Diane Ravitch
Ferguson Auditorium 11 a.m.
Sam Rayburn Speaker Series
Diane Ravitch is the champion for public schools across the country. Drawing on over 40 years of research and experience, Ravitch is the nation's leading advocate for public education. Her years of experience working in the government shaped her approach to education and gave her a unique and powerful perspective which she brings into all aspects of her work. A prolific writer and a renowned research professor of education at New York University, Ravitch publishes more than 500 articles and reviews for scholarly and popular publications. Her blog is one of the primary destinations for American educators, which has received more than 20 million page views since 2012.
Ravitch provides solutions. In her books, Ravitch provides a clear plan for how to preserve and improve our public schools. Her New York Times bestseller, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools begins where her previous book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System left off. Ravitch continues to show that the crisis in American education is not the result of a crisis of academic achievement, but a result of the destruction of public schools. In a chapter-by-chapter breakdown, Ravitch teaches what is working in U.S. education and how policy makers are failing to address the root cause of educational failure. Finally, Ravitch shows readers how it can, in fact, be fixed.
Ravitch shares the hard message that every parent, teacher, and community needs to support public schools, or else, our society will fail all children. A public school graduate herself, this award-winning educator's depth of knowledge and experience shines through her passionate speeches. Ravitch has developed a powerful argument against the privatization of public schools, and she will take audiences step-by-step through the triumphs and failures in the American public school system. With her electrifying wisdom, Ravitch leaves audiences informed, motivated and ultimately inspired.