September 2011 Archives

Probation officials shifted caseloads on Thursday while the sheriff's department finalized security plans as Los Angeles County braced for this weekend's overhaul of California's correctional system.

The so-called "prison realignment" beginning Saturday will transfer the state's responsibility for lower-level drug offenders, thieves and other convicts to county jurisdictions.

An estimated 9,000 parolees will be added to the caseloads of the Probation Department, whose workers already oversee inmates released from county jails.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa climbed into a backhoe Thursday to demolish the last remnant of an old dairy in Lincoln Heights that will one day be developed into a park fronting the Los Angeles River. Dakota Smith in the Daily News,

But with no money - yet - to build the project, the neighborhood will have to wait for the envisioned baseball field, landscaping and underground irrigation system.

"In times of no money, you plan," said Lewis McAdams, co-founder of the nonprofit Friends of L.A. River, which is helping overhaul the river. "When you get money, you start the plans."

Faced with allegations of rampant abuse in Los Angeles County jails, Sheriff Lee Baca defied calls to resign Wednesday and rejected an ACLU assertion that gangs of deputies are systematically brutalizing inmates. CJ Lin and Christina Vlllacorte in the Daily News.

Baca held a news conference following the release of a scathing report by the American Civil Liberties Union that he and his top commanders are willfully indifferent to claims that deputies routinely viciously assault inmates.

"That is a very false allegation," Baca said. "There are no gangs in the Sheriff's Department working custody."

Calling it a threat to economic growth in Los Angeles, a city panel Wednesday called for studies on phasing out the gross receipts tax on business. Daily News

Even though the tax brings in more than $425 million a year in revenue, the City Council's Jobs and Business Development Committee said the city needed to look at continuing a tax holiday for new businesses and even eliminating the tax altogether to be more competitive with neighboring cities.

"There are some businesses thinking about coming to Los Angeles who stay away because of our tax structure," said City Council President Eric Garcetti. "There are others who are thinking about expanding here, but don't because of the gross receipts tax.

Despite the threat of a lawsuit from civil rights groups, a divided Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved new redistricting maps that mostly keep the status quo, rejecting proposals that would have boosted Latino political clout. Christina Villacorte in the Daily News,

The 4-1 action broke an earlier deadlock in which the board could not muster the supermajority for any of the three plans, meaning the decision would have been left in the hands of an independent panel.

But Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas reconsidered his earlier "no" vote, and eventually cast his lot with Supervisors Don Knabe, Michael Antonovich and Zev Yaroslavsky for the plan that only makes minor shifts in the current boundaries.

Holding a souvenir football emblazoned with the red-and-black Farmers Field logo, Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed a law that will fast-track lawsuits challenging AEG's proposed stadium in downtown Los Angeles.Dakota Smith in the Daily News,

Brown's signature marks the end of a yearlong lobbying frenzy by Anschutz Entertainment Group, which had warned that its $1.3 billion deal would collapse without protection from lengthy and complicated lawsuits.

The developer of Staples Center and the L.A. Live complex hopes to have the stadium built and an NFL team in place for the 2016 season.

Broadening the power of the City Controller's Office, a city panel recommended Tuesday drafting a law that would require municipal workers to report all instances they see of waste, fraud or abuse. Daily News,

The City Council's Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee agreed with the proposal from Controller Wendy Greuel to train workers to recognize waste and fraud. Workers who ignored or failed to report problems would face disciplinary action under the plan.

"What's important about this is that we can learn from each other on where the problems are and what we can do to deal with waste, fraud and abuse," Greuel said.

As many as 20 percent of the 70,000-plus fans expected to stream through the gates of downtown's Farmers Field for an NFL game would arrive by mass transit, according to a new study commissioned by the stadium's developer. Dakota Smithh in the Daiiy News.

The Mobility Group, an Irvine-based transportation consulting firm, estimates that 73 percent of spectators would drive to a weekday game at the $1.4 billion stadium proposed by Anschutz Entertainment Group. That total would jump to more than 80 percent during a weekend event.

While some 19,500 cars would flood the downtown area, more than 25,000 parking spots would be available on weeknights and 38,000 on Sunday afternoons, the study found.

