Over the past few days, I have received a number of hostile tweets, comments on my blog, and Instagram comments, accusing me of hypocrisy because I support public schools but sent my own sons (now ages 60 and 55) to private school. I am touched, even baffled, that anyone is upset by decisions that I made half a century ago.
It was easy to see who inspired these denunciations of me: Christina Pushaw, who is one of Ron DeSantis’ closest aides, and Chris Rufo, the man who led the phony crusade against critical race theory. They seem to think they unearthed a dark secret. That’s absurd. I’m guessing that Governor DeSantis doesn’t like what I write about him in my posts and tweets. I’m flattered.
The question of where my middle-aged sons went to schools is a nothing-burger. For the past decade, my blog bio has said that my two sons went to private school.
Pushaw and Rufo were outraged that I tweeted during “school choice week”:
“The best choice is your local public school. It welcomes everyone. It unifies community. It is the glue of democracy.”
They tweeted their “discovery” that my sons went to private school. The outrage of these two prominent right wingers generated two articles attacking me as a hypocrite.
One appeared on a news site called MEAA.com, titled:
“Who is Diane Ravitch? ‘Hypocrite’ NYU prof who sent her children to private school urges parents to pick public schools”
The article quotes Pushaw’s tweets, as well as tweets from others responding indignantly to my alleged hypocrisy.
The Daily Mail in the U.K. published an unintentionally hilarious article with this title:
“NYU education professor tells parents to send their kids to public school – before being forced to admit she send hers to private schools
It was never a secret that my sons went to private school. I was never “forced to admit” that fact.
Why did I send them to a private school?
After college, I married a New Yorker in 1960 whose family had a long tradition of attending private schools. My husband enrolled in the private Lincoln School in 1936! Like him, our sons went to private schools. When I started my career as a writer, I was conservative. I wrote articles in publications like The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, and The Public Interest. I opposed affirmative action, identity politics, and the Equal Rights Amendment. I believed, like Governor DeSantis, that the law should be colorblind.
However, I was never a racist. I was never contemptuous of public schools, because I had graduated from them and was grateful for the education and teachers I had, and the opportunities they opened for me.
In 1975, I earned a Ph.D. In the history of American Education from Columbia University. I was an adjunct professor at Teachers College from 1976 to 1991, when I left to work in the first Bush administration as Assistant Secretary of Education for Research and serve as Counselor to Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander.
After my stint in the Bush administration, I rejoined the board of the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and was invited to be a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute (which now employs Chris Rufo) and at the Hoover Institution. All three are very conservative and support school choice, as did I. I even went to Albany on behalf of the Manhattan Institute and testified on behalf of charter legislation in 1998.
When I came back to New York City, Teachers College asked me not to return because of my conservative views. I was hired as an adjunct at New York University, where I was a faculty member from 1995 to 2020, when I retired.
In 2007, after a long and deep immersion in the conservative education world, I began to change my views. I began to realize, based on frank conversations within the conservative think tanks, that charters were no better and possibly worse than public schools unless they cherrypicked their students; that clever entrepreneurs and grifters were using some of them to make millions; that voucher schools were usually ineffective, had uncertified staff, and did not save poor kids; that standardized tests are not valid measures of learning; that the emphasis on tests was actually ruining education by narrowing the curriculum and encouraging teaching to the tests.
The more I reflected on the poor outcomes of conservative policies, the more I doubted the ideas I had long espoused. In 2008, I began writing a book in which I renounced my conservative views. I rejected high-stakes testing, school choice, merit pay, evaluating teachers by their students’ test scores, and the entire corporatist school “reform” agenda.
The book—The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education (Basic Books)—was published in 2010, and it became a national bestseller. My change of mind and change of heart were widely reported in the national media.
Today, I am no longer a conservative. I support equal opportunity and equal justice for all Americans. I am sensitive, as I always have been, to the unjust and inhumane treatment that Black Americans have suffered. I endorse critical race theory, because it is a way of studying and evaluating why racism persists in our society and devising ways to eliminate it. Racism and other forms of hatred are a cancer in our society, and we must end them.
And so, Ms. Pushaw and Mr. Rufo, I hope I have answered your question. I enrolled my youngest child in a private school in 1965 and my second child in 1970 because I was a conservative. A lot happened to me in the years between 1965 and 2023, more than I can put into a tweet. I hope you understand why today I am a passionate advocate for public schools and an equally passionate opponent of public funding for private choices.
From my life experiences and many years as a scholar of education, I have concluded that the public school teaches democracy in a “who sits beside you” way; it teaches students to live and work with others who are different from them. The public school, I realized, is the foundation stone of our diverse society. It deserves public support and funding.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Thank you for everything Diane! Neither the label of liberal or conservative are appropriate monikers for people with an open mind and a caring heart.
