MEDIA WATCH: 'Reign of Error' named 'Most Valuable Book of 2013' by The Nation
Every year, the magazine The Nation, which has been doing "progressive" journalism since the 19th Century -- before the official "Progressive Era" -- gives annual awards. The awards don't feature a red carpet or $500,000 gowns, but in a way a look back might reveal that they have been more important to what matters most in the USA than the more glittering events that also arrive during the holiday season. And for 2013, one book, Diane Ravitch's "Reign of Error," has been called "The Most Valuable Book of 2013."
Diane Ravitch's "Reign of Error" has been honored again as the holiday season begins.Below is the Nation's statement about "Reign of Error."
"Yes, she really did serve as an assistant education secretary for George H.W. Bush, and yes, she once supported George W. Bush�s �No Child Left Behind.� But Ravitch refuses to cling to failed strategies, as she explains in her groundbreaking new book, subtitled The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America�s Public Schools. Driven by experience and data, she demolishes the argument that rigid requirements and punishments will make schools better. Indeed, she argues, these schemes too frequently serve the interests of misguided foundations, ideologically driven billionaires and Wall Street speculators more interested in privatizing public education�with some of them profiting in the process�than in helping children, parents and communities. Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis says, 'Diane is a fierce warrior against the so-called reformers whose ideology exacerbates the problems of poverty and inequity.'"