Los Angeles Unified agreed Monday to rehire hundreds of office clerks and library aides under a tentative agreement reached with the union representing support staff, district officials announced. Connie Llanos in tne Daily News.

Under the tentative agreement with the California School Employees Association, the district would allocate $8 million to fund the rehiring of support staff, with the district selecting which positions would be restored.

Los Angeles Unified had come under fire from parents and community members for laying off more than 1,100 workers last week in a cost-cutting move. The laid-off workers include 450 office clerks and technicians and 230 library aides.

Budget officials said Monday that Los Angeles' financial prospects are gloomier than expected, with the projected shortfall growing to $200 million next year. Daily News.

Assistant City Administrative Officer Ray Ciranna said rising costs and less-than-expected revenue forced officials to revise the projected deficit for 2012-2013, which was estimated at $196 million just a few months ago.

"Our first financial status report will reflect that expenditures have increased and we expect we will have a more-than-$200 million shortfall for 2012," Ciranna told the City Council's Budget and Finance Committee said. "We will stress the need to start taking actions to deal with that and will have a detailed proposal for our second (financial status report)."

City officials are taking a new look at a school truancy crackdown effort that some fear has become simply a harassment campaign against kids in minority and poor neighborhoods. Daily News,

The city has had a daytime curfew policy in place since 1995, allowing police officers to write tickets to juveniles who are not in class during school hours.

But community groups found the tickets were being issued arbitrarily to kids even if they were just a little late for class, and they were being given disproportionately to youths in poor and minority neighborhoods.

Tipoff: Assemblyman running for City Attorney, but waiting to wee what Trutanich does

t took more than a decade of growing pains, but Los Angeles neighborhood councils are finally finding their footing and realizing that they can be a driving force in city issues, especially at a time of deep budget cuts, members and officials said Saturday.C.J. Lin in the Daily News,

The city's 95 community groups have been vital in keeping pressure on the city in prioritizing core services as it grapples with limited funding as a result of a $550 million deficit, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at the 2011 L.A. Congress of Neighborhoods.

"They have been instrumental for us in helping us put together a budget," Villaraigosa said. "They have been very innovative and have pushed us to do more."

Had the tips never come in about new "threats" during Carmageddon, police may never have known until it was too late.C.J. Lin in the Daily News.

Out in full view of the public, but buried somewhere in the mountains of chatter on Twitter, a flash mob was planning to form on the shuttered Mulholland Bridge, half of which was being torn down to make room for a car-pool lane on the 405 Freeway.

At the same time, there was some tweeting about a group of bicyclists planning to take a joy ride on the freeway while it was closed the weekend of July 16-17.

Rep. Howard Berman, who is facing a tough re-election battle himself in the adjacent congressional district, announced Friday he is endorsing Councilman Tony Cardenas for the newly drawn 29th Congressional District.
"I am proud to endorse my friend, Councilman Tony Cardenas for the newly created 29th Congressional District," Berman said. "I am privileged to represent many of the constituents in CD 29. I know their concerns; I am familiar with their problems. And I know Tony Cardenas will be a great Democratic Congressman for the Northeast San Fernando Valley."
Berman has announced plans to run in the new 30th District and is facing a tough contest against Rep. Brad Sherman.
Cardenas said he was pleasaed to receive the endorsement.
"California's redistricting process creates a historic opportunity for valley Latinos to have a strong and unified voice in Congress for the first time," Cardenas said.
"The opportunity to be the valley's first Latino Congressional representative is humbling and I'm proud that so many diverse leaders have come together to support this campaign."

Los Angeles officials voted Thursday to loosen the rules on where farmers markets can operate, opening the door for vegetable vendors to set up shop between apartment complexes or frontyard flower stands in residential neighborhoods.Dakota Smith in the Daily News.

The ordinance approved by the City Planning Commission lifts many of the restrictions on certified farmers markets, allowing them to operate in residential areas. Additionally, farmers markets can now open in commercial areas without public hearings.

