LAUSD revamps teacher evaluations. Tom Burrell challenges the myth of black inferiority. How effective is the Mexican government's war on drug cartels? Later, Tammy Wynette's life and love in song.
LAUSD panel recommends overhaul of teacher reviews
A Los Angeles Unified School District panel is expected to recommend major changes to the way that teachers are evaluated. Today the 50 member group, made up of teachers, administrators, union members, and parents, is expected to suggest using student test scores in teacher evaluations, paying high-performing teachers more, and extending the probationary period for tenure from two years to four years. The panel also wants to stop basing layoffs and staffing decisions on seniority. How important are student test scores for teacher reviews, and would these policies ensure more effective teachers?
Guests:
Marlene Canter, member of the LA Unified Task Force, former member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education
Jordan Henry, member of Teacher Effectiveness Task Force and UTLA Chapter Chair
Jason Song, Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times
Brainwashed: challenging black inferiority
Has America achieved a post-racial equilibrium or is it still ensnared in racial stereotypes? Marketing veteran Tom Burrell says Americans are barraged with images of black inferiority—and even African-Americans have bought into stereotypes that reach back to the days of slavery. He’s launched a campaign for promoting positive images.
Guest:
Tom Burrell, author of Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority (SmileyBooks)
Is the drug war in Mexico working?
Shortly after taking office in December 2006, Mexican President Felipe Calderón started taking action against Mexico’s drug gangs but despite the deployment of thousands of troops and millions of dollars spent, drug-related violence in Mexico has sky-rocketed. Last weekend was a particularly bloody one. Nearly 50 people were killed nationwide in drug-gang violence, including attacks in Acapulco as American college students began arriving for spring break. Among those ginned down were three people with ties to the American consulate in Ciudad Juarez. Is the Calderón drug war policy working? Larry and expert guests discuss.
Guests:
John Ackerman, author of op-ed in today's Los Angeles Times, How Mexico Got it Wrong and professor, Institute of Legal Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
Shannon O’Neil, the Douglas Dillon fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). She recently directed CFR’s Independent Task Force on U.S.-Latin America Relations: A New Direction for a New Reality. She is currently working on a book on Mexico, analyzing the political, economic, and social transformations Mexico has undergone over the last two decades, and the significance of these changes for U.S./Mexico relations.
Andrew Selee, director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; adjunct professor of government at Johns Hopkins University.
Sam Quinones, staff writer for the LA Times, and author of True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, The Popsicle Kings, Chalino and the Bronx (University of New Mexico Press)
Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen
A new biography looks at the dramatic life of country music legend Tammy Wynette, including her 5 marriages, 17-number-one hits, and years of drug-addiction. Author Jimmy McDonough says the lady who crooned “Stand By Your Man” was much more complex—and independent—than people give her credit for.
Guest:
Jimmy McDonough, author of Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen (Viking)