New Details Release On Skid Row Housing Trust’s Mismanagement, What Can SoCal Housing Development Non-Profit’s Learn From This?
New reporting from the Los Angeles Times has dug deeper into mismanagement of Skid Row Housing Trust, which was broken up in October due to long standing financial issues. The story also notes this being a teaching moment for other non-profit housing developers–so what can be taken from the financial struggles and leadership problems that came out of Skid Row Housing Trust’s struggles. Today on AirTalk, we’re joined today by Los Angeles Times senior writer Doug Smith, Brilliant Corners chief executive officer William Pickel, and president and CEO of Innovative Housing Opportunities Rochelle Mills.
The Fence At Echo Park Lake Is Coming Down After 2 Years – How Is The Neighborhood Reacting?
It’s been about two years since the city of Los Angeles put up a fence surrounding Echo Park Lake. After promises from District 13 Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, the fence has officially come down. The reaction is split. Councilmember Soto-Martínez has called the fence a policy failure on homelessness, but some argue the fence is a critical component to safety and order at the park. During the closure, more than 200 unhoused people were cleared of the area and the park underwent $60,000 in cleaning and repairs. Joining us to discuss is David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times reporter who’s been covering this. We want to hear from people who live in the area. What’s your reaction to the fence coming down? Call us at 866-893-5722 or email atcomments@laist.com.
Having A Hard Time Quitting That Membership? A New FTC Regulation Wants To Change That
We’ve all experienced the pangs of trying to quit an online membership, which too often requires us to jump through all kinds of hoops. Now, the Federal Trade Commission is trying to make “quitting” easier. Ideally, the ease of “signing up” is reflected in the ability of the consumer to “exit” as well. The FTC is familiar with this issue that has plagued customers for years. The new law is aimed at disallowing businesses to manipulate people into paying more and helping customers avoid the traps in the first place. Joining us today on AirTalk is Bill Kovacic, professor of law at George Washington University
Do Honors Classes Help Or Harm Students? Some Districts Are Moving Away From The Track System, While Parents Defend It
At Culver City High School, 9th and 10th graders no longer have the option to take “honors” English courses. In an effort to promote equity, the school now only offers a single English track, called “College Prep.” Culver City isn’t the first district to do this – a similar change was made at Santa Monica High School this year, as has been done in districts all over the country. Another school, Patrick Henry High School in San Diego planned to make similar changes, but backed down because of community pushback to the adjusted courses offered. Like many parents, defenders of honors programs maintain that tracked courses are invaluable for academic motivation, student engagement, and college application perks like GPA boosts. But those in favor of “de-tracking” courses point to the vast underrepresentation of Black and Latino students in advanced classes, which they argue are often inaccessible and elitist. Still, others argue the issue isn’t so black and white; learning will never be “one size fits all,” and there are arguably flaws in both placing students in a single course and dividing them up by subjective ability.
Today on AirTalk, we discuss Culver City’s plan to detrack English courses and the debate over honors with Quoc Tran, Culver City Unified School District Superintendent, Tom Loveless, K-12 education researcher and former director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution and David Nurenberg, associate professor of education at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Have questions or comments about Honor’s courses in your school district? Join the conversation: call us at 866-893-5722 or email atcomments@LAist.com.
Former UCLA Basketball Coach Larry Farmer On His Journey From Denver’s Playgrounds To Bruin Legend
John Wooden’s virtually unbeatable UCLA men’s basketball teams of the 1970s and 80s probably conjure up images of players like Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabaar) and Bill Walton. But if we’re talking straight wins, no one player did that more for the Bruins, or for that matter in college basketball history, than Larry Farmer. In the 90 games he played during his career in Brentwood from 1970-1973, Farmer’s record was 89-1, one better than Kareem’s 88-2. Though he was drafted by teams in the NBA and ABA, Farmer returned to UCLA after graduating to pursue coaching, and went on to become UCLA’s first Black coach in any sport in 1981. He left the position in 1984, and writes in the book about the inside politics that led him to resign, and would go on to hold head coaching positions at Weber State University in Utah and Loyola University Chicago.
Today on AirTalk, former UCLA basketball standout and coach Larry Farmer joins Larry to talk about his playing and coaching career in Brentwood, the internal push and pull that ultimately led him to leave his job at UCLA after just three years, and what it was like to play with greats like Kareem, Bill Walton, and Jamal Wilkins, and to have coached others like Reggie Miller.