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Robert Hubbell: Trump Tells TIME What He Will Do if He Wins | Diane Ravitch's blog
Robert Hubbell summarizes Trump’s goals, as he explained them to TIME magazine in an interview. They sound remarkably fascistic. All power to the imperial President. No checks or balances. Remember and ask yourself: is this the country we want to live in? I suppose we should be glad that Trump is turning 80 this year.…
Rick Perlstein: Texas is a Fascist State | Diane Ravitch's blog
Rick Perlstein writes in The American Prospect about a conversation with a friend who is a journalist in Texas. His friend describes how his native state is run by men who are determined to stamp out every last vestige of democracy in Texas. The Republican Party keeps moving to the extreme and crushing reasonableness and…
Catherine Rampell: Our Economy Is Booming Because of Immigrants | Diane Ravitch's blog
Catherine Rampell, opinion writer for the Washington Post, recently explained the positive effect that immigrants have on our economy. She is not advocating “open borders,” nor am I. She is describing the role that immigrants play in boosting our national well-being. We need more legal immigrants. She writes: Don’t want more immigrants in this country?…
Forced Birth Laws Are Religious and Thus Violate the Constitution | Diane Ravitch's blog
Florida’s six-week ban on abortion went into effect today. A reader who calls him/herself Quickwrit posted the following excellent thoughts about anti-abortion laws: THE NINTH AMENDMENT that gives Clarence Thomas the constitutional right to live in an interracial marriage also gives women the constitutional right to abortion: The 9th Amendment says that rights, like the…
Are the Campus Protests Advancing Peace in the Middle East? | Diane Ravitch's blog
As I write this, I’m watching the New York Police Department remove protestors from Hamilton Hall at Columbia University. On CNN, a retired federal judge, who was a student at the university in 1968, compares then and now. She says that the students in Hamilton Hall will likely be charged with trespassing, vandalism, maybe disorderly…
Carol Burris: Vermont Senate Rejects Charter Official as State Superintendent | Diane Ravitch's blog
Carol Burris reports on an important decision in Vermont: By a 19-9 vote, the Vermont Senate refused to approve Zoie Saunders, a former strategist for the for-profit Charter Schools USA, as the new Superintendent of Instruction in Vermont. Saunders, a Florida resident, had worked briefly for a Florida public school district (3 months) even as…
Breaking News: Arizona Repeals 1864 Abortion Law! | Diane Ravitch's blog
The highly restrictive ban on abortion passed in 1864 was repealed by the Arizona Senate today, as two Republicans broke with their party to join all Democratic Senators. Arizona lawmakers secured enough votes on Wednesday to repeal an abortion ban that first became law when Abraham Lincoln was president and a half-century before women won…
Greg Olear: Jared Kushner’s Ties to the National Enquirer | Diane Ravitch's blog
Greg Olear noticed Jared Kushner’s new role as a financier and his success at staying far, far away from his father-in-law’s trial in New York City. He also noticed that Jared had replaced Michael Cohen as Trump’s liaison with David Pecker and the National Enquirer. Naturally, he wonders why Jared is not being called to…
Joel: Why Does the Media Lie About the Economy? | Diane Ravitch's blog
Our reader is a retired union worker who follows economic and political news closely. He lives on long Island in New York. He wrote this comment in response to Jonathan V. Last’s article about the media’s insistence on saying that good economic news is “bad for Biden.” His response: “It’s about time!” Joel wrote: What…
Texas: Rightwing Lt. Gov. Wants to Abolish Property Taxes and Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog
Chris Tomlinson, a columnist for The Houston Chronicle, writes here about the audacious, mendacious plan of Lt. Governor Dan Patrick to destroy public schools. Patrick was a talk-show host like Rush Limbaugh before he entered politics. In Texas, the Lt. Governor has more power than the Governor, so his actions must be closely scrutinized. Dan…
Are Fetuses People, with the Rights of Other People? | Diane Ravitch's blog
The next frontier of the abortion debate is rapidly approaching. It is the movement to legislate that life begins at the instant of conception, and that fetuses in the womb (or stored in a tank in an In Vitro Fertilization clinic) are human beings, with the same rights as other human beings. Thus, to kill…
My Conversation about the State Takeover of Houston Public Schools on KPFT-Pacifica | Diane Ravitch's blog
I was invited by KPFT, a Pacifica station in Houston, to discuss the state takeover of the Houston Independent School District. The host of the show is Paul Castro, who has taught in HISD and in an open enrollment charter school. It was a good exchange. We talked about The state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles, about…
Qatari Spokesman: Both Sides Are Blocking Peace Deal | Diane Ravitch's blog
In a historic first, a Qatari Minister agreed to be interviewed by Israeli journalists. The interview is fascinating because the minister is directly involved in negotiations between Hamas and Israel. The interview appeared in Haaretz. You will find more critical views in Haaretz than in American media. DOHA – Dr. Majed Al-Ansari, adviser to the…
New Orleans: A Failed Experiment | Diane Ravitch's blog