Currently markets are only allowed in residential areas if they are located on a parking lot that services a church, school or philanthropic entity. Under the new ordinance, certified farmers markets would be allowed to open in any part of a

City officials said they will issue a zoning code citation to a West Hills widow who erected a 24-foot-high cross on her front lawn.Connie Llanos in the Daily News,

After receiving complaints from neighbors, Los Angeles Building and Safety inspectors visited the home of Laly Dobener on Thursday and determined that she had violated zoning laws by erecting an unpermitted structure, officials said.

"She has two options," Building and Safety spokesman Dave Lara said. "Option A is that she takes it down and Option B is that she tries to get a permit.

Los Angeles Unified administrators have tentatively agreed to a new three-year contract that includes a trial run of a controversial system to evaluate teachers based on their students' test scores.Connie Llanos in the Daily News

Associated Administrators had earlier taken legal action to oppose the district's plan for a pilot evaluation system, but now has agreed to test the proposal for one year without consequences to those being evaluated.

Union officials said the probationary period will allow them to study the new system as it is tested with a small percentage of principals and teachers. LAUSD officials will have to negotiate with the administrators again before implementing it districtwide as planned for next school year.

Another city agency has become embroiled in accusations involving an X-rated movie, this time that firefighters allowed one of their engines to be used in a porn film shot at Venice Beach as they watched from a distance. Daily News,

The Fire Department has launched an investigation into the use of Engine 263, which is assigned to Station 63 in Venice, as a prop in an adult video.

Fire Chief Brian Cummings said through a spokeswoman that the incident, first reported Wednesday by KNBC (Channel 4), is being investigated and there will be "zero tolerance" for any misdeeds by the firefighters.

A new study released today suggests that, contrary to common belief, marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles do not attract crime and shutting them down may actually cause illegal activity to increase.C.J. Lin in the Daily News,

But local law enforcement officials quickly dismissed the findings and said that when it comes to medical marijuana dispensaries and crime, conventional wisdom is right.

The nonpartisan RAND Corp. studied crime reports over the 10 days before and after June 7, 2010, when the city shuttered hundreds of pot shops. The Santa Monica-based think tank found that crime shot up 60 percent within three blocks of closed dispensaries as compared to those where dispensaries were allowed to remain open.

Despite facing a potential backlash from City Hall, Los Angeles Unified officials Tuesday voted to side with Gov. Jerry Brown on his plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies throughout the state.Connie Llanos in the Daily News,

The LAUSD school board approved filing a legal brief in support of the governor's plan, which is currently being fought in court by a coalition of city leaders and redevelopment agencies.

This spring Brown proposed to close more than 400 community redevelopment agencies which he said would funnel an estimated $1.7 billion back to California's coffers by 2012-13.

Home sales in the San Fernando Valley inched up in August for the first time in more than a year, while foreclosure activity also spiked, a research center said Tuesday.Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News,

Sales of houses and condominiums increased 2 percent last month to 1,350 properties from 1,318 a year earlier, said the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at CSUN. It was the first year-over-year increase in 13 months.

And sales popped up 11.5 percent from 1,211 in July.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a delegation of the nation's mayors called on Congress on Tuesday to push for President Obama's jobs proposal, with an emphasis on the needs of local governments. Daily News,

"What we said is we asked them to come to the nation's cities and see the problems with the roads, the bridges, the freeways and the airports," Villaraigosa said.

"In order to address the magnitude of this job crisis, we can't go it alone."

Marathon negotiations ended Monday with a tentative contract agreement between Southern California's three biggest supermarket chains and their workers' union, averting a potentially crippling strike.Gregory J.Wilcox in the Daily News.

Negotiators had been in discussions for 23 consecutive days, but tension increased late last week. Both sides worked through a deadline Sunday, when 62,000 workers could have walked off the job, and bargained through the night to reach the tentative pact addressing health benefits.

The deal likely came as a relief to many shoppers. Supermarket executives had planned to close hundreds of stores if there had been a strike.