You’re trying to make the argument that you enrolled your own kids in private schools simply because you were a conservative. I find that explanation highly dubious because lots of liberal parents have always enrolled their kids in private schools, too. Parents – whatever their political views – choose private schools for varying reasons: better or different curricula than public schools offer; smaller class or smaller overall school sizes; physical safety for the kids; a more pro-academic environment than their nearby public schools, etc. Just admit it: for those reasons listed or others of your own you decided that the private schools you chose were better for your kids than the public school options. There’s nothing at all shameful in so choosing; loving parents make numerous important choices like this as their kids are growing up. Many parents don’t send their kids to private schools, but they make the choice to move from within city limits to a suburb because they perceive the suburban public schools to be more suitable for their kids.
Stacey,
I have no problem with parents making private choices. My problem is the current push by Rightwingers to demand that government pay for their private choices with public funds. Handing out public dollars to parents to use as they wish, with no accountability.
I think you know that there are plenty of liberals who support vouchers and other forms of school choice. Some like me, think it should be limited to people who can’t afford private school, but this isn’t a “right wing/left wing” issue. This is about poor people trapped in well funded but mismanaged schools. Just as with universal healthcare, if so many liberal countries all over the world can make vouchers work, I suspect we can, too.
Diane clearly states that her husband’s family had a tradition of private school education, and her family was continuing that trend. This was just as much a factor as her politics.
Diane’s confession: “I enrolled my youngest child in a private school in 1965 and my second child in 1970 because I was a conservative.”
That is true, RT. My family in Texas was struggling to maintain a place in the middle class. Both my parents worked at a time when most women didn’t. I married “up,” as the saying goes. My husband went to private school in the 1930s and 1940s; his sister and all the cousins did as well. I went along. It took me a long time to learn not to go along.
Here, I’ll make it simple for you. If you want your kids to go to privates schools and pay for it yourself, more power to you. You can choose to forget about the importance of public education to our greater society if you do so. But if you care about the continued health and existence of a democratic-republican government, regardless of where you send your children or if you have any at all, public education is the cornerstone to make the Constitution and all the mechanisms connected to it work as much as possible today and for posterity. Please take your semantic games to another sandbox.
Thank you, Greg. Well said.
I try to imagine the world, our society, if the privatizers get their way. Kids will be sorted by race, religion, and ethnicity, never interacting with anyone different from themselves. The homeschoolers will know only what their parents know. No professional teachers needed. A dumbed-down, divided society, where ignorance is widespread.
I recommend you make a post of just that comment. If that concise description doesn’t scare the hell out of some to shake them out of their stupor, nothing will. I knew this, but seeing it put so concisely will surely give me more nightmares.
The traditional public school establishment wants to keep its monopoly over K-12 students as much as possible for the most obvious of reasons: that near-monopoly provides them with the job security that everyone desires, along with (in many states) good salaries over time and excellent pension benefits. We all prefer to have no competition in our chosen profession or business. I do IT consulting projects for local and state governments, and I have many competitors to get those contracts, some of which I’m awarded, most of which I’m not. There is nothing sacred about traditional public schools being “the cornerstone to make the Constitution and all the mechanisms connected to it work as much as possible today and for posterity.” Lots of students can and do achieve more in other settings. BTW, please tell us why a decade or so ago a survey of Chicago Public School teachers with school-age kids found that around 40% of CPS teachers sent their own kids to private schools rather than traditional public schools. I suspect that percentage is even higher in 2023.
Greg Norman,
First, I’ll address your sociopathy. With justice, a for-profit nursing home will be selected for you when the time comes that you need care and are vulnerable. I want you to anticipate the “horrors” you will experience as a resident and the “horrors” that staff experience when “convoluted corporate structures help companies obscure profits and avoid accountability.” You can read about it, “Ahead of Hearing, Select Subcommittee (of the US House) Releases New Evidence of Dire Conditions at For-Profit Nursing Homes .” (9-21-2022)
Secondly, I’ll address communities’ inability to survive after Walmartization (monopoly by outsiders) of their local schools. The economic multiplier effect, local money that remains in the community, is essential for economic growth.
Thirdly, taxpayers have a right to democratic processes for the money they spend. It is particularly critical when the situation involves children. It is particularly important when religious schools plot for taxpayer money.
Fourth, in a diverse nation like the U.S., public schools have a unifying effect.
P.S. The reciprocal of 40% is 60%.
Thank you Greg.
@ stacey: People send their kids to private schools for lots of reasons. One of them is that they’ll receive a “better” education there. And in a sense, they might, because there may well be much smaller class sizes, with lots of discussion, and with plenty of school resources.
Look at where public school critic Amanda Ripley went to high school:
https://www.lawrenceville.org/
That said, it’s also clear that any clear advantages obtained by private school students versus public school students actually comes from their parents’ college educations and family incomes.
Democracy,
My husband started as a 3-year-old at the Lincoln School, a famous progressive private school in NYC that implemented John Dewey’s ideas. That was 1936, in the midst of the Depression. His sister entered Dalton, another celebrated progressive school, in 1941.