The founding myth of the corporate reform movement is the rebirth and transformation of the public schools of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Most of the city’s public schools suffered physical damage because of the horrendous storm. Large numbers of the students and teachers were scattered after the storm. The state of Louisiana…
Florida: Should These Children Live or Die? | Diane Ravitch's blog
Scott Maxwell, columnist for The Orlando Sentinel, wrote about the state’s callous indifference to the neediest of the state’s children. These are the children who are not included in Ron DeSantis’s commitment to “right to life.” He cared about them when they were fetuses but neglects them now. Their lives don’t matter. Maxwell writes: Last…
Rick Wilson: The “Both-Sides” Argument is Dangerous | Diane Ravitch's blog
Rick Wilson, a Never-Trump Republican and a founder of The Lincoln Project, warns about the danger of normalizing Trump: I’m seeing a lot of traditional, DC “bothsides” reporting lately, arguing that this is at some level a “normal” election between a center-left Democratic party and a center-right Republican party. This morning, Axios published a piece…
Jess Piper: It’s My State Too! I’m Not Moving! | Diane Ravitch's blog
Jess Piper lives in rural Missouri. She is a fearless progressive and a fighter. She has repeatedly called on the Democratic Party to contest every seat, even in rural areas, where voters usually have no choice. She will be a featured speaker at the next convening of the Network for Public Education in April 2025…
Indiana: Jennifer McCormick for Governor!! | Diane Ravitch's blog
Indiana has plunged headlong into privatization of its-once-beloved public schools. Fortunately, there is a knowledgeable candidate for Governor who has promised to stop the destruction of public education. Jennifer McCormick is a career educator who began as a special education teacher, then became a language arts teacher, a principal and a district superintendent. She was…
ACLU: How to Protect Free Speech on Campus | Diane Ravitch's blog
The American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement to advise college and university presidents about responding to student protests. We write in response to the recent protests that have spread across our nation’s university and college campuses, and the disturbing arrests that have followed. We understand that as leaders of your campus communities, it can…
Will Bunch: The Scariest Part of a Trump Rally is not Trump | Diane Ravitch's blog
Will Bunch is the national political columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He attended a Trump rally recently, where he was more interested in the crowd than in the speaker. Who are the true believers who swear fealty to a man who tried to o return the 2020 election? To the man facing multiple indictments? To…
Jim Hightower: George Orwell Would Understand the Texas GOP: Mean and Crazy | Diane Ravitch's blog
Jim Hightower is an old-fashioned Texas liberal. He tries to understand what’s happened to his state in his blog. The GOP is just plain mean and crazy. He writes: If you think the GOP’s Congress of Clowns represents the fringiest, freakiest, pack of politicos that MAGA-world can hurl at us – you haven’t been to…
Eva Moskowitz May Expand “Success Academy” to Florida | Diane Ravitch's blog
Eva Moskowitz runs the most successful (when measured by test scores) and the most controversial charter chain in New York State. Controversial because her schools are highly regimented, “no excuses” schools where student behavior and dress are tightly monitored. Controversial because her schools have a high attrition rate and a high teacher turnover rate. Outspoken…
Network for Public Education Ranked One of Nation’s Most Influential Education Organizations! | Diane Ravitch's blog
A group of scholars at Indiana University led by Christopher Lubienski developed a methodology for ranking organizations and individuals in the field of education. It was disheartening to see that nine of the ten most influential organizations advocate for school privatization, for charter schools and vouchers. It was also disheartening to see that these nine…
Tennessee: Gov. Lee Fumes About Voucher Failure, But Parents and Educators Celebrate | Diane Ravitch's blog
Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee made school vouchers his top priority but the issue died in the Legislature despite its Republican supermajority. He will bring the issue back next year. He’s hoping for universal vouchers, where every student in the state is eligible for a voucher but opponents call his plan a subsidy for the…
Jan Resseger: What Is White Christian Nationalism? | Diane Ravitch's blog
Jan Resseger provides a thoughtful analysis of what seems to be a new phenomenon called “white Christian nationalism.” Others say it’s nothing new, that it is just another manifestation of racism, as in the KKK, the White Citizens Councils, and other hate groups. She reviews a new book, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian…
World Leaders Call on Hamas to Release Hostages and Accept Ceasefire Deal | Diane Ravitch's blog
Haaretz reported that world leaders urged Hamas to accept a peace proposal: WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden released a statement alongside the leaders of 17 other countries – all with citizens held captive in Gaza – calling upon Hamas to release the hostages in order to bring an immediate and prolonged cease-fire. "We call…
Iowa Increases Funding for Vouchers, Expands Eligibility | Diane Ravitch's blog
Iowa was once respected for the quality of its public schools. Now the Republican elected officials are tearing down the state’s public schools. They launched a voucher program, and they are now expanding it, at the expense of public schools. There are some things we know for sure about voucher programs after three decades of…
