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New York Times
K-12 education reporter for the New York Times
PROFILE
Motoko Rich
Guest
FROM Motoko Rich
To the Point
Where Have All the Teachers Gone? As the new school year gets under way all over the country, the New York Times is reporting “a stark about-face from just a few years ago.” School districts that were handing out pink slips are now scrambling to hire teachers—and many are having trouble staffing their classrooms. Explanations differ. There’s bad-mouthing and micro-management by school reformers. There’s low pay, job insecurity and… better options.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Politics of History For two weeks now, thousands of public school students in suburban Denver have been walking out of classes and protesting alongside parents and teachers. They’re unhappy because a conservative majority on the local Jefferson County School Board doesn’t like the new AP History curriculum. The board wants to review the new curriculum to make sure it promotes, "patriotism and the benefits of the free-enterprise system" and doesn’t "encourage or condone civil disorder." The conflict came to a head at a school board meeting last night.
To the Point
Black Students Face Harsher Discipline, Even in Preschool Racial disparities in discipline during middle- and high school have long been blamed for the so-called "school-to prison pipeline." A new report shows that those disparities start in the earliest grades and even in preschool, as Motoko Rich reports in the New York Times .
Which Way, L.A.?
Is the US Becoming a 'Rentership' Society? Hundreds of thousands of foreclosed homes look like a good investment — not for re-sale, but for rentals on a massive scale. In Riverside, California, an area hard hit by the housing crisis, one company is buying up five to seven foreclosed homes every day. Will George W. Bush's "ownership society" morph into a "rentership society?"
To the Point
Is a 'Rentership Society' the Next Phase in the Housing Crisis? Major investors with lots of cash are scooping up foreclosed homes and converting them into rental properties. In Riverside, California — an area hard hit by the housing crisis — one company is buying up five to seven foreclosed homes every day. Warren Buffett says rentals are much more profitable than stocks, and he'd like to buy up "a couple hundred thousand homes." Prices are way down, mortgage credit is hard to get and the time is right to out-bid individual families. Will traditional, first-time home-buyers have a chance against private equity funds? Will home ownership be possible for fewer and fewer Americans? This story was informed in part from sources in the Public Insight Network. To find out more, see our website, http://www.kcrw.com/insight .
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To the Point
Venezuela spirals into economic and political chaos Venezuela, a country whose potential for prosperity is unmatched, finds itself on the verge of civil war. What sustains the repressive government? With time running out, guest host León Krauze looks at what the international community can do to pull the country from the edge of collapse.
To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
To the Point
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.