The Real Story Comes Out

Diane Ravitch is a distinguished scholar, and such an avid conservative that she gladly joined Bush's Whitehouse to work on what is variously called accountability in schools - or standardized testing - or ranking of schools - or privatization of schools in general. She gave support to newspapers like the Moncton T and T that denigrated public schools and their teachers. She is a prime designed of George Bush's No Child Left Behind programme, the one that elevated the idea that schools should be tested by standardized tests, and teachers and schools judged on the basis of them.

The Economist is probably the most highly respected of conservative news commentary magazines in the world. In June of 2010, it published an interview with Diane Revitch.

She says she's sorry she got involved. It doesn't work. The tests are invalid to compare either teachers or schools. Competition doesn't work in education. The American government and the "think tanks" are faking data to show improvement where, in fact, performance is going down. There is no improvement. The success rate is man made - by simply lowering the required standard each year.

This very conservative woman who was a leader in standardized testing and rating of schools now says what just about every educational researcher has said for sixty years. It doesn't work. It just puts public money into private pockets.

Will we see this story in The Moncton Times? If that paper had any integrity we would. So it's a sure thing we won't see it in The Moncton Times. I shall also send a copy to the Minister of Education. What will he do? See my comment for The Moncton Times. I have also send it to the New Brunswick home and school association. Will they do anything? Not bloody likely.

New Brunswick has an amazingly submissive population. They'd rather their children's education be ruined rather than stand up like free people and protest about AIMS and its greedy plans to make the rich even richer at the price of our children.