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Diane Ravitch's blog
Primary focus: Education
I am once again posting a fascinating account of an important district in Texas. The district is Tarrant County. It’s the third largest district in Texas. For a long time, it was reliably red. Now, we learn in Michelle H.Davis’s post, it is close to turning blue. You can help by sending contributions of any []
This is a thoughtful essay on a crucial problem: shrinking enrollments in higher education and the budget cuts to meet them. Julian Vasquez Heilig lays out the problem and the typical response. He thinks there is a better way and he describes it. Heilig is on the faculty of Michigan State University and is a []
CNN reports on a growing phenomenon: banning young children from social media. France is the first European nation to do so, and others are set to follow. This action reflects growing concern about the effect of social media on children’s attention span and exposure to inappropriate content. CNN reported: French lawmakers voted Tuesday to ban []
About a dozen years ago, I heard from Ted Dintersmith. I didn’t know anything about him other than that he was a venture capitalist who was interested in education reform. My hackles went up, because the term “venture capitalist who was interested in education reform” immediately conjured up images of Democrats for Education Reform,” a []
Kelly Edgar taught music in Clark County, Nevada (Las Vegas) for 25 years. She recently wrote this article in The Nevada Independent about the dangers of charter schools. She wrote: Charter schools have been touted as the solution to our “failing public schools.” To be fair, the original intention was good. Those who founded the []
The biggest lie about American school kids is that most are “below grade level.” This lie is repeated so often by prominent figures that it is widely believed. But it’s not true. Those who believe it are wrong. Those who repeat it, knowing it’s not true, are liars. The source of the lie and the []
PBS News discussed a study warning about the dangers of Google AI: Child safety advocates are sounding the alarm about artificial intelligence features now being used by millions of students. Google’s built-in AI search functions pose an “unacceptable risk” to children, a new report from Common Sense Media found. The organization found that across more than 2,600 []
Nobel-Prize winning economist Paul Krugman wrote about the public awakening to the menace of billionaires who hoard wealth and buy power. Not all billionaires are bad. McKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, has given away billions to worthy causes. But she is not typical. Others are using their money, like Larry Ellison, to destroy our []
Imagine a school where a child is seated in the middle of a circle of students, and the head of the school encourages the other children to abuse him. She too joins in the belittling of the unfortunate child. ProPublica found such a school in Arkansas, where the head of school led the abusive treatment []
Carol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education, writes here about Arkansas’s ongoing efforts to destroy its public schools. Under Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the state has jumped into privatization. Burris writes: Arkansas sits eighth from the bottom on our 2026 report card’s rating of the states. And it is likely to fall further in []
