-
Ravitch's first book The Great School Wars (1974) is a history of New York City public schools. It described alternating eras of centralization and decentralization. It also tied periodic controversies over public education to periodic waves of immigration.
-
Ravitch became a historian of education with a Ph.D. from Columbia University
-
She served as Assistant Secretary of Education under Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander.
-
She held the Brown Chair in Education Studies at the Brookings Institution
-
She joined forces with a former teacher and a writer, Anthony Cody, to set up The Network for Public Education. It is a foundation that is dedicated to fighting against educational corporate reforms.