Seth Saavedra
This is re-posted, with permission, from Project Forever Free.
Ned Stanley works on National Communications, National Voices, and Media Relations for @FiftyCAN.
Education historian turned anti-reform flamethrower Diane Ravitch is just out with a new book, Slaying Goliath, and the review by Annie Murphy Paul in the New York Times was hardly glowing. Some have called it scathing.
This is, overall, a strong review from @anniemurphypaul and points out the political vitriol that Ravitch and her networks have been spinning for the past several years.
There’s more I wish was included, however. Thread. https://t.co/UVXoWr537Z
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
First, hypocrisy. Ravitch spends pages lambasting the billionaires who she claims have a goal of privatizing the school system in order to profit from it – a ridiculous claim, prima facie.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
Ravitch herself is a millionaire, who bought a brownstone in Brooklyn for over a million dollars. Her son, now an investment banker churning yields for those billionaires she lambasts, was sent to a private school for K-12.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
The network she founded, the Network for Public Education, was funded by the national teacher unions (and @rweingarten will be appearing on her book tour; a stunning endorsement of this intellectual drought) as well as… shockingly… a billionaire philanthropist.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
Where did Ravitch add to her wealth? @stevenbrill wrote a decade ago in “Class Warfare” that Ravitch made hundreds of thousands of dollars in union speaking fees. He asked her for comment, she denied everything, he provided her with receipts, she changed her story.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
Also included in Brill’s book is a look into how Ravitch was radicalized. His conclusion: she was very angry at @JoelIKlein for refusing to promote her domestic partner.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
Next, there’s the complete lack of solutions – which I imagine is a symptom of cynicism rather than laziness, given Ravitch’s prolific writing. That, or she’s simply driving a political agenda.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
In this book and in the previous two, Ravitch offers nothing in the way of concrete suggestions to improve the education system for low-income children, and especially children of color. Her entire prescription is: “stop doing reform.”
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
This ignores the important historical point that the contemporary education reform movement was started circa 1990. If Ravitch is correct, our school system was excellent and equitable in the 1970’s and 80’s. That’s… not correct.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
Even on NPE’s website, there’s a hilarious ‘manifesto’ where they propose solutions. (This was added years ago, when @Dyrnwyn, @citizenstewart, @k_huff1 and I pointed out that Ravitch was like the kid on the beach stomping out sand castles instead of building her own.)
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
Those solutions are wordsmithing the reform complaints they have and then stating them in the positive. “No more charters” becomes “Support traditional public schools.”
“No more TFA” becomes, “Teachers should be traditionally trained at a college or university education program”
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
Like I said.. hilarious.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
Ravitch counters this lack of solution-orientation with the claim that poverty is the only thing that matters and we must “fix poverty first.” There’s plenty of proof points that show how ridiculous that is, but let’s assume – for sake of argument – that her world view is right.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
Why has Ravitch done literally NOTHING to end poverty? Where are her mass fundraisers and calls to action? Where are her speeches and marches? Why isn’t she mobilizing her network to end poverty?
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
It’s either a serious integrity flaw or it’s bullshit political rhetoric. Or both.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
And finally, we get to my one main gripe with @anniemurphypaul‘s review: nowhere within is there a mention of the national teacher unions.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
Despite that they funded her personally. They funded her professional political organization, NPE Action. Despite that Ravitch’s worldview could be cut and pasted from the AFT or NEA websites.
Ravitch is a pariah but @rweingarten and @Lily_NEA have enabled her vitriol.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
They too, should be held to account. But I’m glad that finally, finally, finally – thanks to @anniemurphypaul and journalists like @EricaLG and @elizashapiro – Ravitch, her network, and her worldview finally are.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
To close, I appreciate that Murphy Paul pointed out the many, many families (especially families of color) who demanded better school options for their children.
That Ravitch, a wealthy white woman, funded by billionaires, exercised choice and now denies others the same..
Well.
— Ned Stanley (@NedStanley) January 21, 2020
