Today on AirTalk with guest host Kyle Stokes, we're learning more about what school will look like in SoCal this fall. Also on the show, we hear about the restaurants moving away from using delivery apps; take a look back at the women's suffrage movement; and more.
Santa Ana Unified School District Supe On Going Back To School, Virtually
Like many other school districts, Santa Anita will begin it’s school year August 17 continuing with full distance learning.
We sit down with the Superintendent to discuss the challenges of virtual learning in the 20-21 school year, as well as other back-to-school issues.
Guest:
Jerry Almendarez, Superintendent of the Santa Ana Unified School District
When SoCal Schools Resume This Month, Who Will Return In Person And How Many Will Be Private School Students Vs. Public School?
Back to school for fall 2020 is going to look different depending on where you live.
Districts across the country are exploring different possible ways to bring classes back in person entirely, especially for elementary and early middle school kids who have had more difficulty transitioning from classroom to online learning. In some states, however, there’s mounting concern about whether private schools, which are often smaller, have access to more funds and wealthy boosters and may not be subject to state regulations of public schools, might be allowed to go back in-person when public schools are not, and whether that pushes the already large gap between equality for public and private schools students even farther.
Here in California, the state has said that schools, public, charter or private, in counties on the state’s COVID watchlist will not be able to return for in-person instruction unless they apply for and are granted a waiver to do so through their county public health office. Schools applying for the waiver will have to include a variety of materials with their application, including a full reopening plan that includes safety protocols for distancing, testing and sanitization as well as documentation that the district, principal or executive director of the school had consulted with labor partners, community organizations and parent groups about the reopening process. But because many private schools don’t have teachers unions, some are concerned that they will have an easier time getting their waiver granted than public schools, many of which will have to negotiate on reopening with labor unions and many of which don’t have access to the same kind of funding that private schools to to spend on retrofits to school facilities to help mitigate COVID-19 spread concerns.
Today on AirTalk, we’ll talk about who is going back to school at the end of the month here in Southern California, the process by which schools will have to apply for a waiver if they want to reopen for in-person instruction and hear from stakeholders in public and private schools about whether they see potential for a widening of the education equality gap because of it.
With guest host Kyle Stokes
Guests:
Carla Javier, KPCC/LAist reporter who has been following the story; she tweets
Deborah Dowling, executive director of the California Association of Independent Schools, an organization representing 224 private and independent schools across the state
Julie Slayton, professor of clinical education at the University of Southern California; she spent almost 10 years working for the Los Angeles Unified School District in several roles, including assistant chief of staff to the superintendent and chief accountability officer
Some LA Restaurants Are Finding Alternatives To Delivery Apps — Here's Why
A growing number of restaurants that have chosen to ditch delivery apps because of high commission rates, safety concerns or both. Although restaurants had complained about delivery apps long before coronavirus, the pandemic intensified their issues, especially in L.A. County, where 80% of restaurant jobs vanished almost overnight due to COVID-19.
Some of the main food delivery app companies aren't transparent with the public about the commissions and fees they charge restaurants — and they don't have to be. To be fair, there isn't one standard commission rate, even within the same company, which is part of the reason the situation is so confusing. Every restaurant in the United States negotiates its own contract with whatever app or apps they choose to use. If restaurants decide to use multiple services, apps often charge them higher commissions but if they sign an exclusive agreement with one app, rates will typically go down. Postmates for example, is the only app that offers delivery from L.A. hot spots Moon Juice and Howlin' Rays, whose ordering pages feature an #onlyonpostmates hashtag. Those contracts often include non-disclosure sections that prohibit restaurants from publicly disclosing the apps' commission rates, making an already opaque process even less transparent. Today on AirTalk, guest host Kyle Stokes talks with LAist writers about their latest story about food delivery apps and how the pandemic has played into already existing challenges. Do you have thoughts? Join the conversation by calling 866-893-5722.
We reached out to Grubhub, Postmates, DoorDash/Caviar and UberEats. The companies were unable to make someone available for an interview by the time of broadcast.
Read Gina Pollack’s full story on LAist here
With guest host Kyle Stokes
Guests:
Gina Pollack, digital producer for LAist, her latest piece is titled “Food Delivery Apps — Restaurants Can't Live With Them, Can't Live Without Them;” she tweets
Elina Shatkin, food editor at LAist; she tweets
Joseph Badaro, owner of Hummus Labs in Pasadena
To Mark The 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment, A Look Back At the Battle For Women’s Suffrage
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the constitutional right to vote. To commemorate the anniversary, noted historian Ellen Carol DuBois is joining the show to discuss her new book, Suffrage: Women’s Long Battle For the Vote.
DuBois cultivated a passion for the women’s liberation movement as a PhD student at Northwestern, where she worked with the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union. She turned that into a research interest, teaching at both the University of Buffalo and UCLA. Students of women’s history might recognize her as the coauthor of one of their textbooks, Through Women’s Eyes: An American History with Documents. A pioneer in her field, DuBois retired from UCLA in 2017.
Her latest book looks into the efforts of suffragists like Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who advocated for their right to vote as black women even as white suffragists.
DuBois also follows women who ran for office following the passing of the 19th Amendment. Many advocated for issues like the outlawing of child labor, ensuring maternal health, and greater equality for women.
DuBois has written six other books about the history of women’s suffrage, and is a distinguished research professor in the History Department of UCLA.
Guest:
Ellen Carol Dubois, Distinguished Research Professor in the UCLA History Department. She is the author of numerous books, including “Suffrage: Women's Long Battle for the Vote” (Simon & Schuster, 2020)