Diane Ravitch has been a powerful voice for US teachers against the Billionaire Boys Club, who have carried out a program of social engineering that has devastated our schools. Ravitch is a friend of public education, a friend of the social movement trying to push back these terrible "deforms." This distinction is one Ravitch misses when she defends her personal pal, Randi Weingarten, who is coming under intense pressure for supporting the Common Core, a national curriculum that is generating resistance on the left– and the right. Weingarten should state clearly that adopting this curriculum cedes the power decide what our kids learn to a self-appointed elite. The process has been thoroughly undemocratic and a teachers union that wants respect for teachers has to say that. Weingarten is my union president, not my bff. We need leadership and integrity from her, not attendance at our birthday parties. And when she's wrong, as she is on this national curriculum, we have to call her out.
You can now follow me on twitter @drloisweiner.
Ravitch/Weingartner I understood from Diane Ravtch’s blog that she DID call out Weingartner on her support of Common Core. Ravitch has taken a clear position on this as have most of the guest writers that she posts. I was impressed that Ravitch was honest enough to acknowledge the friendship between them. I think it demonstrates that Ravitch has the integrity to stand up to friends. That’s the hardest time to take a stand.