Detroit Teachers Heard from Diane Ravitch,

who has been increasingly critical of school "reform" proposals which in the end seek to destroy public education and thus a critical underpinning of democracy, but the WSWS doesn't feel she goes far  enough in her criticism.

Following Ravitch’s lecture a number of teachers came up to express their agreement with the remarks of the WSWS supporters. One Detroit teacher told the WSWS, “Thank you; you called out Robert Bobb. They’re attacking public education. It’s the business model. It’s dollars and cents. We are not dollars and cents. The business model didn’t even work for business. Look at businesses now.”

A retired Detroit teacher added, “They manipulate us like numbers. It is Obama doing it. Bush would have had a much rougher road. He is killing us.”

Greg, a teacher at Cody High School in Detroit said, “Something like four new teachers out of college have been hired in the whole state of Michigan, and you had all these teachers retire. Everyone thought it was so good we elected the first black president. I don’t think we even have a union anymore.”