Councilwoman Jan Perry picked up the endorsement Monday of a former colleague in her bid for mayor in 2013.
Former Councilman Greig Smith, who left office in July, said he believed Perry was "tough enough" to make Los Angeles work again.
"Her vision has revitalized the city core, creating tens of thousands of jobs, resulting in millions of dollars in new revenue," Smith said.
"She has a solid record of fighting to reform the Department of Water and Power, for fiscal sanity at City Hall and for always putting residents first."
Smith and Perry both served as chief deputies to council members before winning election. Perry is a Democrat, Smith a Republican, who represented the northwest San Fernando Valley for eight years..
In making the endorsement, Smith decided against backing other city officials, including Council President Eric Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel.

Unhappy with their comrades' restricted access to the sprawling Veterans Administration property in West Los Angeles, former Marines, soldiers, sailors and others have held passive demonstrations at the corner of Wilshire and San Vicente boulevards for 183 consecutive Sundays. Bob Strauss in the Daily News.

For the 184th Sunday, they got proactive.

"We're saying now, with this declaration of ownership, this is our land, we want it back," said Robert Rosebrock, the 69-year-old leader of the Old Veterans Guard. The small organization has spearheaded the effort to remove outside interests and businesses from the site and increase its use for veterans.

Tipoff: Accounting scandal has local repercussions.

When distressed neighbors learned the city of Los Angeles was planning a trucking academy at the old Lopez Canyon landfill site, it wasn't a City Council change of heart or a petition drive that rescued them from the feared influx of noisy, diesel-spewing big rigs. Dakota Smith in the Daily News.

It was CEQA.

The California Environmental Quality Act - which requires big developments to go through extensive studies to lessen community impacts - has played the role of both savior and villain for a host of projects up and down the state since it was enacted in 1970.
ugh residential streets?

The housing crisis will claim nearly 200,000 Los Angeles homes to foreclosure through next year - more than 80,000 of them in the San Fernando Valley - a report released Thursday predicts. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

"The Wall Street Wrecking Ball," a report authored by two nonprofit housing advocates, estimates the mortgage meltdown has eroded almost $80 billion from the region's property values.

"We are all feeling the effects of foreclosures and we need strong solutions to the crisis - not just for families losing their homes but for all of us," said Kevin Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, which collaborated on the study with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment.

Home sales hit high
Home sales in the San Fernando Valley jumped 15 percent in August to the highest level this year as buyers took advantage of falling prices and declining interest rates, the local Realtors group said Thursday.Greg Wilcox in the Daily News.

A total of 618 previously owned houses changed owners last month, 79 more than a year earlier and 96 more than in July, said the Van Nuys-based Southland Regional Association of Realtors.

With a series of new incidents of waste and fraud by city workers, Controller Wendy Greuel asked Thursday for her office to be given more authority under city laws to investigate such cases.Daily News.

Greuel sent a letter asking Councilman Dennis Zine, chairman of the City Council's Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee, to sponsor the change in the city's Administrative Code to require that all cases of fraud be referred to her office for review.

"Without strengthening the city's enforcement and controls to decrease the incidents of fraud, waste and abuse, the city is placing itself at risk," Greuel said.

Scores on the SAT reading exam dropped to historic lows for the national Class of 2011, according to results released Wednesday, a trend that officials attributed to an expanding pool of test-takers. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

At Los Angeles Unified, the scores for the reading, writing and math exams also dropped, though not quite to all-time lows.

More students across the country are taking the college entrance exam, and the College Board said the greater diversity is reflected in the lower scores. Nearly half of Los Angeles Unified's Class of 2011 took the SAT.

Critical reading scores at LAUSD dropped by nine points to 433. The district's math scores dropped five points to 442 and writing went down seven points to 437.

L.A.'s red light cameras were shuttered for good on Tuesday, as the City Council rejected a proposal to bring them back at four intersections for monitoring new safety measures.
Daily News,

"Enough is enough," said Councilman Bill Rosendahl. "We have debated this over and over again and it's time to finally end this. The courts won't enforce it and it's a nuisance on drivers."

The 10-3 vote, with council members Bernard Parks, Jan Perry and Ed Reyes voting to keep the program, will bring to an end all aspects of the red light photo program.

The City Council voted in July to end the program after learning that the Los Angeles Superior Court would not enforce the tickets. The contract ended and the cameras at 32 intersections around the city ceased to operate on July 31.

