The nation’s second-largest school district is at a crossroads.
Back in January, Los Angeles Unified school teachers went on strike and received widespread public support and the deal that ended the strike seemed to raise hopes of a new day in the LAUSD.
But two weeks ago, a proposed tax increase to fund it all, Measure EE, went down to defeat in a special election. Almost 600-thousand children attend public schools in L.A with a projected 470-thousand in LAUSD-run schools and another 120-thousand in charter schools. Most of those children in these schools qualify as low-income and nearly a quarter are still learning English.
Today on AirTalk, we’ve assembled a panel of experts to discuss the future of LAUSD in light of Measure E-E’s failure.
What caused Measure EE’s failure? Tax fatigue? Lack of voter engagement? A vigorous opposition? Are you a teacher, student or parent of a student in the LAUSD system? Why do you think Measure EE failed? And how should LAUSD move forward from that failure? Give us a call at 866-893-5722
With guest host Kyle Stokes
Guests:
Jackie Goldberg, LAUSD Board Member for District 5 which encompasses the Northeast communities spanning from Highland Park to East Hollywood, and the Southeast cities from Maywood to South Gate
Alberto Retana, President and CEO of Community Coalition, a nonprofit organization that works to help transform the social and economic conditions in South LA that foster addiction, crime, violence and poverty by building a community institution that involves thousands in creating, influencing and changing public policy; he tweets
Katie Braude, CEO and co-founder of Speak Up, an organization founded by LAUSD parents who want to change the dynamics of education policy and improve public education in California