I went to bed last night reading the latest issue of the New York Review of Books and, as some of you know, I woke up this morning ? it is morning, isn't it? ? wearing ?this damn secret decoder ring. I don't know how it came to pass, but I thought it only fair to share with the EDUCATION WORLD what else I asked the decoder ring and what it told me.
Hold on to your union labels!? I can now reveal, at least in part, what really happened to Diane Ravitch: ??She has joined a school board!
Yes, I realize that it might be hard for some people to understand, but according to my trusty new friend, the decoder ring, about three years ago Diane (only part of that?story about repainting her office is true) moved to an undisclosed location in the Midwest ? the heart and soul of America and where most of our damn lovely public school system works most of the time for most of the people?? ran for school board under an assumed name and, well, the rest is education reform history.? (For you fans, don't worrry, she is still writing using the name ?Diane Ravitch,? but editors have had to sign a Salmon Rushdie non-disclosure agreement.)
And the rumor ? this too confirmed by the decoder ring ? that Michael Bloomberg paid for this relocation and name change is simply not true. Trust the Ring!?? (The Mayor is, however, and perhaps just coincidentally, launching a new witness protection program for education reformers (called, slyly enough, WHITNEY? Inc. (for Where the Hell Is Tilson's Ninny Education Yahoo?)) and himself ? or one semblance of that self ? will be running for mayor of Gotham again, but using a different name (only some of the letters were clear enough to decipher:? C?T?F?JR).
You heard it here first. But I warn you, dear reader,?the decoder ring is not for the faint of heart.
?Peter Meyer, Bernard Lee Schwartz Policy Fellow
