanish speaking and are too often misled by Parent Revolution to believe that by charterizing their school, they will get free computers, smaller classes, and far more personal attention. Almost one out of 4 families/students live at or below the poverty level and are families of color. And yes, this re-instituted separation of races.
Here, charters are flourishing not only in low income areas. The true middle class parents love Palisades Charter HS and other neighborhood charters with mainly white students whose parents are high income professionals.
The new Supt., Michelle King, who replaced the notorious John Deasy, is following in his footsteps and is quoted as saying that she welcomes charters as well as other forms of schooling. Karen Wolfe reported here on the Pacoima event two weeks ago that was a staged cheering section for charter schools, and King spoke, as well and the two virulent charter supporters on the BoE. Karen’s video of this event has been posted here and is filled with satirical info on this conspiracy by the district to laud charters in their rush to join Eli Broad’s Great Public Schools Now venture to absorb another 50% of LAUSD into charters. This rapidly organized 5013c has already donated about $8 Million to LA Charter Schools, with a pittance going to a public school.
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The poor will continue to be exploited unless someone stands up for them or channels Dr. Martin Luther King. The poor are easy targets for corporate misrepresentation. Who was hurt the most from our housing meltdown? The whole school failure narrative stems from our disastrous inequitable policies and systemic under funding of urban schools. Instead of trying to do better, our government and corporations scapegoated teachers “Reform” has been sold as the antidote. The market will never solve our social problems, and frankly neither can public schools alone. At least public education aspires to equity and democratic values. The market promotes access for a few at the expense of many, and this is no long term solution.
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a culmination of long years of school deregulation and outright profiteering: to “help” the poor or to more profitably prey upon the money “sent” to the poor…
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I understand this…and agree with you. Unfortunately the preponderance of California voters neither understand not care much. However, in this state the coastal areas which include the most voters, continue to vote Blue, so Hillary will most probably win. But inland, and in Central Calif., the voters are bright Red.
How do a handful of anti charter, pro public schools muckrakers, of which you know I am one, inform the greater public about the issues when the media is owned by the privatizers???
The Latino organizations are leading with a big voter registration drive, and I help them by spending at least 6 hours a week in barrio neighborhoods registering voters in front of super mercados. In talking with the Spanish speakers as best I can, they almost all support charters because their trusted leadership in our State house tells them to. Our large group of Latino legislators are almost ALL pro charter. Go figure?
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Ellen- I was an ESL teacher in NY for many years, and I know the Latino population is very trusting. Most of them are just so appreciative of being here; they do not question motives. In New York it was Puerto Ricans (they have a lot more clout with no fear of La Migra) that led the way in forming ASPIRA. a political advocacy group. It is difficult to mobilize the first generation immigrant, especially if they live in fear.
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Isn’t Palisades Charter High School (that you mention above) unlike other charters?
I thought that it functions as a zoned public high school with room for unzoned students. Every student who lives in the catchment area (which is the same historical catchment area it has always been) automatically attends. And then half their students come from outside the zone, which makes it more diverse than it would have been.
It isn’t a new charter school there to “compete” with the public high school to draw out the more academic and middle class students. It can’t simply counsel out students who live in the catchment area. It is the public school. And it is run by the parents and teachers, not an outside organization with a board made up of billionaires who think they know how other people’s kids should be educated.
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Palisades HS is walking distance from my childhood home. The middle class residents of my youth no longer exist there since homes now cost in the low millions of dollars for post WW2 small houses, and range to the 100s of millions for mansions like the homes of the movie stars, tycoons such as hedge fund billionaires, Asian and Middle Eastern uber wealthy, and many others. It rivals Beverly Hills in housing prices.
It has been the school of choice of endless students from families of great wealth who now live in the area. Included is Dan Loeb, Hedge fund manager of Third Point Partners LLC with a Net worth of $2.6 billion. He is also a leader of DFER. There are others of this ilk who see Pali as their own ‘private’ public school. See their names on Wiki.
“New York magazine noted that Loeb’s “preferred strategy” is to buy into troubled companies, replace inefficient management, and return the companies to profitability, which “is the key to his success.”[2] Loeb was described as “one of the most successful activists” in 2014.[5] In June 2015, his personal net worth was estimated at $2.7 billion,[1] compared with $2.2 billion in 2014.[6] Loeb has said, “The only thing I care about … is making money for my investors”.[2]”
Those charter students who attend, are carefully chosen. The ratio of White to Of Color (whose parents are often professionals) leaves it a school of mainly White students.