When my older son started preschool at Dalton in 1965, the class had about 15 children. There was a sandbox in the room and water play. One corner had blocks. Everything was play. When Donald Barr (attorney general Bill Barr’s father) became headmaster, he removed the sandbox and the water play. Classes were always small. My sons studied both Greek and Latin. They took college-level history courses. Resources were plentiful. There were no standardized tests, ever. There were no grades. Instead, students received narrative reports. Our society would have to change its priorities to match that investment in education.
@ Greg Norman, you sound like someone who terms himself a “libertarian.”
These Ed Reformers are both insufferable…and wouldn’t recognize actual hypocrisy (perhaps ironic, because many so love looking in mirrors) if it [fill in your own phrase]. You, Diane, are the antithesis of hypocrisy. You have reflected thoughtfully, admitted changes in philosophy, and been an open book as the evolution of your opinions. These critics have far too much to learn for you, but I so appreciate you standing up to these political bullies.
They are indeed bullies. I won’t tell you the hate-filled comments I have deleted
Thank you for always honestly clarifying the journey you have taken for those unable or unwilling to understand human changes of heart and mind. Nuance is not a strong suit for those like Rufo.
Nuance is just another four letter word for those like Rufo.
“Rufo is just another four letter word for those like Rufo.”
This didn’t have to be explained to us, most of us have known this for years. But I’m glad you did. Nothing is either/or when it comes to education except when it comes to lies being accepted as valid or possibly so. It takes hard work, incisive intelligence, and honesty to be a good educator. You have all those traits and much, much more.
I first met Diane, although she has no memory of it, at a press conference at the Supreme Court with Justice David Souter to release the National Standards on Civic Education in 1994. I sporadically paid attention to her because, although I disagreed with what she said, I saw her live a few times and I categorize her as one of those conservatives like Jack Kemp. One who honestly wants to address important information and can make a rational case for it without distortion. But we sincerely disagreed on the remedies, but continued to respect and work with each other.
I lost touch with her and education until tuning in to the Daily Show one night. Hey, I remember her. Let’s see what she has to say. And I can honestly say, it was a revelation. The next day I ordered the book, I read the Reign of Error almost as soon as it came out. I was not drawn to them because she seemed to agree with me on a lot of things after all those years, but she explained the journey, that is was based experience, putting up ideas to it to evaluate, and come to honest conclusions. I would have the same respect for someone who went in the other direction if they could make a cogent case with truth to buttress their views. I cannot imagine such a scenario today.
Thank you, Diane. Thanks to you I have been able to reconcile many thoughts that have vexed me for a lifetime. Not all. But some real important ones.
Thank you, Greg. We met again when I lectured in Ohio. I have to work hard to earn your respect.
Great piece! But double-check the years you enrolled your sons in school.
They both enrolled when they were three years old. One was born in 1962, the other in 1967. I had a child between them, born in 1964, who died of leukemia in 1966.
Um, REALLY? Why would she need to check the dates her own kids started school? They’re HER kids!!!
Mansplainer on Aisle 6…
I apologize. It struck me as too early and I meant to be helpful. I appreciate all Diane writes and does for public education and was not trying to be snarky.
I apologize, Diane. I meant to be helpful because it struck me as too early. I apologize it this was offensive. I did not mean to be snarky.
Wow! Thank you, Diane, for this amazing, honest, inspirational statement.
People that evolve are those that learn and grow. Everyone has a right to a point of view, even if it changes over time, and Diane should not feel compelled to defend her personal history. It is unfortunate that politics has become so toxic and partisan. Politicians should be interested in working together to solve problems and serve all the people instead of trying to malign or discredit those that disagree with them.
Beautifully said, Diane!
But your explanation will make zero difference to these rightwing hate-mongers. They are all about the misleading soundbite. About the propaganda value, for example, of fake targets like CRT in public schools or Jewish space lasers or caravans of rapists and murderers or pedopizzaparlors.
Bob,
It might be amusing to make a list of the fake panics used by the Right to keep people in line, looking for a savior.
YES!
This could easily be a book. Useful moral panics cooked up by tighty righties.
One of these that REALLY stands out in the last few decades is the fake panic over WMDs in Iraq that the Shrub administration cooked up. Totally fabricated. But such a list would be long. Remember when all the conservatives in the US were screaming that we had to stop the advance of Communism at North Vietnam or pretty soon all our children would be forced to become Young Pioneers? Now, of course, EVERYONE, even the loudest warmongers back then, agrees that that was a ridiculous argument and that our getting involved in Vietnam was insane and immoral. This is how conservatives have always worked. And Fascists generally. Create a moral panic among the rabble. The Jews and the Socialists betrayed us. We have to do something about them. They whip up the base with a moral panic. They do stupid and immoral stuff based on that. Then, time passes, and everyone recognizes that they were wrong, but it’s mostly forgotten. And then they do it all over again.
This is how the right works.
