Ravitch, seeing the publication of open letters writes a MUST READ open letter "Why the continuing despair about the state of the schools? You need to understand that reformers live in an echo chamber. They talk to one another & tell the same stories, SLANDERING a vital democratic institution & the millions of dedicated teachers who work for low pay. They label ineffective public school teachers as the reason for the failure; and that the steady application of standards, tests, punishments, and rewards will transform the lives of children; they believe that schools with low test scores should be privatized, turned into charters, and one day soon, there will be no more poverty. These assumptions are untethered to reality. Despite what you may have heard, test scores of our students are at their highest point ever with HS graduation rates at an all-time high".