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A panel of education reformers, including StudentsFirst founder Michelle Rhee, is holding a town hall meeting later today in Los Angeles, where they will take questions from an audience of area educators.

As the first of three such events around the country this month, the session is billed as a chance to set aside polarizing rhetoric surrounding many school reform discussions — not to mention, Rhee — to engage in a more productive conversation with educators about how to improve the nation’s schools.

The event will be moderated by former LAUSD President Genethia Hudley-Hayes. UTLA President Warren Fletcher, who was invited to join the panel, is not expected to attend.

Jessica Ng, a spokeswoman for the event, said organizers received over 400 requests for approximately 200 seats in the audience. The panel appears next in Birmingham, Ala. on Sept. 12 and in Philadelphia on Sept. 16.