LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy announced his resignation today. Also, a mother of a 17-year-old student who allegedly brought a gun to school is facing four misdemeanors. Then, author William Mann paints a portrait of Hollywood in its infancy in his latest book.
Former LAUSD superintendent Ramon Cortines to replace John Deasy on interim basis
Although his contract was renewed last year through 2016, LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy announced his resignation today. Former LAUSD Superintendent, Ramon C. Cortines, will begin serving as interim Superintendent on October 20. The Board of Education’s decision to temporarily replace Deasy with Cortines reflects their controversial support of the latter despite paying $200,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit against him in 2012. Deasy did not encounter personal controversy, but he experienced substantial push-back as he fought for significant changes to the district. His vision to move the district in a new direction meant reforming punitive discipline policies that criminalized students and expanding the daily free school breakfast program to feed over 300,000 of them.
Yet Deasy waded through controversy since the beginning of his tenure as superintendent of the nation’s second-largest school district, especially as he pushed through severe budget cuts and the layoff of thousands of LAUSD employees during the recession. Among his biggest detractors were members of the school board and the teacher’s union, and the lightening rod of their criticism came over his fight for increased technology in classrooms. Controversy over the $30 million program peaked as KPCC reported on emails among Deasy, Pearson, and Apple a year before bids were placed.
Now the question for teachers, parents, and schoolchildren becomes: What will it take for the next superintendent to lead the district?
Guests:
Annie Gilbertson, KPCC’s education reporter
Alicia Lara, Vice President of Community Investment for United Way Los Angeles
Cheryl Ortega, current substitute teacher in LAUSD and a retired LAUSD teacher who has taught in the district for over 38 years
L.A. City Attorney to hold mom accountable for son who brought gun to school
L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Wednesday that he will file criminal charges against the mother of a 17-year old high school student who allegedly brought a loaded gun to school.
The gun, a .45-caliber semiautomatic, was reported by a witness at the boy’s school on May 13th, 2014. In his backpack, L.A. school police found an additional 7-round magazine, also loaded. A subsequent search of the boy’s home led to the discovery of four more guns, each placed in easily accessible locations throughout the house.
The boy’s mother Leah Wilcken now faces four misdemeanors: allowing a child to carry a firearm off-premises, allowing a child to take a firearm to school, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and permitting a child to be placed in a situation where their person or health is endangered. If convicted, she may face up to year of jail and $4,000 in fines. The 17-year old will face lesser charges.
Does the City Attorney’s decision send a strong message to gun-owning parents, or does it not go far enough? Could this decision help stop or reduce the number of school shootings?
Guest:
Mike Feuer, LA City Attorney
Intensive new documentary exposes Iraqi factionalism in wake of the Islamic State
Militants unleashed a wave of attacks in Iraq on Thursday, mainly targeting Shiite areas in and around the capital of Baghdad, killing at least 47 people and wounding dozens, authorities told the Associated Press. The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the day's deadliest attack.
While the latest news focuses on Baghdad, fighting and destabilization spans Iraq. A new documentary from Al Jazeera’s “Fault Lines” TV series takes viewers on the ground covering several hundred miles of the country. Correspondent Josh Rushing and his crew visited a camp for internally displaced people in Northern Iraq where desperate Yazidis recount fleeing Islamic State fighters, though not all of them survived. Rushing also spoke with Sunni Arabs fleeing from the Iraqi military and Shiite militias, funded in part by U.S. funds.
Elsewhere Kurdish fighters talk about trying to claim more territory for a future Kurdistan. The rise of the Islamic State group (also known as ISIL) has reignited historic sectarian divides in Iraq in ways not seen since the wake of US coalition forces’ invasion of Iraq.
In fighting IS militants, are the U.S. and allies deepening the divide between sects? Is splitting Iraq the answer?
Al Jazeera Fault Lines’ “Iraq Divided: The Fight Against ISIL” will air this Saturday, October 18th at 4 pm PT/7pm ET. Al Jazeera America is available in southern California on AT&T Channel 1219, Time Warner 445, Dish Channel 215 and DirecTV 347.
Guest:
Josh Rushing, Co-Host, Al Jazeera's "Fault Lines" Emmy-winning investigative series; Rushing is a former U.S. Marine
Murder, drugs and Hollywood…Say no more!
Students of the history of Hollywood might know the name William Desmond Taylor, the Irish-born American actor and director who helmed and appeared in a number of films in the 1910s and early 1920s. His career abruptly came to an end in February 1922, when he was found murdered in his Los Angeles apartment. The case was never solved.
In the new book “Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood,” veteran Hollywood chronicler William Mann brings together a cast of characters that may or may not be involved in the crime. Ostensibly a true-life whodunit, the book is also a portrait of Hollywood in its infancy.
Guest:
William Mann, biographer, movie historian and author of “Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood" (Harper/HarperCollins, 2014)