I write this Sunday night. I will be flying home to New York City while you read this.
It has been an exhilarating few days in Oakland.
I left NYC on Thursday, amidst a lot of anxiety about whether my flight would be canceled and whether the air quality in Oakland would be bad (my lungs are not in great shape because of a pulmonary embolism many years ago). The plane took off three hours late, and I was never so happy to board a flight even though it was delayed.
The sky in Oakland was a brilliant blue but I saw many people wearing face masks. The Marriott, where we held the conference, was giving out face masks. When I checked in, I noticed that there was another conference going on concurrently at the hotel, called the Cannabis Tech Conference. It seems the pot growers were meeting to learn about technology to grow better weed. They were not handing out free samples, but there was definitely some second-hand smoke in the air, and it was not coming from wine country.
On Friday night, Jitu Brown and I had a public conversation at Oakland Technical High School. It was recorded by KPFA, and I will post it as soon as it becomes available. Jitu led the 34-day hunger strike in Chicago to protest the closing of Dyett High School. He and 11 others did not end the strike until the mayor and his hand-picked Board of Education agreed to keep the school open. The city invested $16 Million in renovations. Jitu and the Journey for Justice demonstrated how a small number of determined people can change the world.
The next day began with a dual keynote: one by me, one by board member Yohuru Williams, historian and dean of the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis. Yohuru was brilliant! I am eager to post his funny, learned, scathing performance about “The Principles We Fight For.” It included a “close reading” of Betsy DeVos’ speech at Harvard, which was a tour de force. I’m glad I didn’t have to follow him.
I won’t attempt to walk you through the many wonderful workshops and keynotes that were available. Investigative journalist Nikole Hannah Jones gave the closing keynote. Only a few days earlier, she learned she had won a McArthur Award for her reporting on racial injustice. She made an impassioned plea to make racial integration the focus of school reform.
All the keynotes and some of the workshops were videotaped.
I will post them as soon as they are ready.
The most important things that happened at the conference were not on stage, but in the hallways, where people from across the country met others they had only heard of. We had parents, teachers, principals, superintendents, local school board members, state school board members, journalists, students. The conversations were buoyant.
No one was paid to attend. Almost everyone paid their own way. The speakers were not paid. This was truly a grassroots effort, run on a shoestring, but a very beautiful, unencumbered shoestring. Nearly 500 people came together to find comfort, fellowship, solidarity, and hope.
We sold books and T-shirts and any proceeds from those sales will be donated to relief efforts in Puerto Rico.
Judging by the enthusiastic responses of attendees, I think this was our best conference yet.
The board meets Monday to decide on the location of our next conference.
At one point in the middle of an unusually joyful workshop, I turned to Anthony Cody and said, “Can you believe we started this only four years ago”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Thanks for this post. Following your work and determined to keep involved. BRAVO!
Diane Looking forward to the videos!
A great conference, Diane. I am flying home today feeling enriched and encouraged. The fight continues. Thanks to you and the board and all the volunteers for helping put on a great get together.
You have given us a legacy, a place to come together, here a tour blog, and at the NPE. There re 15,880 school systems in 52 states, not counting territories and this makes it impossible for the voices of those at the BOTTOM, the actual PRACTIONERS who deal with those little human beings we call ‘kids’, to connect with each other, or see the BIG picture, as the assault comes from the TOP.
The publisher of the site Oped News, Rob Kall, writes about TOP-DOWN, BOTTOM UP, which he knows is the way America works these days. We the people need meeting places where our voices ring free.
You have given us such a place!
I hate auto correct… “here at YOUR blog.”
Congratulation on the best NPE Action conference yet!
Next year? Want a challenge? Then think Atlanta, where new-age African American compradors are making the city and public schools easy pickings for The Walton Family Foundation, et al.
Thank you for your tireless efforts in defense of public education. What you do is a testament to your stamina and commitment.
And Rev. Charles Johnson was our lunch speaker yesterday, and spoke about the moral obligation to educate every child.
There were many outstanding events at the NPE Conference. I was standing in line picking up breakfast and notice the gentleman behind me at a name tag stating Rev Charles Johnson. I was puzzled as to how come a White Southern Texas Baptist would be a keynote lunch speaker here in Oakland, California land of left wing liberals and many at the conference, not only outside the religious community but critics of that community.
But, Rev Johnson capture my liberal heart, and his mainly California liberal audience, with the story of his work in Texas to defend public education from privatization.
Rev Johnson felt he was successful in mobilizing other members of the Texas religious community by pointing out there is a moral obligation to defend public education against privatization.
Public schools have an legal and moral obligation to educate all students. But privately managed charter schools are under neither legal nor moral duty to educate all students.
And, listening to Rev Johnson, I have concluded that it is the moral obligation of the religious community to defend public education against privatization that has too often been ignored as a source of strength in the defense of public education.
