I announced that I would be giving a free and open to the public lecture at New York University on March 25.
However, due to the present health crisis, the University has closed down all physical classes until the end of March.
So, my public lecture is cancelled.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Hello Diane: Sorry to hear that–I did see your talk from California on C-SPAN’s BookTV last weekend–it was excellent–best coverage I’ve seen so far of the central issues in your book.
I haven’t checked yet to see if they’ve archived it on their site, but if not, probably soon, for those who might want to see it. CBK
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Thank you, CBK.
I have taken a different approach to my presentations this time. No written speeches. Just spontaneous conversation.
If you find the link to the CSPAN Book Talk, please let me know.
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Diane Here is the BookTV link to your talk–and a great picture:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?468918-1/slaying-goliath
CBK
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As far as I know, C-SPAN Book TV does archive all its presentations.
https://www.c-span.org/search/basic/?query=diane+ravitch
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…Until the end of March…
and when does Spring break begin? I wonder if there are advisories for that ritual, usually in Florida.
I think that this move by NYU has been made with an abundance of caution and some “pressure from lawyers and insurers who are paying attention to liabities.
Also please guard your own health.
Podcasts and Spe is not the same but I’ll wager many will be using these technologies. AERA wisely and hurridly is trying to create a virtual conference for about 7000 approved presentations. That conference was to have been in San Francisco.
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Ms. Chapman Let me guess:
IF the greater WE actually do head off a spike in the virus through everyone and every city being extremely and intelligently diligent, then Trump will say: “See . . . I told you it wouldn’t be so bad and would magically go away.”
Also from Austen’s Sense and Sensibility: “We must accept . . . . ” CBK
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My cousin’s daughter is in law school at Temple University in Philly. The university will finish the semester with on-line courses.
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Professor Ravitch, I am sorry to hear that your talk has been canceled. Your new book gives public school teachers (like me) hope. You are truly our champion. Thank you.
A while back, I read the review of “Slaying Goliath” in the NY Times. I did not quite like the review. Here is my reply to it:
Readers of Annie Murphy Paul’s review of Diane Ravitch’s “Slaying Goliath” (in the February 2 NYT Book Review) can be forgiven for thinking that Professor Ravitch has lost her way and written a book in which she exults in the failures of all who are interested in strengthening our public schools.
In fact, “Slaying Goliath” is a work of meticulous scholarship that chronicles the failure of every single “reform” in recent decades, most of them market-based (as if children or their teachers were commodities, or schools factories) and virtually all funded by billionaires who know little about teaching and learning but are glad to call the shots when it comes to our schools. Professor Ravitch is not against reform but rather the particular set of “reforms” that have been foisted on our public schools and our teachers and students, including so-called merit pay and the oddity of evaluating teachers based on their students’ test scores. Her book ends with a call for genuine reform, which would require adequately funding our public schools so that they have a fair chance of educating a population that includes so many children born into poverty and who come to school already behind and lacking the supports at home of their more affluent peers. It would also require funding programs to support impoverished families. Our public schools are not broken; our society is.
Professor Ravitch accurately terms those who push (and, astonishingly, continue to push) for these failed reforms “disrupters,” because the purpose or effect of their actions is to undermine the very institution of the public school. And yes, Professor Ravitch does name names. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, for one, is not an advocate of public schools. Rather she favors “choice,” as if that were an end in itself. But that choice does not include a well-funded public school for every child, though if Secretary DeVos had her way it would include a charter school. Charter schools, unfortunately, are generally no better than public schools, and some are militaristic, so that students learn not to question but to obey. Nor are charters known for serving the needs of children with learning disabilities or who have emotional or behavioral problems or for whom English is not their first language. They do, however, succeed in draining money from public schools.
Ultimately, Professor Ravitch is optimistic, believing that today’s “reformers” will inevitably lose, despite their vast wealth, because the “resisters” — parents and grandparents, schoolchildren, and their teachers — are multitudinous and motivated by passion. And they cannot be bought. As a public school teacher, I hope Professor Ravitch is right.
Some might wonder why public schools matter. Apart from the fact that the vast majority of American schoolchildren attend them, public schools are our best hope for a flourishing democracy. In public schools, children from diverse backgrounds come together as one community. They learn together, and they learn from each other. John Dewey understood how essential public schools are to our way of life: “A democracy,” he wrote, “is more than a form of government; it is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience.”* It is just this “conjoint communicated experience” that public schools afford.
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Diane, any chance you would consider doing a Ted Talk or live stream your lecture instead?
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I will ask about it.
You can see several recent lectures online.
My talk in San Francisco was taped and aired by CSPAN Book TV
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That is outstanding. Your message is so important. I am glad you keep fighting the good fight. Just know that there are many of us supporting you!
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Thank you!
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