LAUSD Governance Bill Passes; California In the Age of Schwarzenegger; Breaking Up Iraq; Hollywoodland
LAUSD Governance Bill Passes
After hours of negotiation and discussion, the Assembly today approved Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's bid to gain partial control of the Los Angeles Unified School District, which is expected to face a court challenge. The Assembly voted 42-20 to approve AB 1381, which would shift most of the decision-making authority from the seven-member Los Angeles Unified School District board to the superintendent; create a council of mayors that would give a significant role to Los Angeles' mayor in managing the nation's second-largest school district; and give individual schools greater control over their budgets and curriculum during a six-year trial period. Villaraigosa would also have direct control over the district's three lowest-performing high schools and their feeder campuses. AirTalk guest host Ted Chen talks with KPCC reporter Tamara Keith, LAUSD School Board President Marlene Canter, California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, and Betty Glenn of the District Advisory Committee.
California In the Age of Schwarzenegger
Journalist Amy Wilentz's move to California coincided with Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to run for governor. Ted talks with Wilentz about her new book, "I Feel Earthquakes More Often than they Happen," which offers observations on the Governor's election and first term as well as what makes California so quirky and fascinating.
Breaking Up Iraq
With sectarian strife on the increase in Iraq, some scholars are revisiting the idea of breaking up the country along ethnic lines to save it. Would such a plan quell the violence, or cause more conflict? Guest host Ted Chen hears from Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, Ambassador Barbara Bodine of MIT, James Phillips of the Heritage Foundation and Basam Al-Husseini, Senior Advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.
Hollywoodland
Guest host Ted Chen talks with Allen Coulter the director of the new film, Hollywoodland, that chronicles the mysterious circumstances surrounding the "suicide" of George Reeves, the star of the 1950's Superman television series.