In recent years, reformers have decided that the District of Columbia is their best model, even though it remains one of the lowest performing districts in the nation (but it’s scores are rising) and the D.C. achievement gaps are double that of any other urban district. Remember that D.C. has been controlled by dyed-in-the-wool corporate reformers since 2007, when Mayor Adrian Fenty took control and installed Michelle Rhee as chancellor.
Nearly half its students are in charter schools, and the charter schools make bold claims about both test scores and graduation rates. As I pointed out in an earlier post, the D.C. public schools actually have higher graduation rates than the D.C. charter schools, despite charter propaganda.
G.F. Brandenburg cites an analysis of graduation rates by blogger Valerie Jablow, which confirms the superior performance of D.C.’s public schools.
But what should be a larger concern, as he points out, is that both charter high schools and public high schools are losing a large number of students. Wouldn’t it be nice if the education leaders of D.C. stopped the competition for bragging rights and joined together to figure out why they are losing so many young people?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Your point of view is too general and never takes into consideration other realities. My daughter was in DC and chose not to send her kids to the horrible public schools. There was an exception. The magnet school was very strong and a charter school was also a strong alternative. All her kids succeeded and are now university graduates.
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posted at OEN https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/G-F-Brandenburg-D-C-Is-in-General_News-Diane-Ravitch_Educational-Crisis_Graduation_School-Children-180707-160.html#comment705750
with 3 comments,
1- Since democracy depends on an educated informed citizenry, https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/hirsch.pdf
ending public education, which also gives people income equality, is the first goal of the autocrats who run the show in America.
“A Nation at Risk” https://www.edreform.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/A_Nation_At_Risk_1983.pdf
reads,”If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves.”
Comment 2: The Network for Public Education believes that public education is the pillar of our democracy. We believe in the common school envisioned by Horace Mann. A common school is a public institution, which nurtures and teaches all who live within its boundaries, regardless of race, ethnicity, creed, sexual preference or learning ability. All may enroll–regardless of when they seek to enter the school or where they were educated before. https://wp.me/p3bR9v-2st
comment 3: BTW… The Ravitch blog is a treasure. Everyone should read at least follow her posts to articles by educators across America. It is where I get the latest on the war on Public Education, that began with an assault on teachers, that took out tens of thousands of our most experienced, dedicated professional practitioners..i.e teachers. Also, here at OEN, see my many series https://www.opednews.com/author/series/author40790.html which follow the devastation of our public schools, as the INSTITUTION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION is decimated by the ‘reformers’ who sell privatization (I.e charter schools and vouchers) a s ‘choice.’
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Losing track of enrollment stats–transfers, dropouts, students in credit recovery, students who have moved out of state, students disqualified from graduation for too many absences, role of closed schools in producing the churn… Bring in the data masters for heavens sake.
Will proponents of disruptive innovation claim this low graduation rate is just great?
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My mother told me that on her parents’ tenant farm in Kansas they only sold the cream from the cows. The skimmed milk was worth little and was used by the family as hog feed and cheese. She never tried to convince anyone that their cows only made cream. Skimming is for cows, not students.
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The Alt-Right Deep State has large and still growing fake media machine to repeat and spread its lies, misinformation and conspiracy theories.
Fight fire with fire. The Progressive left has to step up and match the Alt-Right Deep State with a media machine but one based on truth supported by facts.
The key is to keep the message as simple as possible and repeat, repeat, repeat.
That’s what Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is doing — keeping her platform message simple and repeating it. Let’s keep her name alive until it is a national symbol.
Repeat, repeat, repeat …
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YES! “Fight fire with fire. The Progressive left has to step up and match the Alt-Right Deep State with a media machine but one based on truth supported by facts.” REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT!
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