This Inglewood Unified School District story is absolutely intriguing, and fascinating at the same time, and I wanted to point out some devil’s that you may have missed in the details. I want to point these things out for you, and the community stakeholders (like me) that have a vested interest in returning IUSD to local control.
To bring the significance to Dr. Torres arrival I wanted to share two time held traditions or life advice that has served me and and aptly applied here as critical but pertinent events clearly indicates that Dr. Torres assignment was the sale and or lease of IUSD property and making these properties available to developers who projects were consistent with the City of Inglewood “revitalization” .
One lesson I’ve learned in life is always follow the money .
If you follow the money in this situation Dr. Erika Torres in her short time here has been the lynchpin and or nexus that ultimately over a period of her short but impactful tenure of less than a year , initiated sale of excess Inglewood Unified School District land and let 240 million dollar tax bond measure funded by donors and consultants who neither lived in Inglewood or any direct connection to Inglewood.
The second lesson I’ve learned to appreciate as I approach my 45th birthday in May, God willing is to appreciate time an history .
As time and history applies in this case it should be duly noted for the Inglewood community and IUSD stakeholders alike that Dr. Torres was appointed to the County Administrator position in November 2019 and in less than 4 months of her appointment had announced that 22 acres of IUSD land was up for sale or lease according to an online posting on www.calschool.net.
Talk about an ambitious agenda, in Dr. Torres case her tenure at IUSD reminds me of that old Marines commercial where they advertise that Marines accomplish more before sunup than most people do all day.
Well in Dr. Torres case it appears she arrived to IUSD with marching orders and she will not be deterred .
She came in with a wrecking ball and with instructions because simultaneously while she was in full execution mode to shut down Inglewood Unified Schools she was clandestinely working behind the scenes with the IUSD Board of Trustees to ask the residents to pay higher taxes for better schools while deceptively agreeing to deceive and mislead taxpayers that in fact school consolidation and closure plans were moving full steam ahead.
2UrbanGirls you’re on the right track here. Dr. Torres, and her arrival here, and the actions and or non actions of the advisory board deserves a full explanation to the greater public as to why the board collectively, with the County Administrator, decided to not tell the community they were in fact closing schools while preparing to ask Inglewood residents to approve another bond.
These questions should be asked in a public forum where the public is allowed to question the Administrator and Trustee’s in public and it is my hope that in fact they do come across this letter that they pay the respect that Inglewood taxpayers deserve and honor this request.
Marvin McCoy can be reached at therealmccoymarketinggroup@gmail.com
5 Comments
Marvin,
Where were you with our opinions when IUSD was falling apart? I am a life long resident and graduate of IUSD with the horror stories and scars that come with it. IUSD needs to be gutted and re-structured, therefore I support Dr Torres.
Look at the state of IUSD in 2014 from the article below.
This is what you want our children to endure?
https://archive.kpcc.org/news/2014/11/06/47754/hard-times-at-inglewood-unified-school-district/
Selling the land, consolidating and uplifting the remaining schools makes sense.
I graduated from Inglewood High in 1998. What year did you graduate? Where do your school aged children currently attend? It seems that you have a vested interest in keeping IUSD corrupt and in disrepair?
Read about the corruption below. I know first hand as I attended IUSD and volunteered in 2001.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-09-me-12016-story.html
I graduated IHS in 1995 and I’m willing to bet that I’m somewhat Knowledgeable about IUSD and it’s politics since my mother and family members have over 40 years in the District.
In fact you’re absolutely right that selling the land and consolidating schools makes sense if you explored and exhausted every option to fix the District and it fails.
In IUSD case a consistent plan where their are real metrics in place , as far as setting achievement goals , a plan to get there hasn’t fully been implemented or given a fair evaluation because over the last 10 years there’s been no less than 6 administrator’s appointed since local control has been taken away.
The adults ruined IUSD and if we’re being honest Dr. Torres was pushing this agenda to sell land before she was appointed IUSD County Administrator.
Even if selling or leasing land is the only option, Dr. Torres along with the Board made a conscious and strategic decision to hide the fact that they were pursuing an agressive school consolidation/ closure plan while pushing a 240 million dollar bond.
That decision in itself shows that Dr. Torres and the trustee’s for that fact can’t be trusted.
