Over the last month the term “bloodbath” and it’s meaning, depending on its usage, has been debated by mainstream media and political pundits across the country as former President Donald Trump, the presumed Republican Party nominee has loosely used this term in describing the state of politics in the only way the polarizing former POTUS knows how.
With that being said, I couldn’t resist the temptation of attributing the term “bloodbath” in association to the Inglewood Unified School District announcement that it would be closing 5 schools in the near future, 2025 to be exact, allegedly due to declining enrollment.
One couldn’t help but to ponder: would the decision of shuttering five schools be as easy if the students that IUSD serves were from more affluent backgrounds? Before you interject by saying “well Anaheim is laying off 100 teachers due to declining enrollment” you aren’t saying that schools are closing too – because they’re not.
Keep in mind that IUSD serves a large ,minority demographic with 62.7% of its student population being Hispanic/ Latino and its second largest demographic, identifying as Black, a 85% of these students qualify for either free or reduced meals as their families income fall well short of the federal income poverty level.
Was Inglewood Unified School District designed to fail?
It’s hard to think any other way.
Inglewood taxpayers (voters) lost local control in 2012. Over twelve years ago. By comparison, Compton Unified School District got out of receivership in less time. Additionally, it took Compton College close to 12 years to regain its accreditation and restore voting power to its elected board of trustees, so what’s going on in Inglewood?
The obvious is the singular focus of Mayor Butts and his hand selected city council colleagues to turn the small town of nearly 110,000 into a so-called destination city that doesn’t have the infrastructure (parking and working street lights) to accommodate the growth.
The only logical conclusion is to close schools, particularly those that lie in close proximity to the proposed route of the yet to be 100% funded Inglewood Transit Connector project and adjacent to the Inglewood Sports and Entertainment District that houses SoFi Stadium and the Intuit Dome.
What no one is asking is if housing is in such great demand in Inglewood, why aren’t the operators of Hollywood Park submitting plans to build those single-family homes on the land that was previously earmarked for affordable housing?
Their own revitalization petition said clearly that “the hotel and housing wouldn’t be built until the market dictated it”. Well isn’t that what the market is dictating? A lack of housing across the state?
Returning IUSD back to the control of the voters would see a domino effect in what voters did this week in Kansas City, Missouri.
They soundly REJECTED a proposed 40 YEAR stadium tax to build the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs a new football stadium. And to avoid the PEOPLE standing in the way of “Inglewood’s (Manifest) Destiny” as Mayor Butts calls it, you can’t let the people vote against the council knowing what they didn’t know when asked to sign a petition to return the NFL to Southern California.
What’s most upsetting about the “bloodbath” in Inglewood is that its Black and Brown elected officials doing it to Black and Brown residents who they smile in their face during any given City funded soiree to only be plotting their demise behind their backs.
Marvin McCoy is a long-time Inglewood resident and recurring contributor to 2UrbanGirls.com
4 Comments
So nothing will ever be done. It’s over. Why didn’t people FIGHT FOR THE KIDS and make haste with how they have been bamboozled by IUSD since IUSD didn’t do anything to help improve scores? It was like don’t teach the kids stuff let them fail and then they will leave. How can the government let this happen? Racism?
Thanks for all your stories and getting the word out.
How about NO… They wouldn’t be closing because in a more affluent background kind of area, people actually will be enrolling their children in school. But since their are not enough students then whats the point? If there is not enough students then they don’t need too many schools. Common sense.
Oh dear Mandy sadly you are seriously out of touch with the situation.
Parents have enrolled there students elsewhere for several reasons
A) student test scores reflect teaching is not taking place on Inglewood campuses. Less than 10% proficiency in math is not a good track record nor is the less than 30% reading proficiency.
B) Teachers/ administration are often unwilling to meet with parents who concerned ie failure to permit PTA to meet on campus whether during after school hours.
C) Many have reported bullying and fights on campus with no action taken to make students feel safe
D)Failure to maintain outdoor facilities is absolutely obvious to anyone who drives past Morningside, or Worthington – does anyone believe interiors we can not see are better cared for?
E) Offers by retired, certificated and well trained educators to assist and tutor have been dismissed
F) Auditoriums where careers of significant ha e began have been left in disrepair for decades, yet volunteers made repairs in one day- clearly a sign of non-interest in encouraging entertainment careers.
G) Elimination of resource materials in the Library yep a great feed the landfill movement by adults choosing to deny learning opportunities
….and so much more but too too much to include as a reply.