A roundtable of LAUSD parents come together to discuss changes they wish to see, failing the patients addicted to opioids, how LA paved the way for drag.
These LAUSD parents want change, regardless of zip code
Austin Beutner begins his contract Monday as the new Superintendent for the Los Angeles Unified School District.
L.A. Unified Board of Education names Austin Beutner to accelerate college and career readiness in the nation’s second-largest school district. His selection caps a nationwide search that began upon the retirement announcement of Superintendent Michelle Ki
— L.A. Unified (@LASchools)
L.A. Unified Board of Education names Austin Beutner to accelerate college and career readiness in the nation’s second-largest school district. His selection caps a nationwide search that began upon the retirement announcement of Superintendent Michelle Ki https://t.co/Wb8IOvFjvn
— Los Angeles Unified (@LASchools) May 2, 2018
Beutner has a successful background primarily in finance -- not in education -- and is an unconventional and controversial pick to some. Others feel he's just what LAUSD's large and complicated budget needs right now.
Either way, parents seem to agree that change within the district is sorely needed. And change is what Beutner called for following his appointment two weeks ago.
What does change mean to LAUSD parents?
Take Two brought together three parents of children enrolled in LAUSD schools:
Guests:
- Maryam Zar, Pacific Palisades
- Brenda Miller, Highland Park
- Justin Alvarado-Brown, West Hollywood
Equal opportunity across the district
Maryam Zar, Brenda Miller, and Justin Alvarado-Brown come from different communities and schools across the district, but they all agreed that LAUSD falls short when it comes to providing equal resources and educational opportunities.
Navigating a complicated system
Justin Alvarado-Brown: My oldest is on the spectrum. He has in Individualized Education Plan, or IEP. My wife and I are both attorneys. We live ten minutes away from the school. I can’t imagine how you would navigate the process if you didn’t live close to the school, if English wasn’t your first language, if you didn’t have the resources that we had. I know that’s the case with respect to charters and magnets. It is a complicated process for us to navigate. I can’t imagine under different circumstances.
From our perspective, we are very much looking at charter schools. There are a number of families in our neighborhood who are sending their kids to Paul Revere, which for them means they’re on buses at least 45 minutes each way. I’d like to see some efforts on the part of LAUSD to bridge gaps in terms of equality issues and what school you go to and what quality it is isn't dependent on your zip code.
At West Hollywood Elementary, the parents association raised about half a million dollars a year that is allocated for teaching assistants and lot of things that when I was growing up were part of a public education. At the end of the day, too much is asked of teachers without the support of the parents. And it is a luxury that we have a group of parents who are able to supplement whatever little money we receive from LAUSD so that instead of a ratio of thirty to one, teachers are managing fifteen to one. That’s not the reality for most people, so there is a real disparity that has to be addressed. And if the answer is to depend on parents, then inevitably, you’re not going to be able to bridge that.
When parents are able to shape their kids' education
Maryam Zar: My home school is the Paul Revere you’re talking about. It’s a charter and a magnet. One of the things we often brag about is the fact that we bring in kids from about a hundred different zip codes across Los Angeles. The reason that people come is because there’s a presumption the education is good. It always comes down to the involvement that parents have. Now that may be a luxury to have parents who are able to be involved. But the reason the charter works is because the parents put in resources. We do a lot of fundraising. We hire extra teachers. As a result, the classrooms become smaller. The quality of the teachers becomes a little bit better because we have a say as parents.
It’s not the quality of the traditional education at LAUSD that’s different. They’re still learning math. They’ve got basic grammar. It’s the ancillary things. It's the extra layer of stuff that prepared kids better for their future. And so a lot of LAUSD schools are a little bit behind. There isn’t really a technology infusion into these classes. Everything looks stale, and I think it impacts the experience that the kids are having…. We’re really dropping the ball and we really need to step up the complete experience of the human child that we’re giving to these kids as they go through the process. Quite frankly, it should be the district that can distribute resources in a way that evens the playing field for every school.
