Caprice Young, CEO KC Distance Learning, Spoke at PI Westwood

Pacifica Institute welcomed Caprice Young for the luncheon forum. She is currently the interim CEO of KC Distance Learning and Vice President, Business Development and Alliances of Knowledge Universe.

Prior to joining KU in September 2008, she was President and CEO of the California Charter Schools Association. Under Caprice’s 5-year leadership, the number of charter California schools grew by more than 300 and student enrollment grew by more than 100,000. From 1999-2003, Caprice served as a member and president of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education. Her career has included leadership roles in business, higher education and government. She also serves on numerous boards, including the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Education Excellence, the Chime Institute and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. She is a recipient of the Coro Foundation Crystal Eagle Award for Achievement in Public Service.

Caprice earned her bachelor’s degree from Yale University, an MPA from the University of Southern California, and her Doctorate of Education from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Caprice Young started her speech by acknowledging the learning needs of different age groups and how teachers and educators should respond to that. With a set of strict rules confining the educators, innovative teaching techniques can not be properly addressed for the needs of students. Given the dropout rate at inner city schools, there is an alarming fact of this generation who would face the real life in 10-15 years. She said that the charter schools in California are doing fine with small class sizes and specifically tailored curriculum for the needs of the students.

California had long been credited for its education system but this has changed drastically over the years. She said families with children from the other states consider moving to Los Angeles twice. So there needs to be a transformative change in the leadership of LAUSD. She said that the current leader of the Los Angeles Unified School District can do a lot but with only by himself, these changes may not be enough.

She added that talented teachers from other countries should be recruited to teach maths and science. Another way she said was that distance learning which could enhance learning of the school children if only properly monitored.

The next luncheon forum will be on the 29th of January with FBI Assistant Director in Charge Salvador Hernandez with the topic of “Transforming the FBI: Investigative Agency to Intelligence-Driven Organization”