Thank you for making it that simple!
When someone shows you who they are ….you probably ought to notice and remember!
Simple concept isn’t it?
Some of us have been attending board meetings for years and years and years and the list of things we prevented from making things worse is exceptionally long so perhaps you should ask a question to the guy you see in the mirror why have you not been at school board meetings since 1998 and why were your parents not there while you a student?
Some adults have been lobbing to eliminate problematic teachers and administrators for years unfortunately the school board members commitment was to promote them…not the lobbyist desired option but at least they did not interact with students anymore…..Yes that includes “Kick the girl to the curb” SIRLS and “ Peebucket” MARQUEZ.
The problem is not the land or the buildings….for example In a dysfunctional family -.If there is a substance abusing abusive father in the household the family is not automatically living in the land of peace and tranquility if the whole family -all the kids, and mom, and dad leave one apartment or house and together all relocate to another house..the problem is with the individual person who needs to CHANGE BEHAVIOR.
Filthy bathrooms don’t need to be destroyed they need to be CLEANED REGULARLY not once a week or once a month but everyday as do all of the kitchens and classrooms. That is cleaning not opening the door and looking in but adding elbow grease to the correct chemicals and scrubbing sinks toilet and floors and in the kith hens the ovens, fryers, sinks drains and floors yes every single day till the place shines.
A NEW BUILDING WILL NOT change the teaching skill set of teachers anymore than providing unethical contractors with more money will make them honest.
It is sad that your experience was dreadful, but to ask why didn’t others fix perhaps you should ask your parents why they and your classmates parents did not form a strong PTA or other parent group. Why was it some who had no children that were lobbying for you to get new textbooks and asking why your custodial staff wasn’t cleaning your campus when the much larger Morningside campus had fewer custodians and was not as unsanitary as Inglewood High or Parent then Elementary at the time which Measure K was put before voters.
You see having been Active trying to make your experience a positive one the reality is only a handful of Parents have appeared at board meetings since the mid 1990’s. In fact there were only 13 on the “see the school conditions tour bus”. Only one was Latina and she is/ was not your mom…she had no children of her own but cared enough to attempt to make your experience better for all IUSD students month after month year after year. The others who routinely spoke out on student behalf were two single no kid males – one Anglo, one African American and One Afri-Korean single mom.
It is truly sad that you continue to believe it is the buildings and the land which were responsible for your dreadful experience but you did say it was an adult male human principal who threw punches at students…..the buildings were not able to stop that but a group of dedicated parents could have. Unfortunately parents throughout these years rarely go to board meetings and usually do not insist or demand suspension of the offending principal. Parents not did the file class action law suits for battery please consider …it was the ADULT HUMANS in your world that failed not the buildings and not the land.
Thank you Marvin for Breaking this down in such a clear word picture .
Ms Torres and her wrecking ball have in fact been working at hyper-speed, unfortunately not at refining educational skills but instead at destroying the district and making residents and property owners pay for that destruction for the next many decades.
The silence of the school board members is indeed frustrating and unacceptable!
While “THE STATE” aka California Senators and Assembly members (aka Steve Bradford and Autumn Burke and their colleagues) determined our elected should not vote on school issues they certainly should not have remained silent.
But then again why would anyone think they would act after elected since they were not visible in school board meetings before election, …..not to watch the debates not to participate in public comments not at all,,,,,
The wrecking ball was used skillfully ya gotta give her credit for that !
Recently the public was made aware she misrepresented classes Students expecting to learn about caring for their bodies were being taught drama…
Let’s think in the real non-education world isn’t that called false advertisement?
So parents get tired of their children not being taught and at great personal expense take their students elsewhere ….a rather convenient way of achieving low enrollment isn’t it?
Oh so sinister, and oh so subtle, – most would not even notice at all except for a few activists and the courage and strength of at least a one reporter.
Again be careful to research those you vote for NEVER believing those campaign mailers without personal verification.
Yes BRADFORD and BURKE is among the least helpful to Inglewood and when he tells you he has nothing to do with the School Board remind him he voted to decide they have no vote. AND he voted that selling school property was acceptable.
Please remember he never asked you or your neighbors about what you wanted him to vote on.
Perhaps the next time he needs your vote you should consider voting for the other guy.