Carol Burris on the Wisdom Rick Hess Gleans from Uber Drivers | Diane Ravitch's blog
Years ago, there was buzz about New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s tendency to quote taxi drivers to capture the view of the “man on the street.” Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for public Education, has recently noticed that Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute has a similar journalistic gambit. He picks…
Haaretz: Hamas Releases a Hostage Video from Gaza | Diane Ravitch's blog
American media covers the pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, but ignores the protests in Israel, usually led by the families of the hostages who were seized on October 7. Rescuing the hostages was one of the main goals of the Israeli invasion of Gaza, but that goal has taken a back seat to the other…
Bill Kristol: Reject the Mob, Every Mob | Diane Ravitch's blog
Bill Kristol is a Never Trumper who writes for The Bulwark. He reminds me of my conservative roots. I have always feared mobs. Once mobs form, it’s impossible to know what direction they will take and who is leading them. In the few times in my life that I inadvertently found myself stuck in a…
Watch Julian Vasquez Heilig Testify About Charter Schools to Congressional Committee | Diane Ravitch's blog
Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig is a noted scholar of charter schools, with experience as a parent of a charter school student and board member of a charter school. He is Provost and Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Western Michigan University. And, he is a founding board member of the Network for public Education! Recently, Dr.…
Tennessee: Legislators Pass Bill to Arm Teachers Despite Opposition by Teachers and Parents | Diane Ravitch's blog
America has had a large number of shootings over the past decades. Whenever there is a massacre of students, the public gets angry and mourns the horrific event. Politicians react along partisan lines. Democrats call for gun control; Republicans want to arm teachers and school staff. Since the Supreme Court has decisively ruled against most…
Tune in! I Discuss “Slaying Goliath” Tomorrow with Tim Slekar | Diane Ravitch's blog
Tim Slekar is a fearless warrior for public schools, teachers, and students. I will be talking to him about Slaying Goliath and the struggle to protect public schools from the depredations of billionaires and zealots. This Thursday on Civic Media: Dive Back into "Slaying Goliath" with Diane Ravitch Grab your pencils—BustEDpencils is gearing up for…
Florida: Politician Loses Appeal to Make Her Home Tax-Exempt | Diane Ravitch's blog
This is what may be the finest example of chutzpah thus far in the year 2024. The story was written by my favorite education journalists in Florida, Leslie Postal and Annie Martin. They specialize in exposing scams. A state legislator sought permission to make her home tax-exempt, claiming it was part of Central Christian University,…
David Berliner: The U.S. Has Many Wonderful Teachers, and Few Who Are “Bad” Teachers | Diane Ravitch's blog
Good and Bad Teachers: So Many More of the Former, So Many Fewer of the Latter David C. Berliner Arizona State University A refereed journal article by colleagues1reported on a survey of adults, asking for their beliefs about “good teachers.” The respondents defined good teachers as those who “knew me, cared about me, and wanted me to do well; created interesting activities for us to do; praised me and other students for good…
John Thompson: Reading a Classic About the Tulsa Race Massacre | Diane Ravitch's blog
John Thompson, historian and retired teacher in Oklahoma, writes here about a book that is important in Oklahoma history and American history. He writes: When I first read Victor Luckerson’s Built from the Fire: The Epic Story of Tulsa's Greenwood District, America's Black Wall Street, I was stunned by his beautiful prose. Watching Luckerson on CSPAN…
Texas: Book Banning Gets Nuttier, Along with Efforts to Ban DEI in Higher Education | Diane Ravitch's blog
When PEN America released its latest national report on book banning, the state with the worst record was Florida. If you hear any bragging about test scores in Florida, think twice. Educated people typically don’t fear books; uneducated people do. Chris Tomlinson, columnist for The Houston Chronicle, reports that book banning is getting more absurd…
What Universities Should Do About Hate Speech and Behavior | Diane Ravitch's blog
I recently visited Wellesley College to attend the lecture of lawyer-scholar Patricia Williams, who spoke about book banning, censorship and critical race theory. She was brilliant. Her lecture will be posted as soon as Wellesley releases the tape. She spoke as part of the annual lecture series that I endowed. At the end of her…
Ohio: Immigrants Boost Economy in Columbus | Diane Ravitch's blog
Ohio has experienced population decline but one city is growing: Columbus. Peter Gill of the Columbus Dispatch explains that new immigrants have fueled population growth and the local economy. He writes: Kikandi Lukambo has reinvented himself many times in his life. After war forced him, his parents and siblings to flee their home in the…
Tennessee: Voucher Bill Dead!! | Diane Ravitch's blog
Despite the best efforts of the billionaire voucher lobby, the Tennessee legislature rejected vouchers! Vouchers are dead for this session, although they were Governor Lee’s top priority. Republicans have a supermajority in both houses of the Legislature. But some Republicans listened to their constituents, not the out-of-state money. Democrats have long opposed the program, likening…