The good school series concludes, security experts are rethinking where to place airport checkpoints, legally blind Jason Romero's run from Santa Monica to Boston.
'Countering Violent Extremism' program still hasn't taken hold in LA
Today, Belgian police conducted raids across Brussels, detaining at least three suspects, prosecutors say, who may be part of a group plotting another attack.
The arrests provide more evidence of links between Monday's bombings and the series of coordinated attacks in Paris late last year. As European officials continue their manhunt, here in the US, we too are looking to thwart terrorism any way we can.
Including through a federally funded and somewhat controversial program currently operating in Los Angeles, Boston and Minneapolis.
Associated Press Reporter Philip Marcelo has been investigating the "Countering Violent Extremism" pilot initiative and he joins Alex Cohen for a discussion about it.
Why you could be on a secret California database of suspected gang members
California law enforcement has an array of high-tech tools to assist them, including a state-run database designed to help them identify suspected gang members. People on the list often face extra scrutiny if stopped by police.
But there's a problem: just knowing someone else who has a record as a gang member might put you on the list, too.
Sound kinda Orwellian?
The directory is called CalGang, and for nearly 20 years police in urban communities have used it to secretly keep tabs on confirmed and suspected gang members.
Now, lawmakers are pushing the state to notify the people on the list, many of whom may have no connection to organized crime.
Ali Winston is an investigative reporter for Reveal News and looked into it. He shared his findings with Take Two.
Press the blue play button above to hear the interview.
Inside the data-driven world of the LAPD's air division
Police helicopters are a familiar sight over Los Angeles. At night, the choppers' bright lights pierce through windows and down dark alley ways in search of criminals.
Take Two's A. Martinez talks to reporter Geoff Manaugh about his New York Times magazine piece exploring how the nation's largest aerial surveillance program is changing policing and crime in Los Angeles.
9 things to know about private schools in LA
This week on Take Two, we've been exploring the vast and incredibly complex world of options out there designed to help educate kids in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Today, we're taking on private schools.
Christina Simon, co-author of "Beyond the Brochure: An Insider's Guide to Private Elementary Schools in Los Angeles," joined the show to tackle some questions:
1. What is a private school?
Private schools in Los Angeles can be either non-profit or for profit, but they are not tax payer funded. They are supported by tuition and other sources and sometimes also called "independent" schools. Private schools are accredited by various organizations like WASC, CAIS and NAIS.
2. What types of private schools are there?
Private schools fall into three types of educational philosophies: religious, traditional, or progressive. Traditional schools are focused more on academic achievement and generally involve more homework and testing. Progressive schools talk about a "whole child approach" to learning. There is usually more project-based learning, group projects, and the students may have a role in shaping the curriculum. Religious schools can be either traditional or progressive.
3. How many private schools are there in LA?
There are more than 60 non-profit independent private schools and about 10 for-profit. In the Pasadena area, there are about 40 private schools.
4. How much is tuition?
The average for elementary school is $25,000/year. For high school it's about $35,000.
5. Are there scholarships or financial aid?
Financial aid is generally need-based. In most cases, schools will offer a portion of tuition and expenses, but not full tuition. Financial aid can be very competitive and usually is a process that's separate from the application for admission.
6. What's involved in the application process?
There is a written application (with essays and teacher recommendation forms), and sometimes also parent interviews and observed child playdates. There can also be testing required for grades 5-12.
7. How many schools should I apply to?
It's a good idea to apply to 4-6 schools.
8. Are there other things I can do to help my chances?
It can be a good idea to go to a couple of events that are open to the community at a school you really like. Things like a book fair or a boutique. First of all, it'll give you a sense of the school, the teachers, and the families. Then in your interview or on your application you can say that you were there and you liked what you saw. You can also ask friends of yours to write letters of recommendation.
9. What happens when I find out whether my child was accepted or if I'm on the wait list?
You generally have about 10 days to two weeks to respond once you find out you got accepted. If you've been wait-listed at a school you really want to go to, you can contact the admissions director and let them know that if your child is accepted, you will choose that school. Most schools do take kids off the wait list.
Series: Good Schools
As part of its Good Schools series, Take Two looks at the education landscape in the Los Angeles area. That includes its public schools, magnets, charters, private institutions and dual-language programs. You’ll hear from parents, academics, teachers, kids and even a couple of TV show producers.
Read more in this series and let us know your thoughts on Facebook, or tweet us
and
with the hashtag #goodschools.
How funding factors in to what makes a good school
What makes a good school? Some say great teachers, involved parents, and then of course there is funding.
Some schools have more money than others but does that make them better? And what determines how much money a school gets and how the funds are spent?
Patrick Murphy, Director of Research at the Public Policy Institute of California, joined Take Two to talk about how K-12 school funding works in California.
