Ravitch does her homework, explodes "miracle" myths

School turnaround "miracle" myth makers, including Jeb Bush, Arne Duncan and Pres. Obama, are no match for Diane Ravitch. In a NYT op-ed piece, "Waiting for a School Miracle," Diane shows she has done her homework as she debunks several of the  claims of miraculous quick school fixes in Chicago, Miami, Denver and N.Y., all of which ignored the impact of poverty on measurable learning outcomes.

Families are children’s most important educators. Our society must invest in parental education, prenatal care and preschool. Of course, schools must improve; every one should have a stable, experienced staff, adequate resources and a balanced curriculum including the arts, foreign languages, history and science. If every child arrived in school well-nourished, healthy and ready to learn, from a family with a stable home and a steady income, many of our educational problems would be solved. And that would be a miracle.

Diane will be a keynoter at the  Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action in D.C. July 28-31.  I hope to see you all there.