Education historian Ravitch believes education support is a civic responsibility

Education historian Diane Ravitch knocked American education reformers who she said have fostered a bleak culture by over-testing students, lowering standards for teachers and draining taxpayer money from many public school districts for the proliferation of charter schools.

“I believe testing has to be used wisely ... it should not be used to rank and rate and discourage children,” Ravitch said Saturday, speaking to some of the nearly 1,000 school board members and superintendents who converged on Louisville’s Galt House from around the state for the annual conference of the Kentucky School Boards Association.

Ravitch — a 75-year-old New York University research professor in education, education historian and former assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education — believes the federal government puts too much emphasis on testing....