I was part of a heated debate including Emma Brown of the Washington Post, Randi Weingarten of the AFT, and Matt Frendewey of Betsy DeVos’s American Federation for Children.
Emma played it straight. The sparks flew when Matt attacked Randi and me, and both of came at him from different directions.
The DeVos line is that she really cares about kids, and no one else does.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The link drops out after a couple of minutes. Do you have an alternate URL for this discussion?
Once again, great job. Little Matt came to the knife fight with a toddler’s blunt butter knife.
Golly! I’m glad you are on our side Diane! I love listening to ideologues argue with reality. There is some serious cognitive dissonance on the right.
Greg the teacher,
I was stunned when the DeVos guy said that southern segregationists had nothing to do with school choice. We are not totally in a post-factual world.
Diane, your input into that interview was one of my favorite Ravitch Inputs. I think the interviewer was exceptionally fair which added to your success but you are the core. DeVos’s speaker was clearly a puppet and I believe Randi was a bit too defensive as teachers are often forced to be. Your description of the elements we need along with your irrefutable data knocked it out of the park. Thank you very much. I can’t wait to meet you in Oakland next fall.
Mary
I’d like to challege the “reformers” to fill your wish list for Detroit and the other one recently sent in from Nevada.
Thanks, Mary Cummings.
I was walking my dog just now and started thinking about the “debate” on the Warren Olney show. You know how you get into a heated exchange and later in, you say to yourself, “I wish I had said…”
I thought about the DeVos spokesman calling me and Randi “the establishment” and “defenders of the status quo,” favorite reformer insults. I wish I had said, “You are paid to speak in behalf of a woman worth $5 billion, who bought the Republican Party,” and you date to call me the Establishment. Betsy DeVos IS the Establishment and she purchased the status quo.”
Good point but I prefer what you did say because it might remind people of all the awful press Detroit got earlier in the year. They’re facts people can check and the DeVos DoDo had none of them.
Mary
We should all be shouting, the Ravitch, unsaid refrain, about bought cabinet positions.
dianeravitch: I have no problem with your approach to explaining who and what makes up an “establishment” and how it gets bought out by the elites constituting the real “status quo.”
And as soon as the objections began, you could have whipped out that wonderful self-wounding quote from Betsy DeVos:
[start]
According to the Center for Public Integrity, in a 1997 op-ed DeVos wrote for the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, she defended her family’s political contributions. “My family is the largest single contributor of soft money to the national Republican Party … I have decided, however, to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence,” the piece reads. “Now, I simply concede the point. We expect to foster a conservative governing philosophy consisting of limited government and respect for traditional American virtues. We expect a return on our investment; we expect a good and honest government. Furthermore, we expect the Republican Party to use the money to promote these policies and, yes, to win elections.”
[end]
Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/betsy-devos/story?id=43745520
It would have been interesting [entertaining?] to see what a sock puppet does when he’s not quite sure whether to attack, defend or somewhat attack/somewhat defend the person writing his checks.
And I know you are mindful of what you say. “With reasonable men, I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but to tyrants I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost.”
But sometimes you can’t soft-pedal hard and difficult truths: “I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; — but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.”
Both quotes are from a genuine American hero, William Lloyd Garrison.
So speak your mind and wear the opprobrium of the sneer, jeer and smear crowd as a badge of honor.
😎
Two interviews of Diane Ravitch in one week after years of radio silence?
Did NPR just discover that there is such a thing as reality or something?
Or are they just terrified that they are about to be defunded and realize that they can’t keep crapping on teachers if they hope to survive?
Randi’s voice is that of a teacher’s union, and she is handicapped by that fact alone. Apart from other weaknesses in her remarks, Matt Frendewey made that a personal attack and used the same tactic with Diane. Matt refuses to acknowledge that the drive for vouchers is, in no small measure, a revival the segregationist impulse, under the banner of helping kids “trapped in public schools.”
I know that “I wish I had said” feeling.
But there is no need for second thoughts.
You have a remarkable command of facts, are an expert on the origins and fate of panacea-like plans, past and present, in the US and with some useful international information.
You have well-honed talking points, an agile mind, and you are free to speak truth to power.
You have also been “everywhere” in the last few weeks. Take care of yourself.
thank you, Laura.
Just thought it was amazingly arrogant for a guy who represents a billionaire to call other people “establishment.”
On second thought, maybe “establishment” refers to anyone who knows what they are talking about, as opposed to rich dilettantes
Wikipedia:
The Establishment generally denotes a dominant group or elite that holds power or authority in a nation or organization.
The Establishment may be a closed social group which selects its own members or specific entrenched elite structures, either in government or in specific institutions.
Education historian, writer, and blog founder
or
Multi-billionaire, Amway gold-digger, and de-facto plutocrat
You decide.
My favorite moment was when indignant Little Matt didn’t see the irony his criticizing Randi for “parachuting” into his hometown to advocate for public schools. Wonder what his thoughts are about Betsy parachuting her millions and minions into states and districts all across the nation and skirting fines. No room for outrage there!
It was very noticeable that you had the”facts” to back up what you asserted. Matt had not one source, credible or not, to support his claims. I liked that you were able to keep your cool in the face of his obvious attempts to provoke a reaction. I would have liked to lay into him, too, for his “establishment meme, but you demolished him with actual knowledge.
Off topic, does the increase in national polarization and division, correlate with the growth in the share of private school enrollments (increasing to about 50% in 2013-2014) in unaffiliated religious schools* and schools that have no religious affiliations**? Traditional schools bring people together, teaching shared values, respect for differing views and, an understanding of democracy and hierarchies of values that supersede profit taking.
“General religious orientation but, are not attached to a particular denomination” (mega
church schools that spring up with no historical context of values and orthodoxy?)
** Charter chains and independent, for-profits and not-for-profits?
Linda,
Enrollments in private and religious schools are about 10% of the student population, which has held steady for years. It used to be much higher, when 5 million kids went to Catholic schools, but when the Catholic schools lost the free labor of nuns, as their numbers shrank, costs went up and enrollment went down
Keep speaking out, Ms. Ravitch! Your voice is so needed in this argument where DeVos and her people speak of “accountability” but can’t of won’t define what it means.
Discussing the DeVos nomination with a group, one remarked with need a change and “we can’t just keep throw money at education. I said if you want examples of someone throwing money at education problems, look no further than what billionaire DeVos has done in Michigan. #theproofisinthemitten