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Diane Ravitch's Blog - Education & Personal Development
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Indiana Spends $497 Million on Vouchers, Most for Affluent Kids in Private Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog
Steve Hinnefeld reports that the cost of vouchers soared in Indiana to $497 million. Most of the students using vouchers never attended public schools. Most of the voucher money subsidizes affluent students at private schools that choose their students. That's the verbal sleight-of-hand behind the phrase "school choice." schools choose, not parents or students. In…
The New Republic: The GOP Plot to Un-Educate America | Diane Ravitch's blog
This is a startling and frightening article about the poison pill embedded in Trump's One Big Ugly Budget Bill. It contains a plan for destroying the student aid program that has subsidized the cost of higher education for middle-income and low-income students. The plan was described in the 900-page Project 2025. Previous generations of lawmakers…
John Merrow: It’s Not Enough to Oppose Trump. What Are We For? | Diane Ravitch's blog
John Merrow was the education correspondent for PBS for many years. Now, in retirement, he continues to write and help us think through the existential moments in which we live. He writes: More than five million demonstrators in about 2000 communities stepped forward to declare their opposition to Donald Trump, on June 14th. “No Kings…
Trump Administration Forces Resignation of UVA President Over DEI | Diane Ravitch's blog
James Ryan, the president of the University of Virginia since 2018, announced his resignation under intense pressure from the Trump administration. The Civil Rights Division of the Trump administration pressured the Board of Governors of the university to remove Ryan because of his support for diversity, equity, and inclusion. They said that he pretended to…
Federal Judge Enjoins Trump’s Order to Bust Government Employee Unions | Diane Ravitch's blog
Government Executive pays close attention to the federal workplace; its reporting is especially crucial these days, as Trump attempts to downsize, demoralize, and politicize career civil servants. It reported today that a federal judge in California blocked Trump's plan to crush federal employee unions. It is not clear how this decision will be affected by…
Diane Francis: Why Won’t Trump Try to Stop the War in Ukraine? | Diane Ravitch's blog
During the presidential campaign of 2024, Trump boasted that he could end the war in Ukraine in one day. We are still waiting. He continues to make phony demands of Putin, who ignores his demands, and intensifies his attacks on Ukraine. What's going on? Diane Francis titled her Substack post "Comrade Trump." She explains: The…
Senate Parliamentarian Removes Vouchers from GOP “One Big Ugly Bill” | Diane Ravitch's blog
Politico reports great news for America's public schools. The Senate Parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, removed the private school voucher part of Trump's "One Big Ugly Bill," because it runs afoul of the Byrd Rule. The Byrd Rule prevents the inclusion of extraneous issues that are not directly related to fiscal issues. She also ruled that the…
Stephen Dyer: Vouchers in Ohio Are a Disaster! I Told You So! | Diane Ravitch's blog
Stephen Dyer is a public policy expert, a specialist in school finance, and a former legislator in Ohio. He warned 11 years that vouchers would drive the state budget over a fiscal cliff. The court decision a few days ago proves that he was right on target. Let this be a warning to all the…
Dr. Jeremy Faust: RFK’s Farcical, Frightening Vaccine Committee’s First Meeting | Diane Ravitch's blog
Dr. Jeremy Faust is an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. He is also the editor-in-chief of MedPage Today and author of the Inside Medicine newsletter on Substack. This post appeared on his blog Inside Medicine. Dr. Faust demonstrates that RFK Jr. lied at his Senate hearings when he pledged not to inject…
Bill Moyers, a Great American, Is Dead | Diane Ravitch's blog
Bill Moyers died yesterday at the age of 91. He was a remarkable man, who served as President Lyndon B. Johnson's closest advisor and his press secretary, until he quit in 1966. He was a highly accomplished journalist and television star, who dealt with the most controversial issues of the day. I was privileged to…
The NY Times: DOGE Lied About Social Security | Diane Ravitch's blog
In a long and comprehensive article, three New York Times reporters document what happened when DOGE (or DOGS, as I prefer to say) arrived at the Social Security Administration to root out "waste, fraud, and abuse." Determined to prove that their services were needed, they misinterpreted data and spun outright lies about finding "millions" of…
Dr. Leana Wen: Where to Find Accurate Vaccine Information After RFK Jr.’s Coup | Diane Ravitch's blog
Dr. Leana S. Wen is a regular contributor to The Washington Post. She is an emergency physician and former health director for the city of Baltimore. In this column, she provides a list of reliable sources for vaccine information. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been a critic of vaccines for many years. Yet Trump put…
