[dropcap size=big]W[/dropcap]hat's it like to be a teacher in LAUSD these days? A lot of Angelenos without a stake in the school system probably don't stop to think about it much — until last week. The historic L.A. teachers strike brought into sharp relief the challenges that everyday campuses deal with: neglected facilities, insufficient funding, and at some campuses, privately run charter schools that are gradually take up classroom space from traditional schools.
In this special in-depth edition of the L.A. Taco Podcast, we embed with an LAUSD teacher and L.A. native named Arian White. Mr. White is on his second year as third-grade teacher at Baldwin Hills Pilot, a school we featured last week.
He tells us about his perspective, having spent some years teaching abroad in the Dominican Republic, teaching at a private school, and now teaching kids at a public school back in his hometown. Arian also leads us on a discussion about the meaning of the legendary Leimert area taco spot, Worldwide Tacos. In case you didn't know, African American Tacos is 'a thing.'