The primary with punch. LAUSD considers plan to let students go to any school in district. Jon Huntsman wants to take a pay cut. Toilet to tap…or the answer to SoCal’s water woes?
The primary with punch
Mitt Romney scored a solid vote of confidence from New Hampshire voters yesterday. With 39 percent of returns, nearly double that of runner-up Ron Paul, it was a decided result in what has been a confusing race so far.
Up until now, the Republican Party's search for a presidential candidate has been tumultuous to the point of inducing motion-sickness. Just ask former favorites Michele Bachmann or Herman Cain to testify to its unpredictability – moving faster than a modern-day news cycle.
Now we welcome a reprieve in the form of the storied tradition that is the New Hampshire Primary. The old dance between candidates and the salt-of-the-earth types in New England might finally be the thing that settles this race and our stomachs. For there has only been one man since 1972, poor Edmund Muskie, who won both Iowa and New Hampshire then lost the nomination.
So the pressure is on Mitt Romney, who has every other man on the ballot battling him. Romney's high ground has been to take on President Barack Obama, possibly a winning strategy judging by exit polls. About a third of primary voters said their main demand in a candidate was someone who can beat Obama.
South Carolina is up next, where Romney's victory is not assured. Republicans in the southern state could favor social conservatives on the ticket, such as Texas Gov. Rick Perry or Rick Santorum. Can Romney be caught? What does Ron Paul's unabated surge signify? Does Jon Huntsman's third place finish mean much? What issues are top concerns in exit polls?
Guests:
Mark Barabak, Political Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, joins us from New Hampshire
Lynn Vavreck, Professor of Political Science, UCLA, joins us from New Hampshire
Dan Schnur, Director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC and adjunct faculty at USC Annenberg School
LAUSD proposals aim to boost enrollment, erase attendance boundaries, raise cash
The Los Angeles Unified school board endorsed a resolution yesterday requiring Superintendent John Deasy to devise a plan to boost enrollment by 5 percent over the next three years. In the same session, board President Monica Garcia introduced a motion asking the district to look at doing away with attendance boundaries so students could choose to attend any school in the district.
That proposal, which will be voted on next Tuesday, would push Superintendent Deasy to formulate a plan over the next three months to institute an open-enrollment policy within the district. Garcia said that open-enrollment within the whole district is optimal but unlikely, and she's mainly looking to Deasy to consider alternatives, especially in places with lower enrollment numbers and newly built schools.
"How do we create choice within the system we have, and how do boundaries either help us or create obstacles to achieve what we are wanting?" she asked. "We want a district of quality schools in every neighborhood."
LAUSD students currently have the option of choosing magnet schools, charters and district public schools not in their immediate neighborhood. "We want to explain to all the families in the district and in the area that we have good schools, come and be part of it," she said. "We used to tell people 'We don't have room for you,' we used to tell people 'We're not interested in changing.' That is not the LAUSD of today."
Deasy said that his main prerogative is giving parents opportunities that they've never had before. "I support parents having the right to as much choice as possible, and then having the right to go to the school which best serves them. I think that must include those who wish to remain in a neighborhood boundary," he said.
But there are numerous obstacles and when it comes to making the options clear, many parents say there's a lack of information and support. Pasadena, Long Beach and other large cities already have school choice with, critics argue, mixed results.
Board member Tamar Galatzan of LAUSD 3 expressed concerns about allowing district-wide open-enrollment. "We don't really have effective public transportation," she said. "To tell a child who lives in Wilmington that they can attend school in Chatsworth is nice, but there's no way to get them there."
Galatzan continued to say that if parents have the ability to enroll their children in better performing schools, she wonders how the LAUSD will make changes to schools that aren’t being chosen. Still, Galatzan said that Garcia’s proposal is "the right conversation to have at the right time."
"I think now, because of horrendous budget crisis that we are facing, we really have to rethink how we're going to deliver education to every student in this district," she said.
The proposal comes after the LAUSD and UTLA signed a new contract which allows schools to make important decisions on a site by site basis. "So if that's the first step, than the next step needs to be: How do we allow them to choose the program that's going to be the best match for their child," Galatzan said.
Deasy said that though talks have been preliminary thus far, he has discussed providing open-enrollment options for high schools, where transportation would be less of a problem. Should LAUSD be next? Would totally open-enrollment be better for parents and students?
Meanwhile, Superintendent Deasy has floated the idea of putting a parcel tax before voters on the November ballot to help raise money to deal with the district’s projected $543-million budget deficit for 2012-13. Would voters sign on to help cash-strapped schools?
Guests:
Monica Garcia, Board President, Los Angeles Unified School District 2
Dr. John Deasy, Superintendent of LAUSD
Tamar Galatzan, Board Member, Los Angeles Unified School District 3
Felicia Jones, Local Advocacy Specialist, Community Engagement & Advocacy, Families In Schools
Jon Huntsman wants to take a big pay cut
Jon Huntsman is a former billionaire CEO, a former ambassador to China, a very popular former governor of Utah and a current contender for the Republican nomination for president. The only problem is that Huntsman has been running at the back of the pack ever since he stepped off the plane from China last summer.
When he first came onto the scene he was touted as the candidate Barack Obama didn’t want to run against, but it appears his campaign has been on a slow fizzle as the base looked to the more conservative candidates. But, after the rise and fall of Bachmann, Perry, Cain, Gingrich, and Santorum it looks like Huntsman could be the next anti-Romney.
So who is Jon Hunstman? In a nutshell, a somewhat liberal billionaire Mormon from Utah who’s only held one elected office. We’ll find out more about his politics, his tenure as governor and how he made his billions.
Guests:
Robert Gehrke, political reporter, Salt Lake City Tribune
Jeff Robinson, News Director, KCPW, Public Radio in Salt Lake City
Toilet to tap, the answer to SoCal’s water woes?
A new report from the National Research Council has found that reclaimed wastewater could be treated to the same safety standard as drinking water, a finding that could help the Southern California’s strained water resources.
Though California sends most of its runoff and treated water into the Pacific Ocean, it has been replenishing local aquifers with treated water. The study’s scientific panel contends that this water could be made safe enough to drink, contrary to previous findings in 1998 that recommended its use for drinking only as a last resort.
Treated waste water from Las Vegas already flows into Lake Mead, a water resource for Southern California. Reclaimed water supplies are looking more attractive to water officials in the arid Southwest who are facing challenges from population growth and climate change. And, according to Jorg Dawes, a water expert on the NRC panel, treated wastewater is just as safe as the rest of the drinking supply, and, it’s drought proof.
There will always be a ready supply of wastewater. But the question still remains, can we get over the “toilet to tap” ick factor? What exactly does the wastewater treatment process entail? And, what choice do we have?
Guests:
Mr. R. Rhodes Trussell, Chair, National Research Council's Committee to Assess Water Reuse; President, Trussell Technologies Inc., an environmental engineering firm based in Pasadena
James McDaniel, Assistant General Manager, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) Water System