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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
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
To the Point
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.