People like Rufo (and lots of such operators before him–Roy Cohn, Lee Atwater, etc.) are into MMPs (Manufactured Moral Panics) because they work. They rouse the rabble.
“I love the uneducated.” –Donald Trump
We will start getting somewhere when the Democratic National Party starts saying this out loud. Calling out the BS machine and telling people how it’s supposed to work.
Although it’s on another topic, here’s an example from today that adds to what you write.
yup
Fear and loathing are tools that the right uses to divide and conquer.
Speaking of which, CRT just trampled through my flowerbeds!
I’m thinking more and more that the way to deal with these liars is with derision. Every time. Every time they mention teachers grooming kids or teaching white children to hate themselves, just bury them in derision. Laugh these creeps of the stage.
Remember LSD will alter your chromosomes?
GOP. Grows on Panics.
And I thought I was bad being a member of Young Americans for Freedom in 1966. All it took for my epiphany was one pro war demonstration watching NYPD drag an anti War protestor (with the audacity to hang a sheet “bring the boys” home) out of his apartment,down the fire escape to the waiting rifle butts of 12 year old Sea Cadets. And a few news clips of Anti War protestors being tarred and feathered in Central Park in View of NYPD . The Right was always there. It was only a few years later that White Parents in Boston stoned buses with Black Children. Is 1974 Current Events or History?
Now on a more serious note you never made a secret of your change of views on Education and Politically. There was no need to explain to anyone who has followed this Blog. My only criticism is there was no need to explain to the Right Wing Trolls. Nothing can be said that will penetrate the echo sphere . They were already aware of your history . .
I remember being a stupid freshman and seeing a Young American for Freedom meeting poster and attended to see what it was all about. Within 2-3 minutes I slinked out the back thinking, “What the hell was that?”
Wow! The far right is clearly scared of you. It is typical that they use their media to make distorted personal attacks because they are unable to make a coherent argument based on facts. Their ugliness and nastiness is par for the course.
Diane, I always admired that you were open minded to new facts and evidence and realized that you were wrong. I have certainly been wrong many times and I when I realize that the facts don’t support what I believe, I change my mind. There is nothing wrong with that. There IS something wrong with people who are so insecure that when their beliefs are challenged, they don’t defend them with evidence or argument but instead launch personal attacks on the people who challenged them.
I don’t care about someone’s bias if they present a reasonable, fact-based argument for their POV and welcome the opportunity to respond with reasonable defense of their position to those who challenge them (as Diane Ravitch does here). The people who don’t defend their views and instead hurl insults (including a few on here) are simply provocateurs. It’s a shame they have any credibility at all.
I’ll just repeat what I always say in this context, as I’ve never understood how some folks failed to learn this basic lesson in whatever school they went through. It’s the same way with a related issue — What our teachers taught us about the Old World Religious Wars and why Our Framers built that FireWall between Government and Religion precisely to keep them from getting started on our Continent. How did some people not get this?
I really can’t think of anyone who objects to people sending their children to private or religious schools — if they do so on their own funds. Wrong or right about the perceived private benefit, it’s their money so they can pay the premium if they choose. But ordinary people don’t have a CHOICE about paying taxes and the taxes they pay into a common fund to support a common resource are not for their benefit alone but for the benefit of the whole society. Which is why people who know what’s good for them and the whole society pay into it whether they have school-age children or not. Otherwise, people without school-age children could justifiably demand a rebate or be exempted from paying school taxes altogether. If people who pass through private and religious schools have somehow missed this fundamental lesson then I say their perception of receiving a proper education is wholly misguided.
Diane – Thank you for sharing your story, and thank you for evolving. I’m so very thankful for your research and advocacy for public education as one of the few instruments left to create the “public” in our society where we learn about ‘others’ who are different from ourselves. As you note, that necessarily undergirds our democracy. Unfortunately, too many so-called conservative groups today prefer autocracy to democracy. I really fear for my grandchildren’s future. They are why your and our advocacy are so essential. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you, Nancy. I’m grateful for the readers of this blog, who are a sharp contrast to the haters on Twitter.
These kind of posts seem to bring out the hateful lunatics who try to talk about what they want to in the ways they want to. Here’s are some things they can’t explain why public education, which educates more than 90% of Americans, is so bad.
This is the wealthiest, most powerful nation in the history of the world. That’s true whether you think you are the most patriotic patriot or un-American.
403 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to Americans, three times to the same person. Second in this non-competition is the UK with 137. In most countries, a Nobel Prize recipient is a national icon, here we don’t generally know who they are.
Of the past 50 Americans who received a Nobel, 43 represented graduates from public high schools.
The notion of “monopoly” is an economic term that does not apply to public education, which, in theory that is fast becoming a luxury, is open to educate any American student.
Very helpful, Greg.
I am against school vouchers however I am also amazed at your tone deaf response in tweeting that you could pay for it. That stayed true to your conservative roots I suppose.
