As Chief Bratton counts down the days until he leaves, the city council is preparing to vote on the monies to be allocated to the LAPD in a budget dripping red ink. Mayor Villaraigosa outlines his plan for saving the city money while preserving the department's gains over the last few years.

Public higher-education in California has absorbed over $1 billion in budget cuts in the past year, passing pain along to students, faculty and research facilities. But while the cuts were a necessary evil to balance the state’s woefully indebted budget, is it smart policy to chop down the very institutions that have made California great and should lead the state’s recovery? As we examine the “State of the State” we start with California’s struggling universities and ask whether they can survive the fiscal turmoil.

California’s reputation as place for dynamic, innovative companies has taken a bit of a dent recently, after the bust of Silicon Valley’s IPO boom in 2000 and the horrible state budget situations of the past 5 years. Attracting companies that offer high-paying jobs for highly-skilled workers has been a difficult task, but the state’s recovery depends on doing just that. Can the Golden State still have golden appeal to high-tech business?

School is back in full swing, and so is Patt’s monthly sit down with LAUSD superintendent Ramon Cortines. We take your calls, all topics are covered in today’s curriculum, so don’t be tardy… no hand raising required.