Despite concerns about additional costs during tough financial times, all Los Angeles Unified schools will start class three weeks earlier next fall, district officials decided Tuesday.Connie Llanos in the Daily News,

A divided school board voted to move forward with the implementation of an "early start" calendar districtwide for the 2012-13 school year, meaning all schools will start classes in mid-August and end by early June.

Superintendent John Deasy had pushed for an indefinite delay in starting the new calendar over concerns about the one-time cost between $2-4 million.

TipoffL Now the real work begins for mayoral contest;Zine to get a challenger?

The state Senate approved special legislation Friday designed to expedite construction of a football stadium in downtown Los Angeles, saying it was willing to bend California's environment laws in order to generate thousands of jobs. Dakota Smith in the Daily News,

Senate Bill 292 fast-tracks legal challenges to construction of the 72,000-seat Farmers Field stadium. Approved by the Assembly on Wednesday and passed 32-7 on Friday afternoon, the bill now heads to Gov. Jerry Brown for consideration. He has not indicated whether he will sign it.

"The sheer scale and magnitude (of the project) will be felt statewide from an economic point of view," said state Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Van Nuys, who sponsored the bill. "We will feel that bump throughout the state.

Launching a process potentially fraught with controversy, the 21-member Los Angeles Redistricting Commission began work Friday to draw new voting boundaries for the City Council and school district.Daily News.

Based on data from the 2010 census, the panel has until March 1 to hold public meetings and develop boundaries for the 15 council and seven school board seats.

"This is politics at its most raw," City Council President Eric Garcetti told the panel as it held its first meeting at the Los Angeles Police Administration Building.

City Council President Eric Garcetti jumped Thursday into the 2013 mayor's race, saying he could no longer afford to sit on the sidelines in the campaign to replace termed-out incumbent Antonio Villaraigosa. Dailiy News.

Garcetti, 40, is a fourth-generation Angeleno whose father is former District Attorney Gil Garcetti. Termed out himself in 2013, Garcetti joins Controller Wendy Greuel and Councilwoman Jan Perry in running for mayor.

His filing on Thursday allows him to begin raising money for the campaign.

Many city agencies continue to ignore audit recommendations that could save millions of taxpayer dollars, according to a scorecard released Thursday by City Controller Wendy Greuel. Daily News.

Greuel graded city departments on a 0-100 percent scale based on how well they took follow-up action to fix problems noted in 41 audits her office has issued since 2009.

Among the highest-rated departments? Her own, of course.

Given Los Angeles' traffic woes, it's no surprise that Anschutz Entertainment Group is pitching its football stadium as a transit-friendly project, a development that's accessible by numerous bus and rail lines. And most importantly, AEG officials add, it will be a "carbon neutral" project.Dakota Smith in the Daily News,.

Carbon neutral? The term is a head-scratcher for even the most green Angelenos. It's also a phrase being scrutinized by environmentalists and sports experts as the developer looks to secure protective legislation for Farmers Field in Sacramento this week.

"Carbon neutrality, in general, is an elusive goal," said Ted Bardacke, senior associate at Global Green USA, a Santa Monica-based nonprofit that advises on green building and greenhouse emissions. "It can mean many things to many folks."

More than 800 people jammed into the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday to testify about two controversial proposals to create a new Latino-majority supervisorial district. Christina Villacorte in the Daily News.

The majority of speakers opposed the plans, instead favoring a county committee's recommendation to only make minor adjustments to the current boundaries.

Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, noted the redistricting proposals submitted by Supervisors Gloria Molina and Mark Ridley-Thomas would split the San Fernando Valley - now represented by two supervisors - into three districts.

Despite a smaller rebate, the Los Angeles DWP's revised solar incentive program has drawn a strong response from customers since it relaunched last week.Daily News.,

But delays in approving requests for higher electricity and water rates are threatening what DWP can spend on other programs, utility leaders warned Tuesday.

Department of Water and Power customers filed 112 applications since Thursday for the relaunched solar incentive, including 92 for residential systems.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa urged local officials Tuesday to join in pressuring Congress to reauthorize a six-year, $500 million transportation bill as a way to put Americans back to work. Daily News,.

