Last I looked, the copyright system doesn't solely benefit inventors or those who patent products. It benefits artists as well. In fact, Charles Dickens helped to push for the international copyright system to protect his work.
Ravitch's point, I think, is that the standardized test scores do squat for a country's creativity and ingenuity. There, I would agree with her. The American Revolution and Industrial Revolution started in MA and RI (not in NY, NJ, VA or elsewhere in the colonies) for a reason. Ideas.
Read her latest blog -
http://dianeravitch.net/ which was written today. She asks whether Common Core will contribute to creativity or not. I think not. Many public schools have slashed art, music, gym, etc. A recipe for disaster, imo.
Bill Gates and MS and the big educational publishing/testing firms are touting standardized testing because it benefits them. It's good business. If schools keep Windows operating systems or MS, then schools continue being reliant/dependent on them and students will likely continue to use their products as future customers. Few question the status quo.
Of course, I'd also suggest looking at Scotland as an illustrative example of how a poor, sparsely populated country put value in educating its citizens. Scotland has been host to much inventiveness and for creating the basic ideas and institutions of modern life (Bell, Adam Smith, David Hume, James Watt, Carnegie, Arthur Conan Doyle, JK Rowling, etc.) - if we're keeping score!
