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To say that the new Afterword in the paperback edition of "The Death and Life of the Great American School System," picks up where Diane Ravitch left off would be misleading; since the book's original publication in March 2010, she hasn't stopped.

California, with more public school students than any other state, has surprised many by declining to apply for waivers to No Child Left Behind. The implications of this decision are far-reaching, and so in the coming weeks I am going to be asking a variety of educational leaders for their thoughts. Today, I am sharing the thoughts of education historian Diane Ravitch.

What happened when the education world's most prominent intellectual [Diane Ravitch] switched sides.

I thought testing would help diagnose the problem and help teachers identify kids' needs and that charters would serve the underserved and collaborate with public schools. I was wrong on all accounts, said Diane Ravitch in her Friday keynote speech at the Opportunity to Learn Summit, in Washington, D.C.

I recommend everyone go to this linked PDF and read Diane's entire speech from which I have quoted below. If you ever want to know how charter schools got started, and how they were marketed to the public and to democratic liberals, Diane Ravitch has your answer

Introduced by AFT president Randi Weingarten as "the epitome of speaking truth to power," education scholar and activist Diane Ravitch hit all the right notes July 28 at the AFT convention, speaking against policymakers who blame teachers for school conditions beyond their control, and sharply criticizing education cuts that threaten public schools.

"Diane Ravitch, the education historian who has become the leader of the movement against corporate-influenced school reform, gave this speech to the Modern Language Association on Jan. 11 about the past, present and future of the Common Core State Standards. Here's her speech"

"I've been teaching for almost thirty years, and I don't know precisely when my colleagues and I became public enemy number one. But after reading Reign of Error by Diane Ravitch I'm getting a pretty good handle on why. "

"...The leader of this rear-guard action is Diane Ravitch, a professor at New York University who was an assistant secretary of education in the administration of George H.W. Bush. She's the education world's very own Whittaker Chambers, the famous communist turned strident anti-communist of the 1940s. Ravitch moved the other way, from right to left, where she now uses phony empiricism to rationalize almost every tired argument offered by teachers unions..."

"SAVANNAH: At the summer conference of the Georgia School Boards Association this morning in this port city, noted education researcher Diane Ravitch lambasted most of the reforms du jour in education today, merit pay, value-added teacher evaluations, charter schools, vouchers and testing."

How much do Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, and Geoff Canada get paid for their appearances at various conferences and events, by whom -- and where are these payments disclosed to those who are listening and to the public?  How much did Steve Brill get paid to write his book and who was it who first suggested to him that he should look into Diane Ravitch's speaking fees?  These are some of the questions that come to mind in light of the attacks on Diane Ravitch in Brill's book that are the focus of Whitney Tilson's emailings this morning

Education reformer Diane Ravitch gave a keynote speech Friday at the Save Our Schools and National Call to Action, speaking for one hour on the history of education while offering a litany of rebukes aimed at policymakers and stakeholders in toe with President Obama's Race to the Top programs.

Matt Damon gave a great speech at Saturday's Save Our Schools Rally in Washington DC. Matt's mom, a teacher from the Boston area told the crowd she was very proud of him. Diane Ravitch, Debbie Meier, Jonathan Kozol, who have been involved in what Ravitch calls the "Great School Wars" for decades, and John Kuhn, a superintendent of schools at a microscopic North Texas school district (two schools and 397 students) also spoke well. Kuhn, particularly, gave a rousing speech. But great speeches are not enough to build a social movement. Even John Stewart's humorous pre-taped comments won't do it. It was very hot on Saturday. But while I am glad I attended the rally, listened to the speeches, and marched around the White House, I was also very disappointed. Five thousand participants, many aging veterans of the 1960s and mostly White, will not create change or save the public school system.

Those of us involved in organizing the Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action know it would not have happened without the strong support of Diane Ravitch.  She supported us early and often, mentioned the march in every public appearance for months, and gave us half of her $20,000 Moynihan Prize at a time when finances were tight.

Diane Ravitch, the former assistant U.S. secretary of education, tells Miller-McCune what she thinks about No Child Left Behind now.

A Conversation with Dr. Diane Ravitch hosted by Arnold Dodge Of Long Islang University, C.W. Post Campus

In the latest issue of the New York Review of Books, Diane Ravitch, who has been writing critically and incisively for the last five years about the inadequacies of the "School Reform" movement, wrote a review of a book by Steven Brill called Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America's Schools (New York Review of Books, (9/29/2011) www.nybooks.com. ) The review itself convincingly dissects Brill's book for what it is: an advocacy for charter schools, standardized testing and other measures of the so-called "reformers" who are, essentially, defenders of the economic status quo. Since there has been no measurable improvement in student scores, as determined by reliable tests like the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) over the last decade, one would hope that some sensible policies might be considered to replace those failed ones. And there seem to be a few glimmers of hope, although they are only glimmers.

Diane Ravitch is a glass half-empty kind of gal, while I suffer from excessive Panglossian tendencies. In the spring of 2007, we made a bet. The payoff is dinner at the River Café, at the foot of Brooklyn Heights, overlooking New York harbor and the Manhattan skyline, tucked neatly under the lights of the Brooklyn Bridge. Four and a half years ago, we surveyed the damage being done to American education by NCLB, the "No Child Left Behind" iteration of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Duke's Program in Education and Durham Public Schools join to bring Diane Ravitch to campus and Durham schools.

This week Eric Hanushek and Diane Ravitch debate the pros and cons of more concerted efforts to remove the lowest-performing teachers in schools.  Hanushek starts the discussion today, Ravitch responds tomorrow, and additional responses Wednesday and Thursday as well.