Bill Resnick interviews Diane Ravitch about the subject of her new book, "The Death and Life of the Great American School System." Writing from decades of experience with testing- and market-oriented education policies --- originally as a proponent --- Ravitch argues that a dearth of evidence shows them to be abysmal failures that undermine the cooperation essential to a thriving education system. Perhaps more controversial is the critical lens she puts over charter schools, which in her assessment do not on the whole prove to be more effective than public-schools.

Diane Ravitch is a historian of education and former United States Assistant Secretary of Education, and is now a research professor at New York University.