Can the new education secretary change things in our local schools? Why weed is hot for Valentine's Day. And the town goes gaga for a new Ikea.
What can Education Secretary Betsy DeVos change in your child's classroom?
Betsy DeVos is the country's new education secretary. And a number of you are not happy about it. We've seen your social media posts.
Yes, some have praised her as an outsider who'll shake up the system, but many others argue she's unqualified and will hurt the public schools with her policies.
But can she? KPCC education reporter Kyle Stokes joined Take Two's A Martinez to talk about what the head of the U.S. Department of Education can really do to change what happens in your child's classroom.
Betsy DeVos was sworn in just a few hours after she was confirmed. What kind of sway does she actually have when it comes to policies on our school kids?
The U.S. Department of Education has a big portfolio of important issues that they cover:
- Critical programs that help constituencies like low-income students
- Overseeing the special education laws
- Making sure special education money is dispersed federally
- Making sure special education students get the services they're supposed to get
- Overseeing teacher quality
- Programs that pay for English language learners
- Responding to campus sexual assault, Title IX regulations
- $174 billion in federal grant programs
Many of President Trump's Cabinet nominees have faced serious criticism, but few seem to have drawn the ire of the people that Betsy DeVos has. Why do you think that is?
I think it all starts with that confirmation hearing. She had a dreadful performance in front the Senate committee, these sort-of SNL-worthy responses to some questions — the grizzly bears, the guns.
Democrats smelled blood in the water, and it made it really easy for them to close ranks in opposition to DeVos. It made it easier for teacher's unions to galvanize opposition to DeVos.
The teacher's unions said "we don't want Betsy DeVos," and Politico just had a story today saying that the head of the largest teacher's union in the country won't even try to have a relationship with her. That obviously made it easy for supporters of DeVos to frame a vote in favor of DeVos as a way to stick it to the unions. Kind-of a backlash to a backlash.
Who could win here? Who could lose?
It depends on what she is looking to do with her power, as it's limited by Congress.
There's a question of how DeVos is going to administer the Title I program. Some have argued it should be easier for those dollars to follow students to, for instance, a private schools.
She's likely to be a big supporter of big charter schools. They are going to win for sure. We're going to see more expansions of those issues, if not in policy, but because she's got the bully pulpit of the Education Secretary, and I think that's one of the biggest questions that both sides are worried about. How forceful is she going to be on the issue of school choice?
(Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.)
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
Is the future of the Democratic Party female?
"Nevertheless, she persisted."
These three words echoed through the Senate chamber Tuesday, quickly landing in their eternal home: the internet.
The words were spoken as Massachusets Senator Elizabeth Warren made a last-ditch effort to stop the confirmation of Jeff Sessions for the role of attorney general.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vla6YNewfXg
To that end, she quoted a letter written by Coretta Scott King, the late widow of Martin Luther King Jr.
King composed the correspondence back in 1986 and sent it to members of Congress who were considering Sessions for a position as federal judge. In it, King urged them to reject him.
When Warren tried to read the letter Tuesday, she didn't get far: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell used a little-known Senate rule to silence her.
But it didn't take long for the internet to co-opt his words. #ShePersisted started popping up all over; it's even been called "a new battle cry."
The popularity of this hashtag sums up a conversation that's happening across the country: what role will women play in the future of the Democratic Party?
Take Two put that question to Rachel VanSickle-Ward, associate professor of political studies at Pitzer.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
One in a Million: 'Knowing I was different from my classmates, I felt alone'
Amid the debate over immigration policy, people in the U.S. who are currently living – or who have recently lived – without legal status face uncertainty with potentially life-changing consequences.
Here in Southern California, an estimated one million undocumented people call the region home. Their presence helps to shape many aspects of life, from the economy to culture, schools to politics.
Alma de Jesus, 34, a mother of two, is one of them.
Click on the blue player above to hear her full story. Here are some highlights:
On first being brought to Los Angeles as a 6-year-old by her parents from Mexico:
"The first experience in school was very scary for me. English was the language that was mostly spoken, so I felt like they were taking me away from my mom. It was a time of confusion, learning a new term, which was undocumented, knowing that I was different from some of my classmates. I felt alone."
On learning about why her parents moved their family north:
"They came here with a dream. They believe in the American dream. They wanted to give their children a better life. They didn't come here to take someone's job. They've been doing the jobs that other people don't want to do, like working in sweatshops, making clothes. Like my uncles who work in the farms, picking vegetables, who's going to do those jobs? We need immigrants to do it so it's about thinking about your situation, not just individually, but how you will affect all these other people."
On what she tells her two young children and her parents when they ask about the new White House administration:
"No one knows what's going to happen right now. I don't want to tell them it's going to be okay because I don't know if it's going to be okay. So it's more how to prepare my family, my community and myself."
This is part of an occasional series from Take Two, called One in a Million, exploring the stories of Southern California's undocumented community, one voice at a time.
K2 sports roundup: The Super Bowl and politics
Two members of the Super Bowl winning New England Patriots say they'll skip a traditional victory visit to the White House because of President Trump.
Andy and Brian Kamanetzky discuss this and the the oft spoken sports concepts known as "clutch," "mystique," and "heart."
To listen to the interview, click on the blue media player above
The Styled Side: Saying I love you with a bouquet of ... weed?
Jewelry, chocolates, a meal at a fancy restaurant. All hallmarks of Valentine's Day. Now there's another way to say I love you: a bouquet of marijuana.
The cannabis arrangement is produced by Lowell Farms, based in California's Central Valley. It's believed this is the first-ever, commercially sold weed bouquet in the U.S.
"It's a bouquet of an ounce of dried cannabis flower" says Sean, co-owner of Lowell Farms. "We wrap it with wild flowers and eucalyptus and lavender and some other fragrant dried flowers and we deliver it like a bouquet of roses, only it's a bouquet of smokable cannabis"
The bouquet retails at $400 and is only available to customers with a doctor approved medical marijuana card and valid California driver's license.
Michelle Dalton Tyree from Fashion Trends Daily joined Take Two with details on the new trend.