Ms. Ravitch devotes a devastating chapter to New York
City, where the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has made claims, soberly
dismantled in Ms. Ravitch's book, that under his care
public administration has continued to make steady improvement, largely through the creation of charter
schools that give parents and students ever more choice.
Theoretically all of the
city's
public and charter
schools have been open to all residents since 2005 — when,
in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, almost all
school attendance zones were
dismantled.