It's the Brian Laris show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone.

You know, it's not often that a public figure begins a book by acknowledging plainly that they change their mind, no less change their mind

on something really big. But within the first few lines of her new memoir, an education,

how I change my mind about schools and almost everything else, historian Diane Ravich reflects

on the positions that she once champion, school choice,

charter expansion, standardized testing, and the moment she came to the conclusion that the evidence

no longer supported them. She writes, I was wrong. How often do you see that?

Ravich, who advised the administrations of President George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton,

has since become one of the country's most forceful advocates for public schools

and one of the most vocal critics of test-driven reform.

Our guest now is Diane Ravich, historian of education,

and former research professor of education at NYU,

blogger at dianravich.net, and author of the new book

and education, how I changed my mind about schools and almost everything else. Diane Ravich,

Dr. Ravich, welcome back to WNYC. Well, thank you so much, Brian. Delighted to be with you.

And listeners, what about you? Have you found your own thinking

shifting over the years about public schools, testing, school choice? Maybe you've had experiences

as a parent, a teacher, or a student that changed how you see these debates. And we'd also

love to hear from some listeners who support charter schools or school choice

generally or the way standardized tests have been used or are being used under President

Bush, either one back then or Obama or anyone else.

What have you seen in your community that you think has become better because of any of those

...