Putting the burden of responsibility on the district
Brenda Miller: At my school, we’re struggling with parent involvement. People are stretched so thinly just taking care of household responsibilities and trying to make ends meet, we can’t raise that kind of money. We’re doing chocolate sales and things like that but just for field trips. We can’t raise money for teachers or teaching assistants. We have to make the budget that we are given by the district work. That’s where I think the disparity comes in. And so I find it frustrating. I wish we could do that, but I don’t see us being able to rally enough parents to be able to do that.
We’re struggling with what parent involvement looks like. For some parents at my school, they think you have to physically be there in the classroom, helping out. But when you’re working, it’s really difficult to be there during the school days. So, what does parent involvement look like? Does it have to be a physical presence? Can it be other ways of giving to the school because that’s just not a reality for everybody.
Is the crackdown on opioids failing patients?
Inland Empire Republicans could tip the scale in the governor's race
The California Primary is just about three weeks away, and that means it's crunch time — especially for Republican hopefuls in the governor's race.
The state's top-two primary advances those with the most votes, regardless of party. So, as Republican registration continues to ebb, candidates must go where conservatives are — like the Inland Empire. That's where you'll find about 13 percent of California's GOP-registered voters.
Reporter Jeff Horseman says that Republican efforts to repeal the gas tax could resonate with voters.
I think what it's going to take to get Republicans out here is kinda what the strategy is statewide for the GOP, which is to focus on the gas tax. That really could resonate in the Inland Empire because we have quite a few people who drive to Orange County, LA County, San Diego County for work. They're filling up their gas tanks multiple times a week.
(Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.)
82 women took to the Cannes red carpet to stand up for gender equality in film
Eighty-two women locked arms to march up the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival Saturday night to protest the lack of gender equality at the festival. That number, 82, was significant to the group's message.
"Eighty-two women have had films in competition at Cannes since the festival was started. That's less than five percent of the films that have played at Cannes. So the thinking was to draw attention to the starkness of that statistic," said Rebecca Keegan, who was at the festival, reporting for Vanity Fair.
This year there are three films at Cannes with women directors. The protest was held before the premiere of the only film directed by a French woman, Eva Husson’s "Girls of the Sun."
The women involved were well-known actors and directors like Cate Blanchett and Ava DuVernay, as well as agents and producers.
This striking display was not the only mention of gender equality in the movie industry at Cannes. Hollywood stars and women from international groups like 5050X2020, the French movement to increase gender equality in film, used the festival as an occasion to speak up about the lack of women behind the camera in their countries.
PLUS:
- The Cannes artistic and festival directors signed a pledge to improve the representation of women at the festival.
- The Jessica Chastain spy thriller, "355," made a splash at Cannes with a female-led, star-studded cast.
- Saudi Arabia is using tax incentives to bring more film crews to the country and grow its budding movie industry.
Drag queen spokesmodels can help slay the competition
Drag queens aren't just entertainers. They can be great for business, too. A lot of the credit goes to television shows like "RuPaul's Drag Race," now in its tenth year.
"Drag queens are the new pop stars," says co-creator Randy Barbato, who gave them a nationwide platform outside of gay bars. "Drag queens haven’t changed, but the audience has. The only reason they haven’t been accessible in the past is because people haven’t been able to see them."
A record-breaking 50,000 of their fans were able to see them up close last weekend during RuPaul's DragCon at the L.A. Convention Center.
Attendees spanned the gamut, from bright-eyed toddlers running past elderly couples, to gaggles of teens crowded next to colorfully costumed hipsters. Some lined up for hours to meet their favorite queens from the show.
"The audience today is female as much as it is male. It’s straight as much as it’s gay," Barbato says.
They bought over $8 million in merchandise during last year's convention, and organizers expect this year's sales to be no different.
That kind of business and marketability might've been completely unheard of not too long ago. If an ad agency featured a drag queen, they were usually the butt of the joke.