Ohio: Judge Rules that EdChoice Vouchers Violate State Constitution | Diane Ravitch's blog
In 2022, school districts, parents, and public school advocates filed a lawsuit against the state's EdChoice voucher program. Yesterday, Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jaiza Page ruled that vouchers for private schools violate the state constitution. The Constitution of Ohio says that the General Assembly is responsible for funding a thorough and efficient…
The Philosopher Crackpot Who Hates Democracy and Influences Powerful Tech Bros | Diane Ravitch's blog
If you haven't heard of Curtis Yarvin, you should learn about him now. Yarvin does not believe in democracy. He believes in a society commanded by a king or autocrat. He was a prodigy as a child and now considers himself to be a political genius. Powerful men in the tech industry and politics pay…
Heather Cox Richardson Questions Trump’s Mental Health After His Frenzied Tweets | Diane Ravitch's blog
Heather Cox Richardson relates Trump's flurry of tweets yesterday, which indicate a heightened state of anxiety. It seemed as though he devoted an inordinate amount of time to posting on his social media site. He did board a helicopter at one point in the day and answered a reporter's question, using the F word. What…
Florida: Rare Public Protest Kills GOP Plan to Cut Funding for AP CLASSES | Diane Ravitch's blog
Scott Maxwell, opinion columnist for The Orlando Sentinel, wrote about the unusual public protest against the Legislature's plan to cut funding for AP classes in public schools. For years, Republicans who run the state have inflicted blow after blow on the public schools, preferring to divert billions of public dollars to private and religious schools.…
The Stench of Censorship Spreads in Higher Education in Red States | Diane Ravitch's blog
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that legislatures in Republican-controlled states are passing laws to restrict teaching about racism or any kind of DEI in higher education. Such state laws follow the lead of Governor Ron DeSantis in Florida, who was first to launch the war on academic freedom, but also the policies of Trump,…
Federal Judge Again Blocks Trump’s Ban on International Students | Diane Ravitch's blog
Yesterday a federal judge in Massachusetts again blocked the Trump administration's efforts to ban international students at Harvard University. Stephanie Saul wrote in The New York Times: For the second time in less than a week, a federal judge in Boston rejected efforts by the Trump administration to bar international students at Harvard, blocking a…
Trump Strips Protection from 58 Million Acres of Wilderness | Diane Ravitch's blog
Henry David Thoreau wrote: "In wildness is the preservation of the world." Thoreau understood that as humans we need to be nourished by contact with or immersion in the natural world. Environmentalists understand this. They fight the inexorable march of what we call progress, which clear-cuts forest and paves over what once were boundless plains.…
Taxing the Endowments of Colleges and Universities Is Grossly Unfair! | Diane Ravitch's blog
In 2017, when Trump passed his first budget bill, his allies inserted into it an unprecedented tax on institutions of higher education that have large endowments. The tax was 1.4%. But that 1.4%, though it seemed small, was money that would not be available for low-income students at expensive colleges and universities. The next logical…
The American Bar Association Sues Trump for Intimidating Law Firms | Diane Ravitch's blog
The American Bar Association has filed a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration's policy of intimidating lawyers and law firms. The article was written by Mimi Rocah, former District Attorney, former prosecutor, and currently law professor. It was posted at Cafe, a blog for legal issues. She wrote: Last week, the American Bar Association (“ABA”)…
Trump Tax Bill Harms Public Schools by Funding Private Choices | Diane Ravitch's blog
Matt Barnum and Richard Rubin of The Wall Street Journal describe the harm that Trump's One Big Ugly Budget Bill will do to public schools. They wrote: Republicans’ tax-and-spending megabill would give the school-choice movement a major, long-sought victory—and deliver an unusually generous tax break to wealthy taxpayers. The bill includes a new way for…
The Battle Over the Ten Commandments in the Classroom | Diane Ravitch's blog
On Friday June 20, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Louisiana's law requiring that schools post the Ten Commandments in every classroom. On Saturday June 21, Governor Greg Abbot of Texas announced that he had signed a law requiring that the Ten Commandments be posted in every classroom in the state. The goal of…
Donald Trump: “I Deserve the Nobel Peace Prize” | Diane Ravitch's blog
Political cartoonist Ann Telnaes recently won the Pulitzer Prize, specifically for a cartoon that depicted plutocrats prostrating themselves at the feet of Trump. One of them was Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, who was her boss. Her editor refused to post her cartoon, and she resigned. open.substack.com/pub/anntelnaes/p/most-deserving This is her latest.
