AirTalk for December 3, 2012

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David Lazarus from the LA Times fills in for Larry to discuss the fiscal cliff and the LA teachers union agreement on performance evaluations. Later, composer Alexandre Desplat joins us to discuss his film scores. All that and more, on today's AirTalk.

AirTalk for December 3, 2012

David Lazarus from the LA Times fills in for Larry to discuss the fiscal cliff and the LA teachers union agreement on performance evaluations. Later, composer Alexandre Desplat joins us to discuss his film scores. All that and more, on today's AirTalk.

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David Lazarus from the LA Times fills in for Larry to discuss the fiscal cliff and the LA teachers union agreement on performance evaluations. Later, composer Alexandre Desplat joins us to discuss his film scores. All that and more, on today's AirTalk.

Tax Deductions 101: everything you need to know about the fiscal cliff plan

The federal government has less than one month until the United States falls off the so-called “fiscal cliff” of automatic tax hikes and deep spending cuts, which will occur on January 1 unless Congress agrees on a strategy to avoid the potential economic calamity.

The primary point of contention among members of Congress is that of balancing the budget through increasing tax rates on those who earn over $250,000 per year, limiting the amount of tax deductions, or a combination of the two. Democrats want to raise tax rates for the wealthy, while Republicans want to focus on closing tax loopholes and on capping the amount of deductions that Americans can take.

It is unclear if cutting back tax deductions alone would be an effective strategy. According to the Tax Policy Center, capping deductions at $50,000 per household would raise an extra $749 billion over a decade. That would be $300 billion more than the government would get from raising the top two income tax rates, as proposed by President Obama. Lower caps on deductions would raise even more.

What kind of long-term strategy might President Obama and Congress agree on before the Bush era tax rates expire in 2013? Are they letting cutthroat politics get in the way of our economic well-being?

Guest:

Robertson Williams, senior fellow, The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center

LAUSD and UTLA discuss use of test scores for teacher evaluations

Should student test scores be used in teacher evaluations? The Los Angeles Unified School District and its teachers union have come to a tentative agreement to allow the use of student test scores in end-of-year evaluations.

The decision follows months of negotiations between LAUSD and the teachers union, which has consistently opposed the use of student scores in grading teachers, calling the results unreliable.

Although the union has provisionally agreed to incorporate test scores into evaluations, the decision still needs to be ratified by members of United Teachers Los Angeles.  As part of the new system, test scores will contribute to less than 25 percent of individual teacher performance reviews. LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy has long been a proponent of using scores in evaluations.

How much weight should student’s testing carry in teacher evaluations? Are test scores a reliable assessment of a teacher’s abilities? Of a student’s? What is the best way to measure a teacher’s success? Should assessment be focused more on individuals, or should they be school-wide?

Guests:

Dr. John Deasy, Superintendent of LAUSD

Warren Fletcher, President, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)

LAUSD-UTLA December 2012 Evaluation Procedures Supplement to Article X

Author Andrew Solomon on what happens to children who fall ‘Far From the Tree’

Extraordinary children often lead difficult lives when they are so different that they are unable to feel accepted by society. As they grow older, their differences tend to define them and become cornerstones of their identities. Andrew Solomon, the gay son of heterosexual parents, learned this through personal experience and has now authored a book, “Far From the Tree,” about the parent-child dynamic of different kinds of exceptional children and the prejudices they face.

In addition to telling his own story, Solomon explores and illustrates the life experiences of children with dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, severe disabilities, and others. The author strives to expand society’s understanding of the relationship between identity and illness and its definition of the human family in order to increase tolerance. Solomon proposes that diversity brings families closer together and ultimately unites us all.

Guest:

Andrew Solomon, author, Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity (Scribner)

Happy 20th birthday, text messaging

Twenty years ago today, the first-ever text message was sent to a mobile phone from a software engineer at European cell carrier Vodaphone. From its humble beginnings, text messaging has expanded into a primary mode of contact – a peak of over six trillion texts were sent worldwide in 2010, an average of 200,000 texts each minute.

But with smartphones and mobile data plans rapidly taking over the cell phone market, mobile messaging is changing. The text message may only be 20 years old, and it may already be aging out of the market. Comprehensive data plans make email and apps for instant messaging cheaper, easier, and more appealing – text messaging packages still carry an additional fee.

How do you do your mobile messaging? Can the text message hold onto its youth, or will it be eclipsed by other modes of communication?

Guest:

Janet Sternberg, Ph.D., Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Fordham University

Boomers, boomerangs and the boom in multigenerational households

 “G’night, Grandma.” “G’night, Mary Ellen.” G’night, John Boy.” Those who grew up watching ‘The Waltons’ remember that big house in the Blue Ridge mountains, filled with children, grandparents, and the smell of bacon frying. Those days could be on the way back, as Boomer families take in aging parents, adult children, grandchildren and sometimes all three.  A Pew research study this year noted that over 50 million Americans are living in multigenerational homes, a 10 % increase over 2007.

The influx includes young singles and newlyweds struggling to get through college and into the workforce and seniors who aren’t ready for a nursing home, but may not be able to live on their own – leading to three or even four generations under one roof. This way of life is far from new, of course.  

Prior to World War II, it was common to find extended families making up a household. Recessionary times seem to be fueling a return to those days, but there are benefits other than financial ones – having grandparents around to share in the childcare and cooking can be a boon to busy families and enrich family life for everyone. Homebuilders are taking notice, and are starting to offer designs that include built-in, semi-private living spaces for cohabitating family members – so-called “granny flats,” over garages or tucked behind the main house.  Some people have opted to remodel an existing home to make room for extra bodies.

If you’re considering having your parents move in with you, what are the pros and cons?  Can everybody get along in close quarters? How do you carve out digs that provide both privacy and family interaction? Do you worry about loss of independence, or would you welcome the chaos of a big family homestead, á la The Waltons?  Is it possible to have the best of both worlds?

You can see some creative ways people have remodeled their homes to allow for extra family members here.

Guests:

Michael Litchfield, author of Inlaws, Outlaws and Granny Flats: Your Guide to Turning One House Into Two Homes (Taunton Press, 2011)

Linda Perlman Gordon, MSW, clinical social worker with a private psychotherapy practice in the Washington, DC area; author of  "Mom, Can I Move Back in With You?" (Tarcher/Penguin)

Composer Alexandre Desplat writes the soundtrack to Oscar season

What do several of this year’s Oscar contenders have in common? Scores by Alexandre Desplat, who composed for “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Argo,” “Rust and Bone,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” and “Rise of the Guardians.” Desplat burst onto the American film scene in 2003 as an established French composer.

His works include several Oscar nominated scores, and music for blockbusters from the “Twilight” and “Harry Potter” series. Desplat began playing the piano at the age of five – throughout his career he has composed over 100 scores. Although most of his recent work has been in the U.S., he still composes for European films.

Guest:

Alexandre Desplat, French film composer who wrote the original score and original song for Rise of the Guardians; his other recent credits include Moonrise Kingdom, Argo, Rust and Bone and Zero Dark Thirty