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Thursday, May 24, 2012

The Charlie Rose Show: Reflections « Diane Ravitch's blog

The Charlie Rose Show: Reflections « Diane Ravitch's blog:


The Charlie Rose Show: Reflections

I was on the Charlie Rose show last night. I was very excited to be there.
Over the past two years, as the debate about education has gotten more and more heated, I have had many opportunities to express my views on the radio, especially on NPR, but not so many opportunities on television.
I represent “the other side” in a very one-sided debate. I support public education; I respect the education profession; I oppose privatization and high-stakes testing. On the other are the forces of corporate reform, the folks who are pushing privatization and high-stakes testing and spreading negative messages about those who do the hard daily work of education; there are many of them and they have been interviewed by Oprah and all the major talk shows. Their views are often amplified in Time and Newsweek and other media outlets.
Up until now, as the debate wore on, I have had only two appearances on major TV shows: the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which was fantastic (he is just a great guy to talk to and his mother is a teacher, so he “gets it”);