El Camino HS in Woodland Hills is similar and is located in one of the wealthier enclaves in the San Fernando Valley. The principal/CEO is now under investigation for possibly embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the public funds of their Student Organization. Again this is a primarily upper class White area. The LAUSD BoE which is charged with economic oversight of this charter high school so far has only given him a slap on the wrist and many in LA are horrified that his charging expensive trips and hotels and restaurants, while on his own business, is illegal on the face of it.
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At this point it almost seems inevitable that our great american school system will fold to the so called reformers. The only reason I feel this way is because the money is behind the scenes and we public schoolers are just ordinary people with ordinary bank accounts. It may not happen in our life time – thank God I can survive a life but it will happen probably in 10-20 years where we will all see a transformation in the way the US educates in children. The business of educating our children will be in full force. I hold on to this idea because our politicians in DC are focused on privatizing most services to the people like the social security situation. DC wants to privatize the social security system as well and so what have they done with social security?? Well of course they bankrupted it! That is correct bankrupt. However, the plan is to push for privatization and give the business to someone like Trump to handle and all will be private in the United States of privatization
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The billionaires have already done an incredible amount of damage to education in this country. They have accelerated and doubled down on the war against public schools, their teachers and the unions that may still exist. They keep repeating the bumper sticker meme, “ourfailingschools” (it has morphed into one word after constant repetition all over the media), which is a total lie.
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Yes, Joe, I hear that meme every day from even people who claim to be liberal, and are highly educated. They have all fallen for it. And when I challenge it and ask them to point out which schools they see as failing, they get insulting. I stick it to them with facts from Reign of Error, but they choose not to read anything but refer to media such as the LA Times as their prime source of info. We have a very lazy and ignorant populace of voters.
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Cool. Is it available yet?
I think you are years ahead of people waking up to realize choice ain’t all it seems it should be.
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Not if we don’t stop them. They are moving into Higher Ed next- anyone heard of this group of students who want to reform higher ed data?
http://younginvincibles.org/higher-education-data-reform/student-agenda/
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Thanks for this link, jcgrim….what a great group of young activists. It is encouraging to see this highly educated group of community minded people working as humanists. I have recently found a similar group working toward the same end, or at least similar ends…LAANE. At least some youth-led groups are not entirely money motivated but are formed to improve the society they have inherited.
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jcgrim…noticed on re-reading your comment, that you think these ‘young invincibles’ are Rheeformers. I did not pick it up that way but see them as looking at higher ed problems like the huge tuitions and high cost student loans, and the professors who rarely enter a classroom but let the adjunct professors, like ME, do the real teaching, and clearly all this needs reform. Look at their creds, their Board, staff, Advisory Bd., and the Directors vitas. Kinda sparkling to me…and just what I would hope for inner city kids to have the opportunity to grow into. These young people are not grabbing the big bucks on Wall Street, but they are seeking to make institutional change in non-profit- making education.
Please let me know if you disagree.
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Don’t be silly- if we get rid of public schools poverty will end and there will been no inequities of any kind.
Public schools are the source of all problems in the US. Eradicating them can bring only puppies and rainbows.
Who knew it was this easy, right? Now that we have this convenient scapegoat we’re all a lot happier. Solutions! Remove X and plug in Y and you get =
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We need a shake up at the top or public schools won’t survive.
Read any ed reform site or ed reform celebrity or ed reform politician: you will not find a single positive mention of a public school.
It’s an echo chamber.
This is Campbell Brown:
If public schools are mentioned at all it’s to bash them. When they do turn to public schools it is relentlessly negative-scolding narratives on “accountability” or gimmicky unfunded mandates.
They’re a disaster for public schools. Great for charters and vouchers,but a disaster for public schools.
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Most reformers have never set foot in a public school. No money n that.
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I read the original book several years ago. I look forward to reading the new edition, especially after learning so much about you and the reform movement since reading the original.
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Thank you, Ed. I think you will like the revisions in the book.
I look forward to getting past this election, so I can obsess about education instead of about the national tragicomedy called a presidential election.
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