... a thought-provoking, painstakingly researched account ... offer[s] an insightful examination especially of the harmful and reverberating effects of George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, passed in 2002, and later, Barack Obama’s Race to the Top program, begun in 2009 ... Though the history of the school reform movement and its impact on schools and students are alarming, the story Ravitch sets out to tell is not one of hand-wringing despair. Rather, it is a heartening account of how teachers, parents and union leaders across the nation have been fighting against the damage caused by the Disrupters ... Ravitch’s message is not one of gloom and doom, but rather a rallying cry that shows how people everywhere are wising up and fighting back ... There is much to learn from this book, and much inspiration to be found. The book is not written as a how-to guide for the Resistance. It is a scrupulously thorough study of a tumultuous period in American education. However, the conscientious reader who seeks strategies to combat the pervasive damage done by the Disrupters will find useful information here, along with affirmation that fighting back is possible.

In this incisive, meticulously researched book, Ravitch...argues persuasively that the U.S. school privatization movement has resulted in poor test scores, the closure of public schools, and attacks on the teaching profession ... This extensive analysis is required reading for anyone concerned about American education.

Missing from these pages are the subtle insight and informed judgment for which she was once known ... Ravitch takes a defiant leap over the line separating reasoned case-building from empty sloganeering and ad hominem attacks ... she writes, adopting an imperious tone that is new to her books ... her portraits of these valiant fighters are curiously selective. Not included among them are the mothers and fathers, many of them people of color, who engage in activism ... In Ravitch’s rather cynical calculus, those who don’t agree with her on issues like charter schools have either been bought or been duped ... even if Ravitch has often been justified in raising alarms, it’s painful to see the absence of nuance she exhibits here ... Occasionally visible are flashes of the sharp but fair-minded writer from her previous works ... Ravitch has let go of some admirable intellectual practices and well-founded convictions. She would be wise to recover them.

...it’s like nothing 
I’ve ever read. This is a history torn from the front page ... where the book is truly unique is in its celebration of the education activist community ... Ms. Ravitch’s book is not just about the Goliath of the disruptors. It’s a celebration of everyday Davids who stand up to the hulking beast and armed with only their slingshots of facts have continually beaned him between the eyes.

Ravitch...explores the promises and failures of the charter school movement in this passionate polemic ... [a] well-sourced account ... With a strong balance of big-picture statistics with local case studies, Slaying Goliath will inform and energize readers interested in improving public education.

[Ravitch's] work is more polemical than journalistic—she is seeking to take down the 'reform' movement’s supporters and sing the praise of its opponents—but nonetheless, it sheds much light on the movement and its problems ... While the book is clear on its opposition to charters and their advocates, it sometimes blurs together the various factions that support them. One could imagine, for example, well-meaning people supporting charters, but Ravitch leaves little room for this nuance ... does make a compelling argument—rooted in solid research and information—for why such schools are not working ... Ravitch is an important figure in the world of education, and her voice needs to be heard. She is a writer of considerable skill, as well as an educator who knows this movement from the inside.

An urgent appeal to prevent the privatization of our public schools ... A fervent defense of public education with abundant examples of how privatization has failed to deliver on its promises.

... [a] fiery takedown ... Vituperative and somewhat repetitive, Ravitch’s polemic nevertheless succeeds in making the case that 'the root cause of poor performance in school is not ‘bad schools’ or ‘bad teachers’ but poverty.' Public school advocates will take heart in Ravitch’s assessment that they’ve turned the tide against privatization.