We discuss the local public teachers’ union negotiations with Superintendent Beutner and get his input on where he sees LAUSD going in 2019. We also discuss ‘intensive parenting’; explore celestial object Ultima Thule, NASA’s furthest destination yet; and more.
Interview with LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner
It’s been a little over seven months since Austin Beutner replaced Michelle King as LAUSD superintendent, and the waters have remained turbulent since Day 1.
Beutner, whose professional history as an investment banker fueled criticisms regarding his qualifications for the position, was almost immediately thrust into a year-long battle between the district and United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), the local public teachers’ union. Neither side has been able to reach an agreement.
LAUSD teachers have pledged to strike starting January 10 if no deal is met, and the district has hired about 400 non-union substitutes in anticipation of the event.
Beutner additionally inherited an ongoing debate regarding charter schools in Los Angeles, an issue that has been pushed to the center of the UTLA negotiations. UTLA and public school proponents argue that charter schools are draining funds that could be used for public campuses and students, and that a cap should be placed on the amount of charters the district allows.
We discuss the union negotiations with Superintendent Beutner, and get his input on where he sees the district going in 2019.
With guest host Kyle Stokes
Guest:
Austin Beutner, superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District
AirTalk brings the picket lines home: How the LAUSD strike affects you
The deadline is set: LAUSD teachers have vowed to go on strike January 10 if the district fails to settle the now year-and-a-half long negotiations.
United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) have been fighting for a multitude of issues, including a 6.5% raise for all its teachers and a cap on charter school numbers. The district argues that it cannot afford to raise incomes by more than 6%, and that many of UTLA’s requests are not financially feasible.
But let’s bring the seemingly endless back-and-forth to a pause for a moment. We want to hear where you fall into this battle. Whether you are a teacher, a student, a parent -- how will the planned teacher’s strike affect you? How do you feel about the teachers’ demands? What about the district’s responses? Have you seen these philosophical issues permeate into the classroom? If so, what are you seeing?
Call 866.893.5722.
With guest host Kyle Stokes
Exploring ‘intensive parenting’ and the racial, social and economic factors that make it easier for some and harder for others
If you’re a parent, you probably don’t need an article to tell you that as rewarding as it can be, it’s also one of the most challenging jobs out there.
What you might not know, however, is that emerging research at the intersection of parenting and the economy suggests that being a parent today is considerably more demanding than it was for even our own mothers and fathers, thanks in large part to the widespread acceptance of “intensive parenting.”
The concept of “intensive parenting,” aggressive though it may sound, should be familiar to most. As New York Times correspondent Claire Cain Miller explains in her recent article “The Relentlessness of Modern Parenting,” it’s the idea that mom and dad are monitoring and teaching children closely throughout their developmental years -- think enrolling them in music lessons or sports at an early age or just in general being more connected to what’s happening in their lives, from being able to keep an eye on your kid via baby monitor when he or she is an infant to tracking their exact location through modern cell phone GPS technology.
The idea behind it developed as children became viewed as more vulnerable than they had in previous generations, and as more research emerged about the importance that experiences in early childhood play in development, parents started to take a more hands-on approach to raising their kids.
The problem with intensive parenting as the de facto method for raising kids, as Miller indicates in her article, is how this concept can manifest itself among different racial and socio-economic groups. “The new trappings of intensive parenting,” she writes, “are largely fixtures of white, upper-middle-class American culture, but researchers say the expectations have permeated all corners of society, whether or not parents can achieve them.”
The result is parents who want to be involved in their kids’ lives and contribute to their chances of success but who may lack access to the resources or knowledge that other parents may have due to where they live or to which socioeconomic class they belong.
What are the pros and cons of “intensive parenting” as a method for raising kids? And do kids who are the product of it actually fare better than their parents? What are some of the cultural and economic drivers behind the practice?
Guests:
Claire Cain Miller, correspondent for the New York Times, where she writes about gender, families and the future of work for The Upshot, a Times site for the analysis of policy and economics; her recent piece is “The Relentlessness of Modern Parenting;” she tweets
Annette Lareau, professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she studies social class difference in family life
Dawn Dow, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Maryland and author of the forthcoming book is “Mothering While Black: Boundaries and Burdens of Middle-Class Parenthood” (UC Press, March 2019)
Matthias Doepke, professor of economics at Northwestern University and co-author of the forthcoming book “Love, Money & Parenting: How Economics Explains The Way We Raise Our Kids” (Princeton University Press, February 2019)
New Horizons visits farthest celestial object
Thirteen years after its launch from Cape Canaveral, the New Horizons spacecraft traveled to NASA’s furthest destination yet.
On New Year’s Eve and into the first day of the new year, New Horizons continued into the Kuiper Belt, a billion miles past Pluto, and flew by an unknown world called Ultima Thule.
New Horizons has gathered important data about Jupiter and its moons in 2007 and in 2015, arrived at Pluto and began sending back new discoveries about the Kuiper Belt and its icy inhabitants.
NASA’s operations are affected by the government shutdown but active missions like New Horizons are considered “essential” and are carrying on. The rest of NASA however is also furloughed. We reached out to NASA directly for this segment but due to the shutdown, they were unable to reply.
Very little is known about Ultima Thule but NASA thinks the world’s icy conditions may provide a snapshot in time to its formation, and potentially teach us about Earth’s origins.
With guest host Kyle Stokes
Guests:
Henry Throop, science team member on New Horizons mission; senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute headquartered in Arizona
Emily Lakdawalla, senior editor at The Planetary Society, the nonprofit space education organization