About the Author

Diane Ravitch is a senior research scholar at New York University and holds the Brown Chair in Education Studies at the Brookings Institution. She served as assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education from 1991 to 1993. She is the author of six books, including The Great School Wars, The Troubled Crusade, and National Standards in American Education. Joseph P. Viteritti is a research professor of public administration at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. He has served as special assistant to the chancellor of the New York City public schools and was a senior adviser to the superintendents of schools in San Francisco and Boston. He is the author of three books, including Across the River: Politics and Education in the City.