Do politicians know anything at all about schools and education? Anything?

Diane Ravitch poses a dozen piercing questions on education and school policy. Some of them turn conventional thinking on its ear, and each could be a starting point for reporting on elections, from the presidency on down to local school boards.
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And another question that came to mind after the initial posting of this article: 

13. Do you know of any high-performing nation in the world that got that way by privatizing public schools, closing those with low test scores, and firing teachers? The answer: none.

Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a distinguished historian of American education.