DIANE RAVITCH: The Death and Life of the Great American School System

Hosted by Philip Maldari

Diane Ravitch draws on over forty years of research and experience to critique the most popular ideas for restructuring schools, in the process rejecting some of her own long-held beliefs about school reform. Using examples from school systems across the country she offers a road map for getting our schools back on track. This new, revised edition of her book, like her personal presentation, is a passionate plea to preserve and renew public education. It reveals a radical change of heart by one of America's best-known education experts.

"Diane Ravitch is the rarest of scholars-one who reports her findings and conclusions, even when they go against conventional wisdom and even when they counter her earlier, publicly espoused positions...a 'must' read for all who truly care about American education." -Howard Gardner, Harvard Graduate School of Education

BIO: Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Formerly she was Assistant Secretary of Education and Counselor to Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in the administration of Pres. George H.W. Bush, prior to being appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board by the Clinton Administration. She blogs for Huffington Post.com and EDWeek.org, and is the author or editor of 20 some books.

"It is precisely because of her associations with those more conservative on educational matters that this ...carries the impact that it does. It may infuriate some of her former colleagues, because she is thorough, she is blunt...anyone concerned about public schools should read it... It is that good, that rich, that important."- DailyKos.com

Philip Maldari, veteran KPFA Public Affairs Producer, now hosts the Sunday Morning Show

$12 advance tickets: 800-838-3006 or Pegasus Books (3 locations), Mrs. Dalloway's, Moe's Books, Walden Pond, DIESEL, A Bookstore; SF: Modern Times ($15 door)