"The drag queen would characterize a person deceiving other people," says LGBT marketing expert Bob Witeck, "and that’s the way marketers often had seen it. They never took the drag queen seriously as a person who had an identity in their own right."
In this 1995 ad, male model Zaldy is dressed in drag as a stunt in this UK commercial for Levi's jeans
But the cultural shift is partly driven by Millennials and younger.
"They’re certainly hungry for new ideas and new ways of talking about identity, new ways of looking at it," he says.
Witeck argues that younger people are less likely to be bothered by people breaking the rules of what men and women are supposed to do and wear.
That’s exactly why Marissa Lara was excited to meet her favorite queens at DragCon last weekend.
"They honestly start the trends," says the 22-year-old. "Big makeup is not a thing that a lot of girls do, but I think it’s very inspiring to just go all out and not care what people think."
Her love of drag queens' looks brought her to the vendor booth for Sugarpill, a make-up company that specializes in color-saturated products with playful names like Kitten Parade and Heart Shaped Cookie.
One of the brand's best-sellers is a vibrant turquoise blue named after Instagram star and past Drag Race contestant Kim Chi.
"I grew up in drag bars, and I developed my beauty standards by going to drag bars," says
, who frequently collaborates with drag queens in promotional campaigns.
It's a strategy that's paid off. Her sales get a bump anytime a drag queen posts one of their spectacular looks online and credits Sugarpill. And the company’s most watched YouTube videos are ones that feature Kim Chi and others.
"I feel like a lot more people are experimental because they see everyone doing it on Instagram and they can experiment at home," she says.
It's more than makeup. Companies that create products like wigs, t-shirts, dresses and more all notice that a wide customer base comes to them when drag queens promote their products.
"We all make choices in the way we package ourselves," says "Drag Race" co-creator Randy Barbato. "Drag queens make extraordinary choices, and I think that’s inspirational to people."
It’s the final chapter for another indie bookstore
For 51 years, Book Castle Movie World has been a neighborhood institution for SoCal locals craving an eclectic independent bookstore. Monday, the Burbank shop closes its doors for good.
The shop is a bit of a diamond in the rough. It's a little musty but full of unique finds for those willing to take a little time and hunt through the shelves. Book Castle was always crammed full of not just books but also comics, magazines, movie posters and stills.
Unlike other sellers catering to collectors, the store's owner, Stephen Edrington, wasn't just interested in mint-condition rare books. Those are few and far between, so Edrington chose to keep his shelves jam-packed.
"My ratio was always about 100 books to sell one so we had a gigantic stock. There was always plenty of stuff to buy, plenty of stuff to sell," he said.
Edrington ended up running the shop somewhat by accident. He lent some friends money to start their own bookstores before leaving to serve in the military. When he got home, he expected his friends to pay him back, and they did, but not in cash.
"When I came back in 1966, they said, 'We've spent your money. We don't have it, but we have all this material that had surplussed their requirements. Also, we rented you a store on Hollywood Boulevard and Wilcox,' and here I am 51 years later," Edrington explained.
He later moved the store to Burbank. Over the years, he's seen that neighborhood change and develop while his store kept its old-school style.
"Burbank has changed, and it's still changing. The old store here is gonna be another restaurant for Burbank. In fact, when we moved up here there was hardly anyplace to eat. I often wondered where people did eat up in North Burbank," he said.
Edrington was a comic book collector before he started the store, but his favorite things to sell were the back-issue magazines.
"We carried them back mainly to the start of the last century. Lifetime, Newsweek, Colliers -- all the popular magazines, the women's magazines and of course comic books, pulp magazines which were the old science fiction and adventure stories," he said.
As Book Castle Movie World's days come to an end, Edrington said he just wants to thank his customers for helping him keep the place open for 51 years. But perhaps SoCal should be thanking him for giving Los Angeles such a unique shopping experience.