This clip from March 3, 2011 is definitely worth watching: Diane Ravitch on The Daily Show with John Stewart.
I really like most of Diane Ravitch’s views and have read her book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education. I highly recommend watching the clip and reading the book if you get a chance.
Comments on: "Anyone Interested in Ed Reform Should Watch Diane Ravitch on The Daily Show" (1)
The place where I shut down when I hear he talk is when she says charters = privatizing schools. Charters = self determination and empowerment in Baltimore. There are more charter schools in Baltimore than anywhere else in Maryland, not because of corporate take-overs, but because people (parents, teachers and administrators) are so desperate to create functional alternatives.
I agree that teachers need support and kids (and families) need to be raised out of poverty, but choice is not in conflict with those ideas. Choice is what keeps even more people from abandoning public schools. If we want to get people committed to funding and supporting public schools we have to keep them from fleeing.