Diane Ravitch On MLK's Legacy And Eduformers

Yes:

Today's education "reformers" think they are advancing a civil rights agenda by creating charter schols, advocating merit pay, enshrining standardized tests of basic skills as the highest measure of acheivement, closing neighborhood schools, and getting rid of unions.

Was that Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream? King fought for equality of educational opportunity, not for a "Race to the Top" for the lucky few. He fought for fundamental fairness and justice for all, not for special treatment for the few. He never promoted private management of public education. When he was assassinated, he was defending the right of workers to join a union. It is impossible to imagine him standing alongside the business executives and politically powerful who demand more standardized testing, more privatization of public schools, and more schools in which teachers have no organized voice.

Diane Ravitch