Trump Slashes Staff at Voice of America | Diane Ravitch's blog
Voice of America is known worldwide for its straightforward, unbiased presentation of world news. Trump placed MAGA enthusiast Keri Lake in charge. At his behest, she just laid off most of the VOA staff. Remember when America was great? We thought we had a message for the world and that the truth would set us…
Tom Ultican: Don’t Revive Failed Policies | Diane Ravitch's blog
Tom Ultican, retired teacher of high school physics and advanced mathematics in California, has been keeping close watch on the billionaire-funded efforts to promote privatization and demean teachers. In this post, he reviews an opinion piece that advocates the resuscitation of failed policies of the past. As I wrote in my 2013 book Reign of…
A New Statue On the DC Mall Mocks Dictators, One in Particular | Diane Ravitch's blog
Joe Heim of The Washington Post wrote this story about the arrival of a new and temporary sculpture on the National Mall. It has approval to remain until June 22. An anti-Trump statue has popped up on the National Mall in Washington. (Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post) Remember the poop statue? The curly-swirly pile of doo…
DANGER! Trump’s “One Big Ugly Bill” Protects AI for a Decade | Diane Ravitch's blog
We don't yet know the rewards and risks of artificial intelligence or its uses in the schools. Yet Trump's "Big Ugly Budget Bill" creates a special status for AI in the schools and beyond, fending off regulation by states. Lobbyists at work. There are many damaging aspects of the U.S. House budget bill just passed,…
Trump’s “One Big Ugly Bill” Will Devastate Rural Hospitals | Diane Ravitch's blog
Trump's tax cuts for the wealthiest will be funded in large part by draconian cuts to Medicare, which provides insurance to poor people. The massive cuts to Medicaid will lead to closure of many rural hospitals, which rely on Medicaid payments. The Senate knows this, and so-called "moderates" are working on adding a fund for…
Benjamin R. Cremer: Why We Celebrate Juneteenth | Diane Ravitch's blog
Benjamin R. Cremer is pastor at the United Methodist Church in Boise, Idaho. I read his essays regularly. He is truly a Christian. He preaches love, not hate. He knows and tries to exemplify the Beatitudes. He wrote about the meaning of this day: On June 19, 1865—two and a half years after the Emancipation…
Heather Cox Richardson: Under Our Mafia Boss, Everything Is For Sale | Diane Ravitch's blog
Heather Cox Richardson describes the legal corruption that is now out in the open. Yesterday at the meeting of the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7), a forum of democracies with advanced economies, President Donald Trump told reporters: “The UK is very well protected. You know why? Because I like them, that's why. That's…
Glenn Kessler Fact-Checks Rubio-Vance Lies About Foreign Aid | Diane Ravitch's blog
Glenn Kessler is the fact-checker for The Washington Post. He wrote: “There are all these humanitarian programs, where we sent money to people for medicine, for food, okay? What I thought, before I got into government, what most Americans think is, okay, so we sent $100,000 to this group to buy food, for like poor…
Did the Tech Bros Rig the 2024 Election? | Diane Ravitch's blog
I have always thought there was something fishy about Trump's win last November. When Elon Musk broke up with Trump, he said boldly that Trump would have not won the election without his help, and the Democrats would now control the House. What kind of help did he refer to? I wondered if this was…
ProPublica: How Trump Is Killing Medical Research: But Why? | Diane Ravitch's blog
ProPublica published a searing critique of the medical research that has been cancelled by the Trump administration. The fact that this research has been canceled is not at question; at least some of the cancellations have been reversed (for now) by federal courts. What's truly puzzling is why the Trump administration wants to eliminate so…
John Thompson: MAGA Republicans in Oklahoma Are Hurting the People Who Elected Them | Diane Ravitch's blog
John Thompson, historian and retired teacher in Oklahoma, probes the divide in the state Republican Party, which is currently in the hands of MAGA extremists. He writes: Oklahoma seems to be a case study in MAGA-ism and, now, it may be foreshadowing the chaos that President Donald Trump is creating with his fights with allies.…
Trump Reverses Decision to Stop ICE Raids in Farming, Hotels, and Restaurants | Diane Ravitch's blog
There was joy in certain industries last Friday when Trump announced that ICE would stop raiding workplaces. He exempted farms, restaurants, meatpacking plants, and hotels, acknowledging that they needed their employees, and that these immigrants were hardworking and contributed to the economy. His Agricultural Secretary Brooke Rollins apparently persuaded him. But by Monday, he reversed…
Arizona: Cost of Universal Vouchers Reaches $872 Million per Year | Diane Ravitch's blog
The Grand Canyon Institute has been tracking the growth and cost of vouchers and charter schools in Arizona for several years. The vast majority of students who take vouchers (almost 3/4). But this year, a larger share were drawn from district schools and charter schools. The report contains a number of excellent graphics. Open the…
Joyce Vance: The Kids Are Alright Despite Trump’s Efforts to Kill Public Education and Academic Freedom | Diane Ravitch's blog
Joyce Vance is a former federal prosecutor for North Alabama. She writes an important blog called Civil Discourse, where she usually explains court decisions and legal issues. Today she turns to education. Today I’m recovering from the graduation tour, one in Boulder and one in Boston in the last two weeks, and getting back into…
Musk Is Gone But His DOGS Live On, Embedded in Agencies | Diane Ravitch's blog
Elon Musk left Washington, where he enjoyed the exalted status of being Trump's brain. He returned to Texas, his new home. Where he launched into a Twitter tirade against Trump. But he left behind a still large contingent of DOGS (Department of Governmental Subsistence). Who are they? ProPublica has been tracking them. In an effort…