From one of the foremost authorities on education and the history of education in the United States, “whistleblower extraordinaire” (The Wall Street Journal), former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education, author of the best-selling Reign of Error (“fearless” –Jonathan Kozol, NYRB)–an impassioned, inspiring look at the ways in which parents, teachers, activists–citizens–are successfully fighting back to defeat the forces that are privatizing America’s public schools.

Diane Ravitch writes of those who have privatized the schools, the Disrupters, who believe America’s schools should be run like businesses, with teachers incentivized with threats and bonuses, and schools that need to enter into the age of the gig economy in which children are treated like customers or products. She writes of the Koch brothers, the DeVos family, the Waltons (Walmart), Eli Broad, Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Mark Zuckerberg, and many others, on the right and the left, as well as corporations, foundations, etc., intent on promoting the privatization of one of our most valued public institutions.
Ravitch lays out, in extensive detail, the facts showing that the ideas put forth by school privateers have failed; that their promises of higher test scores have not come to pass; that the “great hope” of Common Core has been a dud.
Arrayed against these forces, Ravitch writes of the volunteer army–“the Resisters”–that has sprung up from Seattle, Austin, and Denver, to Detroit, New Orleans, and Buffalo–parents, teachers, grandparents, students, bloggers, religious leaders, brave individuals, who, spurred on by conviction, courage, determination, and the power of ideas and passion, are fighting back to successfully keep alive their public schools.

In conversation with United Teachers of Dade President
KARLA HERNANDEZ-MATS

Karla Hernández-Mats is the president of the United Teachers of Dade, the largest teachers’ union in the southeastern United States. Mrs. Hernández-Mats served her first term as president from 2016-2019 and was elected for a second term by 73 percent. Prior to becoming president, Mrs. Hernández-Mats served as UTD’s Secretary/Treasurer from 2013-2016. In 2018, Mrs. Hernandez-Mats led the charge to mobilize teachers and the Miami-Dade community, helping to pass Referendum #362, an initiative put forth by the United Teachers of Dade to give public school teachers a salary raise and improve security in schools. To date, this is the largest pay increase in the history of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, garnering support from more than 70 percent of Miami-Dade voters.

RSVP HERE FOR FREE

BUY THE BOOK HERE

About the Author: