Are American Schools Dying?

A book that has just come onto my radar and subsequently been added to my list of things to read is The Death and Life of the Great American School System. The LA Times Did a review that got me quite interested.

Diane Ravitch, the Author, was at one point a conservative when it came to schooling.  She believed in scantron testing and 'accountability.'  Now, she is a fan of O'colos style teaching, in that she prefers higher level thinking and synthesis.  This change in heart has been summed up in her book.

She says that test based schools have a plethora of shortfalls, namely that they do not inspire students to learn.  I couldn't agree with her more.  I feel like if I knew that at the end of each book that we read in AS we would receive a test, I would look through the book trying to remember facts instead of synthesizing the symbolism of different passages.

I love the O'colos style of learning, but what about the privatization of schools.  At one point, Ravitch was behind competition in the school market just like that in the economy.  Now, she says that school should be codependent.  I think that that is one of the most insightful things that she changed her opinion on.  The last thing that we need is to have teachers competing between schools for test scores instead of collaborating on ways to inspire students to learn.

Overall, I can't wait to get my hands on this book, but I wonder what you think.  Do you think that schools should be privatized and compete for government funding through tests?