You have no experience as a public school parent so you don’t understand what goes on at the ground level. My children are public school graduates (now college graduates).
You should be advocating for science based curriculum and stop using our children as experiments. This has nothing to do with the manufactured “CRT” but real problems like reading and math.
People like Lucy Calkins (no phonics for you!) and Jo Boaler (who needs algebra and calculus anyway?) have destroyed so much yet hide behind the language of equity while making it harder for underserved people to access the type of education you paid for.
If you had any real life experiences on the ground with public schools you would understand the concerns people who sent and are sending our children there. We actually walked the walk while you come in lecturing other people. The very definition of white privilege.
Sorry you feel that way.
Is being fearful about driving or walking in a public place, being threatened for who you are, or real threats to children’s safety and well being (not the contrived perversities the right spews) real or not? What roles do schools have in addressing these situations? How do your public school experiences as a parent compare to those in Detroit, Jackson, or L.A? Are any of those problems real or just contrived by “the libs?”
Unless Boaler has had a metamorphosis- it seems highly unlikely that Diane would be a proponent of her messaging. The many controversies associated with Boaler are footnoted at Wikipedia. IMO, Boaler, at the private Stanford, could be very tight with Silicon Valley. Tech moguls push an agenda related to profits which they couch in terms of making students into workers who will be productive for company owners. Diane’s history is one of opposition to commercialization of education.
If you are not aware of it, Jennifer, professors at universities, in my experience particularly those at private schools, produce research that should be viewed in light of who the faculty and departments’ funders are.
Which state do you live in?
I grew up in Houston. I lived most of my life in New York City, since my marriage in 1960.
Have you noticed the wave of proud conservatives and all that stood for have switched their stance and spoken out about today’s conservatives? The “non-hypocrites” with the guts to say something about the course of hate we are on. (And, there are “liberals” or “progressives” who have switched course on some educational issues. How many iterations of the reading and math wars have we been through. Stuff changes – stuff happens – we learn from it – we take a stance.
But… help with this one and with all the changes in the past 50 years of conservatives why you are compelled to target someone who actually researches and reads more than anyone and willing to learn from it and admit – things changed and that’s not a sound position anymore.
Conservatives want Deregulation – but placing more regulations on schools, testing, etc.
Low taxes – but put tax money into private coffers (tax breaks, tax credits, etc.) and lower taxes ONLY for the wealthy.
High standards turned into big-hammer accountability.
Using public entities issues an on-ramp to profiteering and privatization.
Limited government into “except the things we want to control no matter how invasive.”
“Show-me” the proof and data to “Don’t bother showing me, I don’t care about facts and proof.”
And a adopting the “chicken in every pot” to a gun in everyone’s hand ((including teachers) 16 and older, in public, not concealed).
Have you noticed the once-revered, staunch conservatives – Presidents, Senators, Representatives, Civic Leaders – are EMBARRASSED by today’s breed.
They are writing columns and speaking out about the “conservatives” behaviors, racial slurs, intolerance for others, and outrageous statements. And, they are embarrassed that the current breed of conservative says absolutely nothing when the exPresident stands with the white supremacists, dictators, conspiracy theorists – and talk only about themselves and controlling the lives of others instead of governing.
I guess John Danforth, George W. Bush, et al are hypocrites, too.
What is common with badgering
a fresh jug of Riesling,
(Mature dammit, Mature)
and shearing a piglet?
A lot of squealing and
little wool…
There IS something
wrong with these people…
The hateful lunatics need
to be shaken out of their
stupor…
The ignorant jackwagons don’t
get it…
D.R.
“I began to change my views.
I began to realize…”
“The more I reflected on the
poor outcomes…”
“My change of mind and
change of heart…”
How many hold a candle
to Diane Ravitch?
By her time line, she was 69
(2007-anti free market
slant of Ed-reform.)
At age 72 (2010-anti testing).
I’m not pitching a
“get out of jail free card.”
I’m touching on a realistic
expectation.
Is expecting the “youngsters”
light to turn on sooner than
Diane Ravitch realistic?
Mature, dammitt Mature…
Diane- I had to read your book, The Troubled Crusade, for a graduate education course I was taking in the early 2000’s. Disagreed most strongly with what you wrote. Several years later, you published The Death and Life of the Great American School System and I raced out to purchase a copy. When I began to read it, I found myself glued to the pages and had to physically “tear” myself away from it to eat supper that evening. I have been a devotee of yours ever since. Your 180 degree “about face” is so clearly explained in that book; anyone who read even the first chapter will understand how this change of opinion came about.
Thank you for your devotion to public schools and your standing firm and standing up to the critics who know little or nothing of public schools and public school teachers. I am proud to have been (and still consider myself to be even though I have long been retired) a Public School Teacher.
Susan, thank you for your comment. I appreciate your words. I was wrong and I said so.