Interview highlights
On whether more money equals a better school or education
It's a great question. There isn't a definitive way to say that for each dollar of spending, your student gets a dollar of improved achievement, however you want to measure that... What we do know is that for some students, they need additional services, and those services cost something. So if you have a student who has a reading delay and they need a reading specialist to help overcome that, you're going to have to pay for that reading specialist. Now, if I'm at a private school that ability to provide that might be easier simply because I've got a larger budget or more flexibility in my budget than it could be at a public school that is more constrained in what it can spend its dollars on.
On the differences between public and private schools
For a private school, as their costs increase, they can choose to try to rein those in, that's one option, they can also just simply change their revenue. Raise tuition, place greater expectations on parents to contribute, and hope it sort of comes from those who can give the most, do fundraising, look for other ways to do it. The public school doesn't have as much control, in fact has almost no control over the revenue side of the equation. And so when they're facing a recession, as we've come out of, they were faced with really one option which is you reduce your costs. And any school, this is public or private, is about... 85 percent salaries and expenses that are associated with people. And so if you're going to cut funding, you're going to cut people.
On the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), the funding model for K-12 education that the state Legislature passed in 2013
It acknowledged that equal wasn't necessarily the goal. That equal doesn't cut it. There are kids who need more resources and if we shoot for equal, we actually aren't able to direct the additional resources to the kids that need it most. And so LCFF built into it a formula that said, 'we're going to give everyone a base amount. And then to that we will add additional supplements.' And they way in which they identified who would get a supplement would be based on the number of students you have who are either poor (as measured by free and reduced lunch enrollment) or an English Language Learner on the assumption that either category is a category that could use more resources if we're going to have them be successful.
On how private fundraising and other donations factor in
The number of school foundations, these organizations (like a PTA or PTO) that provide additional funds, has grown dramatically over the last few years, and the amount of money that they have contributed has grown dramatically. But to give you a sense of scale, we're talking about a half a billion dollars in what's a 40-50 billion dollar expenditure by the state. So it's not insignificant, but when you start to work it out on a per student basis, we are not talking the kind of money that we think of that is the difference maker, for the most part. I have to add though, not surprisingly, wealthy schools raise more money.
To hear the full interview click the blue player above.
Series: Good Schools
As part of its Good Schools series, Take Two looks at the education landscape in the Los Angeles area. That includes its public schools, magnets, charters, private institutions and dual-language programs. You’ll hear from parents, academics, teachers, kids and even a couple of TV show producers.
Read more in this series and let us know your thoughts on Facebook, or tweet us
and
with the hashtag #goodschools.
Nielsen to track TV show views on Roku, Apple TV, Xbox and more
Over the past few years, the systems that rate TV shows have struggled to keep up with the changing ways we watch.
First, there was a struggle over whether to include shows that people recorded and watched later on the DVRs. Then, ratings companies figured out that plenty of viewers had shifted to on-demand services like Hulu, so they decided to track streaming numbers. But now, Nielsen, the ratings company, is going to get even more granular when it comes to online viewing by tracking the individual tools that people are using to watch shows.
What does this mean for the future of TV? Todd Spangler wrote about this for Variety and he joins A Martinez to talk about it.
'It's Garry Shandling's Show' co-creator remembers Garry Shandling
The legendary actor, comic and producer Garry Shandling died Thursday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 66.
Although his acting resume was huge - he's probably best known for the influential HBO series "The Larry Sanders Show" and his earlier sitcom, "It's Gary Shandling's Show."
Created in 1986, the show was nominated for four Emmys, and ran until 1990.
Alan Zweibel was the show's co-creator and we talked to him about Shandling.
Follow a blind man on his 3,000-mile run across America
The drive from L.A. to Boston is about 3,000 miles and several days long by car.
By plane, the journey is about five and a half hours. However, for Jason Romero, the trip will take about two months.
That's because he's running all the way there.
As if that weren't enough, Jason is legally blind.
Jason was diagnosed with a degenerative condition known as retinitis pigmentosa, or DP, when he was just 14.
Now, at 46 years old, Jason has several impressive running records under his belt and has completed many ultra marathons and triathlons.
It's day two of his run across America which he started at Santa Monica Pier. The Denver resident joined us during a break in his cross-country trek, which he is running for the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes.
Interview highlights:
On why he runs:
"My real long distance running career started about 2007. One of my children has autisim, we had started a school for him and needed to raise money and I went and I ran a marathon. Since then, it's graduated...triathlons and now it's ultra marathons and now this."
On special precautions he takes to run:
"Blinking lights, I use my sense of sound, I memorize things and routes in high traffic areas...I've been hit by a car seven times, I know how to be hit by a car. You jump, you never plant the foot. Because, when you're hit and you jump, you kind of bounce off the windshield and hood...you're a little scraped up but you live."
On why he's running across America:
"The reason why I'm doing this is because I feel like it's a calling that I'm supposed to do as a blind person, to run across and do this. Hopefully, demonstrate that anything and everything is possible for everybody and anybody if you believe and try and have faith.
If all goes according to schedule, Jason will run into Boston in two months time. You can track his progress by clicking on the picture:
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.