SMALL SCHOOL PLAN REVEALED; REAL ESTATE FRAUD; AFGHANISTAN UPDATE; JAZZLIFE
SMALL SCHOOL PLAN REVEALED
LA School Superintendent Roy Romer will present his plan for Smaller Learning Communities (SLC’s) to transform Jefferson High School. On the surface this proposal seems like a win for Green Dot and The Small Schools Alliance’s push for smaller autonomous but according to Steve Barr, Green Dot’s CEO, Romer’s proposal falls short in strategic, long term, effective reform when compared to the proven, Small Schools plan that is currently working in other cities. Roy Romer presents the plan to the LAUSD board on Tuesday at 2pm. Larry Mantle and guests talk about the proposal.
REAL ESTATE FRAUD
According to the FBI, reports of mortgage and real estate scams have tripled nationally in the last two years as the housing market and refinancing transactions have flourished. The Bureau estimates the value of the alleged crimes to be $1.01 billion. Larry Mantle and expert guests examine the scope of mortgage fraud and the lack of regulation that may be fueling this activity.
AFGHANISTAN UPDATE
With all the discussions these days in Washington about the situation in Iraq, it’s important to remember that we still have nearly 20,000 troops in Afghanistan (compared to nearly 160,000 in Iraq). Unfortunately, trends are not so great in that troubled nation either. Borrowing from the Iraqi playbook, car bombings and suicide attacks are becoming more common. And ninety US soldiers have died in Afghanistan this year--that’s twice as many as last year. European Union nations contribute more than two-thirds of the 11,000 NATO-led peacekeeping troops-—who operate separately from the U.S. soldiers--and about one-third of the foreign aid directed to Afghanistan. And the US is planning to shift more of the burden to the European forces. Larry talks to Andrew North, Kabul Correspondent for the BBC, and Larry Goodson, Ph.D., General Dwight D. Eisenhower Chair of National Security and Director of Middle East Studies at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
JAZZLIFE
In 1960 noted jazz photographer, William Claxton and musicologist Joachim E. Berndt traveled the country for months on the trail of jazz music. A year later Jazzlife, was published. The book chronicles an era regarded as one of the greatest in the history of jazz. Taschen publisher has just reissued this updated volume. Larry talks with Claxton, a native Southern Californian, long considered the preeminent photographer of jazz music.