"The millions that we invest in transit flow to businesses, large and small, and create hundreds of thousands of jobs," Villaraigosa said in a speech at the annual Mobility 21 Conference.

"Let's make this as clear as possible: Transportation investment equals jobs. It is a sad comment on the quality of our political debate that such an obvious fact is met with skepticism in Congress."

Picnics and beach trips aside, this Labor Day is not bringing good times for the American worker. Daily News,

Unemployment remains stubbornly high. Salaries and benefits are stagnant. And union membership has dropped to historically low levels throughout the nation.

Around Los Angeles, several potential strikes are looming, but the state of the economy has made many union members wary of anything that threatens their employment or income.

A new study by the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment shows the recession is taking a dramatic toll on union membership.

Tipoff: Mayor insists no political goals in mind; Beutner seeks interns.

Los Angeles lawmakers on Friday touted developer Anschutz Entertainment Group's downtown football stadium as an innovative facility that will transform the South Park neighborhood into a walkable, transit-accessible hub. Dakota Smith in the Daily News,.

That's why otherwise green-minded lawmakers said they were willing to back new legislation that would bend the landmark California Environmental Quality Act to accommodate the project.

"This would be the most environmentally friendly stadium in the country," said Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Van Nuys, who introduced Senate Bill 292 that would provide a myriad of protections and requirements for the stadium.

Teamsters clarify position

A major Southern California union has backed off its opposition to the proposed downtown football stadium.. Daily News.

On Thursday, Teamsters Joint Council 42 - representing 200,000 members in the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire -- had issued a strongly worded letter supporting Majestic Realty's proposed stadium in the City of Industry. The letter also blasted the competing project that Anschutz Entertainment Group has proposed for downtown Los Angeles.

On the same day that new data showed zero employment growth in August, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa led a chorus of mayors in calling for more federal spending to spur job creation. Daily News.

Villaraigosa, in his role as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, released a broad, bipartisan proposal to try to end the stalemate in Washington over funding. He was joined by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Mesa, Ariz., Mayor Scott Smith in calling on Congress to accept their "common sense jobs agenda" to put America back to work.

"These are programs that have received bipartisan support in the past," Villaraigosa said. "It's time to break the gridlock in the Beltway. I think the American people are tired of the political posturing and want to see an end to the polarization and lack of progress."

Once a vocal opponent of the rapid growth of charter schools in Los Angeles, former teachers union leader A.J. Duffy has announced plans to launch his own independently run public campuses.Connie Llanos in the Daily News

Duffy, who left his post as president of United Teachers Los Angeles this summer, said the new venture will give him an opportunity to launch "revolutionary" schools that will be teacher-led and free from bureaucratic rules.

If approved by the Los Angeles Unified School District, Apple Charter Academy Public Schools could start opening sites in South Los Angeles as early as next spring.

Students at Los Angeles schools continued making steady academic progress as a record number of district campuses meet a key state performance goal, according to test results released Wednesday.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Los Angeles Unified scored 728 on the Academic Performance Index this year, an increase of 19 points from last year and the largest gain of any urban district in California.

The API, compiled from state standardized tests and the high school exit exam, is used by school officials and parents alike to gauge the academic quality of a school.

Five of the state's most prominent Democrats have agreed to back Rep. Howard Berman in the expected tough campaign against fellow Democrat Rep. Brad Sherman in next year's elections. Daily News,

Gov. Jerry Brown, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Rep. Henry Waxman - all of whom have long ties to Berman - were announced Wednesday as honorary co-chairs of his re-election bid.

"I am honored to have received the early support of the Democratic leaders of our state," Berman said. "They are familiar with my work and accomplishments and understand that in Congress, I am not just another voice or another vote."

Renewing his call on business to work with government in a "radical conversation in the middle," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday urged local business leaders to help solve the state's problems and boost its commitment to education.Daily News.

By increasing tuition while cutting the budgets of public colleges and universities, he said, "we are pricing the middle class out of education."

"We are making it that so many people can no longer get the education they need to get ahead."
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