I have friends who vote Republican due to perceived economic policy. One once told me he couldn’t support Democratic tax policies. He is at a personal level a generous, intelligent, and caring individual, but a one issue voter. I think this is part of the struggle. Many of the ‘never Trumpers” finally broke from this line of thinking, but far too many have towed their line. I think your movement away from conservatism shows your intellectual prowess. A real sign of intelligence is having the humility that our perspectives are often flawed and pivoting beliefs on new information is actually a strength. I think it was Socrates who stated that the more we learn, the more we don’t know.
Paul,
The Republican tax policy is to lower the taxes of the 1% and corporations. Why do poor and middle-class people support that policy?
When my son was a child he once said he didn’t think he should have to pay taxes. He grew out of that position. Many Trumplicans have not.
Trump’s tax cuts for the 1% grew the deficit. I read recently that his cuts account for 1/4 of the deficit and Republicans raised the debt limit three times.
Trump did proclaim himself the “King of Debt” after all.
Thank you, Susan. Always appreciate your comments here!
Many of us have made this journey in our own ways. I am not an economic socialist, but I am for sure not a conservative as it is presently defined.
Rob,
I don’t understand Republicans today. They embrace stupidity, endorse insurrection, protect the 1%, and dupe those who follow them. Given a choice between Trump and DeSantis is a choice between a stupid con man and a smart con artist.
An article worth reading:
Insider NJ Pascrell Versus Gottheimer Feb 2, 2023 re the Republicans’ bill “Denouncing the Horrors of Socialism.”
The Democrats should introduce a bill denouncing the horrors of fascism and see how many GOP vote against it.
Agreed. It’s like they are copying the Democrats of the 60’s in a lot of ways.
I’m not sure if it was David Brooks, but I watched a pundit last week say succinctly that the Republicans are playing to feelings while Democrats are hoping that their accomplishments with “the material” and actual positive legislation will eventually win voters over. This makes sense when you consider that much of the Republican base is from rural parts of the country that feel locked out of urban and suburban perceived prosperity. The performative grievance politics play because there are legitimate struggles for many including economics and isolation. Yes, a good deal of the Republican appeal is abject racism, but that isn’t all of it. The view from 35,000 feet is that inflation is down, employment is up, and wages are improving, yet 75% of the American public believes the economic outlook is bad. Meanwhile, when we do get the tremendous news of 500,000 jobs added last month, the New York Times immediately pivots to the negative of inflation. The Democratic Party has to find a way to communicate with feeling. Yes, Biden’s first two years have been exceptional on the legislative front, yet Republicans still won the House because voters put 18 Republicans in Washington from districts where Biden won in 2020. Enough of the voters in those 18 districts bought into the narratives of fear of crime and a non-existent recession. In so many ways our country is in a good place, but too many are not feeling the love.
Ignoring the church pulpits that sell the Republican brand in red states hasn’t worked as strategy so far.
Few can say it better than Diane. This is a simple and direct explanation of her evolvement. Some conservatives call it waffling, it is in fact what happens when someone is open minded enough to realize that reality does not support their views. Looking at you Mr Rufo and Ms Pushaw. These are people wo conscience, people who must rely on hate to fuel their actions. Instead of contributing to the benefit of the human condition, they resort to attacks focused on destruction of imaginary demons. Their actions harm our children and our communities. They have nothing more than positions unsupported by reality. We on the other hand, have the truth to support us and thank god we have Diane to give voice to those truths.
Ben, thank you for your sage comment.
Reblogged this on Crazy Normal – the Classroom Exposé and commented:
If someone changes their mind about political issues over the years because of what they are learning, does that make them a hypocrite? I do NOT think so!
Regarding the new bipartisan 1990’s political and politicized agenda that hoisted heavy handed accountability, high stakes testing, standards not written by national professional associations, flaunting and punishing “failing” schools…
Dr. Ravitch wrote in “Death and Life of the American School System”
“Paradoxically, it was my basic conservatism about values, traditions, communities, and institutions that made me back away from what once was considered the conservative agenda but has now become the bipartisan agenda in education”
Mic drop.
Oh, the fun of Pushaw’s false equivalence comments. Just grab a few words or situation and take everything out of context! Too bad it’s not really fun… just shows a reading comprehension deficit and desire to support the person who thinks he is the smartest person in the room. I mean, really, he went to an Ivy on a baseball scholarship ride!
You should not have to apologize for paying for your sons to go to a private school. It is your choice and your money. You’re also paying taxes for public schools.
And Rufo sending a message? To fascists like himself? So what?
So sorry you had to get to get tangled up in this… Catherine Solli, Ed.D. Title 1 teacher for many years and faculty at several universities
Education must involve having an open mind.
I never cared what a jerk Trump was. I only cared what ideas he wrongfully espoused. Intellectual debate involves what, not who.
DJT failed to pay a number of small business contractors in NJ and PA for work on his Atlantic City property, or paid 30 cents on the dollar. The Democrats should have brought those folks on the 2016 campaign trail.
That “what” also signifies a “who.”
Intelligent people change their minds when presented with new facts.
