Diane Ravitch Quotes

Since free men cannot judge for themselves what endangers their freedom if they believe it is never in danger, it is the chief burden of the public school curriculum to persuade children that their liberty is always secure.

Democracy doesn't require a whole lot of work of its citizens, but it requires some: It requires taking a good look outside once in a while, and considering the bad news and what it might mean, and making the occasional tough choice, and soberly taking stock of what your real interests are.

Kids automatically teach each other how to use technology, but they're not going to teach each other about the history of democracy, or the importance of taking their voices into the public sphere to create social change.

We regard education as a means of safeguarding the family from too great a reliance upon the state rather than as a means for the state to take over the responsibilities of the family.

We are raising students in America who are, by and large, historically illiterate.

We are on the precipice of being so ignorant that our democracy is threatened.

And what is a good citizen? Simply one who never says, does or thinks anything that is unusual. Schools are maintained in order to bring this uniformity up to the highest possible point. A school is a hopper into which children are heaved while they are still young and tender; therein they are pressed into certain standard shapes and covered from head to heels with official rubber-stamps.

Liberal education reminds those members of a mass democracy who have ears to hear, of human greatness.

One of the pre - requisites for children becoming proactive and responsible citizens is the availability of enough role models inside and outside the school.

We should see schools as safe arenas for experimenting with life, for discovering our talents... for taking responsibity for tasks and others people, for learning how to learn... and for exploring our beliefs about life and society.

But I think your biggest crime as a citizen of society or America or the world is to be ignorant by choice. There's no excuse for that. I feel, when the information is at my fingertips, I could never choose to be ignorant.

This is why universities, and civil society more generally, are so important for a democracy like ours, founded on a genuine idealism that we have a hard time holding on to. They provide a space to question whatever we are doing in the name of things we say we believe in or might believe in.

I'm sick of people who supported Trump saying, 'Get over it. You lost.' That's not how America works. We get to critique him the same way they constantly fought Obama. As long as I have a platform, I will continue to speak up because it's my responsibility.

What can the schools do to defend democracy? Should they preach a specific political doctrine? I believe they should not. If they are able to teach young people to have a critical mind and a socially oriented attitude, they will have done all that is necessary.

Patriotic societies seem to think that the way to educate school children in a democracy is to stage bigger and better flag-saluting.

I am trying to teach my children to feel a responsibility for their fellow human beings and a sense of connection with ... the world around them.

Each child belongs to all of us and they will bring us a tomorrow in direct relation to the responsibility we have shown to them.

I do look upon the secretary of education's primary responsibility as the quality of education that - and improving the education that every child in American public schools receives.

Freedom & Duty always go hand in hand and if the free do not accept the duty of social responsibility, they will not long remain free.

We are a nation of children letting horrible things happen, and flunking Calc.

The Obama administration doesn't see schools as a public good. It doesn't see schools as places where basically we can educate students in a way to take democracy seriously and to be able to fight for it. It sees them as basically kids who should be part of the global workforce.

I want to help change the way young people look at school, and hence, the way they look at their futures.

Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this: "You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best we can do."

I don't even think much about politicians. I think about the people in the audience who applaud the politicians. They are your fellow countrymen and they're the ones you live with - that should be who we target for education and enlightenment.

How do we redefine education so that 30-50 percent of inner-city children do not drop out of school, thus ensuring that millions will end up in prison?