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The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools
Knopf
January 2013
On Sale: January 5, 2013
416 pages ISBN: 0385350880 EAN: 9780385350884 Kindle: B00BRUQ376 Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
From one of the foremost authorities on education in the
United States, former U.S. assistant secretary of education,
“whistle-blower extraordinaire” (The Wall Street Journal),
author of the best-selling The Death and Life of the Great
American School System (“Important and riveting”—Library
Journal), The Language Police (“Impassioned . . . Fiercely
argued . . . Every bit as alarming as it is
illuminating”—The New York Times), and other notable books
on education history and policy—an incisive, comprehensive
look at today’s American school system that argues against
those who claim it is broken and beyond repair; an
impassioned but reasoned call to stop the privatization
movement that is draining students and funding from our
public schools.
In Reign of Error, Diane Ravitch argues that the crisis in
American education is not a crisis of academic achievement
but a concerted effort to destroy public schools in this
country. She makes clear that, contrary to the claims being
made, public school test scores and graduation rates are the
highest they’ve ever been, and dropout rates are at their
lowest point. She argues that federal programs such as George W. Bush’s
No Child Left Behind and Barack Obama’s Race to the Top set
unreasonable targets for American students, punish schools,
and result in teachers being fired if their students
underperform, unfairly branding those educators as failures.
She warns that major foundations, individual billionaires,
and Wall Street hedge fund managers are encouraging the
privatization of public education, some for idealistic
reasons, others for profit. Many who work with equity funds
are eyeing public education as an emerging market for investors.
Reign of Error begins where The Death and Life of the Great
American School System left off, providing a deeper argument
against privatization and for public education, and in a
chapter-by-chapter breakdown, putting forth a plan for what
can be done to preserve and improve it. She makes clear what
is right about U.S. education, how policy makers are failing
to address the root causes of educational failure, and how
we can fix it. For Ravitch, public school education is about knowledge,
about learning, about developing character, and about
creating citizens for our society. It’s about helping to
inspire independent thinkers, not just honing job skills or
preparing people for college. Public school education is
essential to our democracy, and its aim, since the founding
of this country, has been to educate citizens who will help
carry democracy into the future.
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