1-in-4 Public School Students in California Dropout; The LA Times Layoffs List; Inland Empire Journalists Roundtable; Training For The Olympics - An "On The Road" Broadcast
1-in-4 Public School Students in California Dropout
California public high schools had a 24.2 percent dropout rate in the 2006-07 school year, according to new figures released Wednesday by the state Department of Education. The dropout rate for Los Angeles Unified was almost 10% higher, at 33.6 percent. Dropout rates for black students in California were much higher than the average, at 41.3 percent. Dropout rates for white students, by contrast, were much lower than the average, at 15.2 percent. Larry talks with Russell Rumberger, Professor of Education & Director of California Dropout Research Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara about the significance of these numbers.
The LA Times Layoffs List
We knew the cuts were imminent - 250 expected overall, 150 in the newsroom - but now the names are coming out. Some of the talented journalists who are leaving the Los Angeles Times are doing so voluntarily; others were forced to take buyouts. Larry talks with departing reporters: city editor William Lobdell, environmental reporter Marla Cone, sports writer and editor Larry Stewart, assistant sports editor Alex Kimball, and recently departed legal affairs writer Henry Weinstein, about their years at the Times, what the cuts mean to coverage of their beats, and their plans for the future.
Inland Empire Journalists Roundtable
Larry talks with Steven Cuevas, KPCC's Inland Empire Reporter, Michelle DeArmond, political reporter with The Press Enterprise, and David Kelly, staff writer for the LA Times, about the latest news, events, and developments in the Inland Empire.
Training For The Olympics - An "On The Road" Broadcast
The opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics are just over three weeks away. Meanwhile, athletes around the world continue to train in the more than three dozen sports that will be in competition. AirTalk travels to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California, for a discussion on how American athletes train for the 2008 Olympic games. Larry talks with the head of the Center as well as coaches, a sports psychologist, dietician, and an athletes training for his first Olympics.