Patt Morrison for Monday, August 2, 2010

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, August 2, 2010

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

1:06 – 1:30

OPEN

 

 

1:30 - 1:58:30

Banks show sleight of hand with new (credit) card tricks

We aren’t very far removed from historic legislation banning certain billing practices and credit card issuers have already conjured up new ways to take your money. The Card Act was designed to help the customer in many ways, forcing card issuers to give customers more notice about interest-rate increases and restricting some of the more corrupt billing practices. Well it seems like that all could be for nothing. Card companies are quickly replacing all of the old fees, with new ones… literally creating a hellish race between regulators and credit-card companies called “let’s find the loopholes.” The Card Act was set to wipe out $390 million in fee revenue, so don’t think the banks we’re going to sit back quietly. No, they decided to increase the marketing for their “Professional Cards”, similar to corporate cards but with the terms of regular consumer cards. So you can have a credit line like a corporation has, with all of the lack of protection that a consumer card has. At the end of the day will we ever get the banks to play fair?   

 

Guests:

UNCONFIRMED

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York’s 14^th District; senior member of the House Financial Services Committee & Chair of the Joint Economic Committee

CALL HER:

 

Victor Stango, associate professor at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management; consulting economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

• Stango, who studies consumer & firm behavior in banking markets, has been analyzing how the Card Act will affect consumer banking.

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

CA Board of Education threatens to give the boot to failing charter schools

California may be a finalist in Obama’s Race to the Top program and eligible for $700 million for struggling schools, but it looks like that money might not be going anywhere.  After touting themselves as the silver bullets necessary to save our failing public education system, dozens of the state’s 850-plus charter schools may be on the chopping board, as recent standardized test scores show them scoring in the bottom 10% of schools statewide.  The California Board of Education will decide in September on the criteria for shuttering failing Charter schools, but what does it say about the charter school idea?  But are the criteria fair and should the Board of Education be pushing for better teachers and reforming the curriculum before sending these schools and students packing?  On the other hand, could these failing hybrid charter schools hurt California’s chances at winning a piece of that $4.35 billion in Race to the Top stimulus funds?

 

Guests:

Ben Austin currently serves as a member of the California State Board of Education and is executive director of Parent Revolution, parent advocacy group supporting charter schools & school self-determination

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-         He has 2 daughters who attend a charter school in LA

 

-         he directed the successful campaign to transform Locke High School from the worst high school in Los Angeles into a college preparatory model of reform

 

Gary Borden, Vice President of Government Relations for the California Charter Schools Association

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2:30 – 2:39

OPEN

 

 

2:41 – 2:58:30

Turning “Project 50” into Project 1000’s—innovative ways to help L.A.’s homeless

In 2007 Los Angeles County started up a new program with the goal of taking a different look and a different approach to the persistent problem of chronic homelessness in Southern California.  The program was “Project 50,” which would identify the 50 most vulnerable and needy members of L.A.’s homeless population through a series of extensive surveys on the streets.  The 50 have been identified, reviewed and provided with housing, services and support—but has it helped to keep them off the streets and brought stability back into their lives?  The programs results have been mixed and they offer a tortured view into the complex problem of homelessness.  Patt partners up with her colleagues at the L.A. Times who have spent the past two years following Project 50 with the hopes of creatively conquering homelessness.

 

Guests:

Christopher Goffard, staff reporter for the L.A. Times & author of the Project 50 series “Whatever it Takes”

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Carrie Bach, Homeless Outreach Coordinator for the L.A. County Department of Public Health

CALL HER:

 

 

 

Jonathan Serviss

Producer, Patt Morrison Program

Southern California Public Radio

NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles

89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3 KPCV-FM

626.583.5171, office

415.497.2131, mobile

jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org

www.scpr.org