I quoted John Maynard Keynes in my book, who said, “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”
Agreed – Charter School model is very flawed.
Is it possible to double effectiveness of Public School model – without incremental Public spending?
If so – would you support change?
Brent
As a fellow commenter, I’m providing subject context and asking the following question aimed at clarification-
False propaganda about ineffective public schools was/is created for agendas like those of libertarian Bill Gates.
Public school-educated workers enable the GDP growth the nation experiences. Wall Street is estimated to be a 2% drag on GDP. If the goal of self-appointed and self-styled reformers like Gates and Walton heirs was U.S. productivity, they would focus their reforms on Wall Street.
For many reformers, public school privatization is about legalizing the theft of taxpayer-funded assets i.e. robbing communities of their assets.
When you speak of “doubling the effectiveness”, do you mean making students better citizens in a developed democracy? If so, the locus of possible research about public schools should be shifted. Based on the conspiracy theories they believe and their voting, the education in red states, of 50 years ago, specifically that received by White men, appears to have been problematic. That assumes the demographic hasn’t been “re-educated” by Murdoch’s Fox.
While it is not the prevailing thought at this blog, IMO, the attacks against public schools are aimed at denying women the job that made the largest number of them financially independent. The two most strident enemies of public schools are the conservative religious and those from Silicon Valley. Both are known to view and to treat women as 2nd class citizens.
Diane – Do you agree our schools are maximally effective – and cooperation to increase effectiveness is useless and based on false propaganda? Also, do you agree we can’t get better schools with current spending? Do you agree effectively using technology to effectively empower teachers is worthless because it is impossible to use technology to increase effectiveness and decrease costs?
Current spending is inadequate. Class sizes are bloated where needs are greatest. Technology is a tool. It doesn’t take the place of experienced teachers.
Brent
A prototype for the Christo Rey school chain (operates in 17 states) featured a class size of 60 with one teacher. The model relied on computer-included instruction. Christo Rey, a Catholic chain of schools, should be contrasted with the suburban parochial schools. How many of the Catholic students in suburbs would be expected to work one day a week in low level jobs? Some of the inner city students at Christo Rey are expected to return their pay to the school. If the suburban Catholic schools are more “efficient,” is it because teacher salaries and benefits are less? Consider that religious schools are able, in hiring, to discriminate against the disabled (Biel v. St. James Catholic school). In other cost saving, private schools are sheltered from the costly accountability of public schools and, they can avoid costs with selective enrollment.
Jefferson warned, in every age, in every country the priest aligns with the despot.
Thirty percent of Catholic schools are single sex.
You choose to be disingenuous.
You can’t drive a Mercedes Benz while paying monthly payments for a Pinto. First, public school effectiveness would be positively impacted if we invested in teacher training, resource support, and profoundly better pay. Would this cost more than current outlays? Certainly. In the fall of 2022, the Congress passed a defense spending bill that was 48 billion higher than requested by the Department of Defense, claiming we had seriously depleted arm stocks due to Ukraine. Currently over 50% of our defense spending goes to private corporate arms interests. Four years ago General McChrystal said adequately funding our public schools is our biggest National Security concern. So, if we are so willing to overspend for defense, why aren’t we willing to invest in the public schools? Exclusive private K-12 schools now charge $30,000 and up to provide quality instruction, small classes, and, basically, a liberal arts education. According to the Education Data Initiative, the US averaged $13,700.00 per student in the public schools. This does not account for the inequality that exists because schools are predominately funded by property taxes. We cannot get better schools with current spending. That’s the point. Public schools are an investment. The defense department is a privatization scheme run by CEO’s who make millions of dollars a year bilking the Federal Treasury. Which investment would make us safer?
Agreed – but technology can be a massive force multiplier – or a colossal waste of money. No profession can survive without effectively using the massive force multiplier of technology. Would you support all 50 State Public School Systems working together to bring incredibly effective new tools to every teacher and student in the Country? Because if you will – we can get it paid for & improve teacher job satisfaction – much, much more than Double.
I am not anti-technology, and I do think if it is a tool where teachers can determine its use it can be a force multiplier. My first encounter with smart boards was as an elementary school principal and our approach to them was to allow teachers to experiment together and purchase as much exploratory software as we could afford. Therefore, these screens became a resource rather than a substitute for teaching. We were fortunate that we were a prominent magnet school with a wealthy PTA and we could use these tools before they became standard issue. In another district, we had these smart boards in every room and all we did was reproduce the text book as mandated by the district. I have been in public education for a long time and although I wish what you say is true, polls have traditionally shown that the citizenry is behind increasing education funding, but this rarely serves as impetus for states and localities to increase teacher pay and over all funding. Corporations who sale technology to schools have more times than not attempted to discredit teachers as a means to sale more PCs and tablets to substitute for teaching and present it as a cheaper option. If technology is used to enhance inquiry and experience it is a valuable tool for educators. If it is used simply as a digital text, then it is a waste of money.