Finally, Rev Johnson make it clear that for the religious community to be successful in working with secular institution of public education, that the religious community in coming to the aid of public schools must communicate their respect for the separation of church and state in offering that aid.
Both left and right, conservative or liberal, no matter the political label, the movement to defend public education against privatization should be inclusive and welcoming to all that want to include all in public education.
Thank you, Jim, Rev. Johnson was outstanding. His group of Pastors has been very influential in persuading that true religious liberty requires separation of church and state. He has a powerful voice and has been invited to other states where public schools are under attack by privatizers.
More than terrific, Diane. You and NPE are doing great work. Thanks.
PC should have been there if he really wanted to learn.
Diane, you are a national treasure. Please stay well and never stop.
Such a wonderful venue to come and feed the brain & soul. I am always overwhelmed by all the intellect and camaraderie. Much like a barnstorming, tent revival, but with some of the most charming, sensitive, knowledgeable people of our time. I am now trying to unravel my notes & insights into a workable format.
Diane, thank you for having the vision for this. I don’t know how you manage to do all the things you do so beautifully.
One thing, where are the podcasts residing? I need to hear some of them again.
Be well !
Jan Nichols
The videos need to be edited, to remove dead space where nothing is happening. They will be available on YouTube in a few days. I will post when I get them.
Looking forward to these!
Dear Dr. Ravitch, thank you for all you are doing to save public schools and make them better. One thing I would love to see in public schools is professional development on trauma. I went last week to a seminar in Phoenix called, “Understanding the Wounded Heart: Trauma informed care by Crystal Krueger. It’s for foster parents, but as my Churches Children’s Minister and Retired teacher, I think anyone working with children needs this.
I would love to see the NPE conference in Phoenix next year. This state needs to be shaken up. Especially with a shortage of teachers and the way teachers are treated here. Again, thanks for all you and everyone are doing for public schools.
Thank you, Dottie.
This was my third conference and I agree with you that this seemed to be the best conference yet. It was impressive to see Superintendents of some of the largest school systems in the US attending on their own dime. One of the panels I attended had 2 school board members speaking and taking questions. Another had a previous Secretary of Education for the State of California, Bill Honig on the panel. And key education professionals and leaders ubiquitous. It seems that we are building real momentum toward something good.
This was my first time attending—it was a wonderful and affirming opportunity to be renewed. Just knowing that other people speak the same language as I do—a language that seems incomprehensible in my own district—has invigorated my determination to continue the struggle. When we fight, we win!!
I am so glad that you had a wonderful (& the best!) NPE Conference. Wish I could have attended (all day special ed. workshop & board meeting to attend–special ed. advocacy forever, & that’s the Learning Disabilities Assn. of IL {& y’all are invited to OUR national conference in Atlanta in Feb.–anyone who wants more details, I can post}–many from our board are going, but–warning you–there are a # of presenters from charters, presentations on serving sp.ed. kids through vouchers, charters & private schools; Pearson is touting its workshop on more/better access to high stakes testing for LD students–so they won’t be “left behind”–!!! &–last but not least–“R.T.I.: How is it Working?” [I can answer that–it’s NOT]}). Anyway, we could use a LOT of people to come down there & attend those specific sessions.
Thanks to you, Diane, Carol, the NPE board & convention organizers, & all who attended & KEEP FIGHTING!
Yes, WE can…& WE will!
P.S.-Lucky enough to live near Chicago, hearing the incomparable Jitu Brown speak several times (one was at the first NPE Conference in Chicago). Jitu, you are my hero.
Jitu brought to the NPE conference members of his organization, Journey 4 Justice, who taught one of the Conference workshops that both you and I attended.
Remember Diane that J4J workshop organizers had us count off by 4s to break us into groups. I’m sure it wasn’t planned, but it worked out that you, Diane, counted off as #1. Totally appropriate!
We had 8 minutes to learn about in our groups the stories of the J4J organizers success in organizing against privatization of public education in each of four cities. When time was up we rotated into the next group. We were taught by a number of J4J organizers their tactics and successes.
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But, I feel for me it was not the content on organizing that I valued most, but a realization that this West Coast, 75 year old liberal white male, was for the first time, experiencing being taught by a series of J4J black teachers.
J4J workshop flipped the standard white black teacher role. White folks that were not in the black community had the opportunity to learn from J4J organizers that were from the black communities of Chicago, New York City and a couple of New Jersey cities.
To play with Marshall McLuhan’s phrase “the medium is the message”; in the American K-12 education systems, looked at from a racial context, the messenger is the medium.
The reality of American education system is it is segregated. The norm is a white teacher is instructing a black student in a racially segregated classroom.
I believe it is not unusual for white students to have had my experience and had 12 years of schooling in America and never have been taught by a black teacher. We live in a racially segregated America and that is an ongoing problem too often ignored or not seen.