Diane Ravitch

Education is an issue that hits home to every American. One of the foremost authorities on education and the history of education in the United States and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education, Diane Ravitch offers an impassioned defense of public education. In her new book, Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America’s Public Schools, Ravitch fights back against "disruptors" who wish to privatize schools. Documenting examples of how corporations, foundations, and individuals who have pushed for charter schools and vouchers have failed to fulfill their promises and have negatively impacted public schools, Ravitch also celebrates the grassroots efforts of parents, teachers, students, and entire communities who have rallied to keep their public schools alive. A research professor of education at New York University and the author of eleven books, including the bestselling Reign of Error, Ravitch is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Award. On the heels of the one-year anniversary of LAUSD’s momentous teachers’ strike, we welcome Ravitch to the stage to address some of the most important education issues of our time.