Public ed defenders must answer Brent’s garbage as Paul does. And, defenders must also stop allowing men like Brent to frame the discussion. Is the following true, voters/citizens who can be convinced that Wall Street and Silicon Valley’s (self-styled) ed reformers are bad…, have been convinced already?
Consider the need for defenders to pivot, adding a counter offensive. Conservative religion is a major player against public schools. Could we maximize the opportunity that the religious right, people like the Koch’s Paul Weyrich, unwittingly, gave us? The conservative religious owner of Hobby Lobby wouldn’t be spending millions to rebrand Christ if the public wasn’t turning against the religious right’s creation of an intolerant, sexist and social Darwinist Jesus.
Pointing out to the public that the moneyed axis against public schools includes racists, the conservative religious who align with despots as Jefferson warned and, those who don’t believe in women’s equality, makes for good political strategy, IMO. Note that Brent didn’t choose to engage in topics like those that I introduced. Games theory tells the (politicized) billionaire, business segment that they have no winning play in public education except when they narrowly define the parameters of the issue.
When Fox’s Joshua Q. Nelson attacked Diane, as described in a more recent post, she reported that some who were provoked made their attacks about religion. Meeting Christian and Catholic nationalism with response, not ignoring it, is critically important.
You have always been a hero of mine because you admitted you made a mistake. Your courage has always impressed me.
Thank you, Tracey. When I knew I was wrong, I had to say so. I could not repeat things I knew were false.
For what it’s worth, I came here through a Libertarian podcast (The Fifth Column) that I love and all three of the hosts absolutely support school choice. I am a public school teacher in NYC and have visited your blog before. I am neither Libertarian nor a school choice supporter. There are things I disagree with you on, which I will not get into. However, I think your response on sending your students to private school while advocating for public schools is genuine.
I find the argument “if you believe in X, then you must support Y” specious at best. It is a blindspot I think the hosts have, especially when speaking about public education. The argument is always “look at these terrible public schools, charters are way better” whilst ignoring the many great public schools and the oft corrupt and poor charters. I am not anti-charter, despite being a public school teacher. I think there can be good outcomes for students, schools that provide alternate ways of helping them succeed. I am less excited about schools like Success Academy, which run military style schools and remove “bad actors.” Like, yeah, if public schools could do that, they’d all be successful.
Anyways, just wanted to pass that along.
Thank you, Clovis. I don’t expect anyone to agree with me all the time, though I hope readers come here because they agree some of the time.
I can support charters for students with high needs. I visited an excellent charter school in Mass. that did not exclude low-scoring students. Unfortunately, charters have become corrupted by profiteers, entrepreneurs, grifters. Under the right circumstances—accountability and transparency—charters would collaborate with district schools instead of competing with them.
Yeah I agree. Whatever helps children succeed.
“I try to imagine the world, our society, if the privatizers get their way. Kids will be sorted by race, religion, and ethnicity, never interacting with anyone different from themselves. The homeschoolers will know only what their parents know. No professional teachers needed. A dumbed-down, divided society, where ignorance is widespread.”
I struggle to find words to express how much I admire this statement. So eloquent, so profound, so important. And, I fear, prophetic.
Sharing this widely, with attribution, with everyone. I’m with Greg. Please make this a separate post on its own.
Wpw/
your explanation is appreciated and valid. and your criticisms of charter schools also. but why not let parents decide that for their own kids? if charter schools are so bad, then they will fail. but then why are there long waiting lists to get in them? it seems highly unfair to me to tell parents they can’t choose unless they have the money to do so.
Part of the propaganda is the false idea of waiting lists.
You are correct that charter schools fail. The taxpayers of Ohio lost $1 bil. of money to the profiteers of an on-line charter school. The system that allows the continued fleecing remains in place. The voters in the state who deserve fair elections lost their democracy in part because the Ohio charter owner funded the state Republican party whose politicians, after elected, gerrymandered the state.
The conservative Catholic Supreme Court of the U.S. used the charter school privatization scheme as the excuse to force taxpayers to fund religious schools.
Jefferson warned, in every age, in every country, the priest aligns with the despot. Conservative churches deny women equal status.
Nicole,
There are not “long waiting lists” for charters. Maybe a few but not most. In Los Angeles, a member of the board reported that at least 80% of charters had empty seats. In NYC, the highest scoring charter chain is Success Academy, which says it has a waiting list, but in fact is constantly advertising for applicants. How do you know there are waiting lists? The charters say so. No one audits them. The choices available to parents are usually worse than the neighborhood public schools. The private schools that have a tuition of $8,000 per year (about the size of a voucher) are mostly low-quality schools. The top-rated private schools in every city or state have tuition that is 5-10 times the size of a typical voucher. As for charter, there are good ones and fly-by-night ones. They tend to be unstable (many close within five years), their teacher turnover rate is far higher than public schools, and they often have a limited curriculum
And poor outcomes.