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Interviewing is truly an art.
At LA School Report, we believe some of the site’s best work is a result of knowing what questions to ask and to whom. In 2024, we put together some truly unforgettable Q&As, as we refer to them.
Whether it was an interview with local school board candidate or a legislator trying to revive a science of reading bill; or the USC dean of the school of education discussing how LAUSD will work with Black students after a civil rights complaint; here are the best Q&As from this last year:
Former mayor of Huntington Park Graciela Ortiz is running for LA School Board District 5. Ortiz, a former school counselor who works as an LAUSD administrator, has the backing of powerful police and school employees unions. The South Central local is running against Karla Griego, who is endorsed by the city’s teachers union. This is the first in a series of interviews with candidates running this November for Los Angeles School Board seats. Daniella Lake has the story.
California has one of the lowest literacy rates of any state in the nation. This past spring, Assemblymember Blanca Rubio proposed a bill mandating the science of reading be taught in classrooms across the state, but the bill died in the legislature after objections from the powerful California Teachers Union and the California Association for Bilingual Education. Now, Rubio is working to tweak the bill, hoping to get a new version of it passed in the coming year. Rebecca Katz has the story.
The future of LA Unified’s programming for Black students has been cast into doubt after a federal civil rights complaint prompted changes to its efforts. Pedro Noguera, dean of the USC Rossier School of Education, discussed LAUSD’s handling of Black students in an interview with LA School Report. “What works for everybody may not work for Black students,” said Noguera. “You have to build trust and relationships with families so they believe you care.” Jinge Li has the story.
A public school science teacher in South Central Los Angeles for more than decade, Marisol Pérez has a street-level perspective on what prevents her students from succeeding in STEM. “They’re thinking about where their next meal will come from,” Pérez said. “Or they’re rushing home because they have to go to work.” A former U.S. Coast Guard engineer, Pérez this year was recognized with an award for her ongoing work to bring STEM education to underserved students. In an interview, she said students in LA overcome the odds to fall in love with STEM each day. Jinge Li has the story.
USC’s Morgan Polikoff on New Poll Data and the ‘Purple Classroom’: Americans, a recent large, nationally representative survey confirms, generally agree on the purpose of public education, divide along partisan lines about what should be taught and at what ages and have yet to consider the practical realities of expecting instruction that caters to every political view represented in individual classrooms. In a new 74 Interview, researcher Morgan Polikoff breaks down his interpretation of the survey results for Beth Hawkins.