tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post5736763501709066061..comments2024-03-28T02:21:17.452-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Ravitch versus Rhee; a Solid Comparison of Books and ViewsMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-35036240948939780172013-09-21T19:10:11.543-07:002013-09-21T19:10:11.543-07:00Comparing Ravitch's new book to Rhee's flo...Comparing Ravitch's new book to Rhee's flop, good grief, that's like comparing Moby Dick to an Archie comic.<br /><br />I just finished Reign of Error. It is a simply amazing book. Read it.Mark Ahlnesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17272987393319865752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-80610069055871625372013-09-21T15:23:53.818-07:002013-09-21T15:23:53.818-07:00That is a great article, Melissa, thanks for point...That is a great article, Melissa, thanks for pointing it out.<br /><br />Ravitch's point on poverty is particularly good. We are asking our schools to do too much, both be a social safety net and teach children, for the meager amount of funding we give them.<br /><br />Ravitch says "we must work both to improve schools and to reduce poverty". Presumably, she means outside of the schools, but, if we are going to keep asking our schools to both deal with poverty (by providing food and health care for children), and we expect them to still have enough resources to teach children, we are going to have to fund them with a lot more money.<br /><br />And, to me, that is where a lot of the difference comes between Rhee and Ravitch. Rhee and other reformers are trying to find a way to improve public education without spending more money. Ravitch and others say the problem is poverty, the weak social safety net in the US, and the schools simply do not have enough resources to help children with all of the costs of poverty (and the data agrees here, with public school test scores in the US as high as in Europe if you exclude children in poverty, and successful programs like Harlem Children's Zone that cost a lot of money but do provide free food and clinics and other support and do yield much higher test scores). <br /><br />Rhee and others have been unable to find a solution that doesn't cost more money, despite years of trying, and, if Ravitch and others are right, they never will. If we want public education to improve in the US, we will have to decide, as Americans, that we care about our children in poverty and are willing to spend money to help them.Davidnoreply@blogger.com