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Lessons for LAUSD

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Today's trying times are reminders of past missteps. But an innovative reform plan, if done right, will help.

It's hard to imagine a more trying time for students and teachers at the Los Angeles Unified School District. Even more difficult is determining how much of the current woe was brought on by the district itself and how much reflects the vagaries of demographics, politics and the economy.

The arguing is the argument against a constitutional convention

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

To be successful, such a gathering would mean cooling passions and toning down of dissent. Given our partisan bickering, neither is likely.

Two ballot initiatives were filed last week that, if passed, would call forth a constitutional convention in California. Half of the approximately 435 delegates would be randomly selected, the other half appointed by local officials to represent citizen diversity. Those in favor of rewriting the state Constitution through a convention are encouraged by a growing acceptance that the current document is an unworkable hodgepodge of conflicting amendments, largely culpable for our broken legislative process. Unfortunately, they cannot escape a simple political fact: Legitimacy demands a diverse convention; yet the more diverse it is, the more partisan it will be, and the more partisan, the less likely it is to succeed.

Hungary was the first rip in Iron Curtain

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Months before the Berlin Wall fell, Hungarians had marched to demand democracy.

The breaching of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago this month has become the symbol of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and, ultimately, the triumph of democracy. But sometimes I wonder if we actually know yet what we were witnessing.

Cold War nostalgia

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

In the former East, there is ostalgie. In the West, we too look back in longing: for the symbol of moral clarity and superiority the wall was to us.

The global celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall aren't entirely about commemorating the rebirth of freedom or reliving those thrilling moments when a perverse and repressive system collapsed. Listen closely to the exalted commentary recounting the events of those historic days and you're also likely to hear the subtle intonations of regret and nostalgia.

Healthcare's hurdles

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Democrats in the House get their way, but what we need is real debate. If only the Republicans would oblige.

The House passed a sweeping healthcare reform bill Saturday despite the opposition of as well as 39 mainly centrist Democrats. This illustrates both the success and the failure of the Obama administration and House Democratic leaders on this issue. On the one hand, they've sold lawmakers in both parties on the need to rein in rising healthcare costs. But on the other, a significant minority on Capitol Hill -- and a sizable portion of the public -- don't see the connection between controlling costs and extending affordable insurance to all Americans.

A $1-billion bad idea for Jordan Downs