Education scholar Diane Ravitch to give free lecture in Koreatown

New York University education scholar Diane Ravitch is scheduled to deliver a free talk Tuesday at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles’s Koreatown.

Teachers are largely responsible for Ravitch’s schedule of about 100 lectures last year and her strong online following.

Ravitch says that her L.A. lecture will stay close to the topic of her recent book, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System.”

"This is a very dark time in American education," Ravitch said, because, she maintains, budget cuts and an over-the-top focus on standardized testing are corroding the teaching profession.

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"There are very few jobs in our society that are more crucial than teaching children, or are more difficult than teaching children," Ravitch said. "And I think the teachers need to hear, at the very least they need to hear people express appreciation and gratitude for what they’re doing."

Ravitch has 24,000 Twitter followers; she’s tweeted 24,000 times. She turns down three lecture invitations, she says, for every one she accepts.

"[I'm] 73 years old," she said. "So I’m not going to be doing this for a long time."