Elect a Parent, not a Politician!

First Day of School 2015 – Anza Elementary

The status quo says that winning elections is more about spending other people’s money on political propaganda than the issues that matter to our kids. I disagree.

Politicians like my opponents gladly take thousands of dollars from specials interests and other groups that would buy influence. Taking that money is what makes them politicians. Unlike my opponents, I am funding my campaign with my own money because as a parent of four kids enrolled at TUSD I believe kids should come before politics.

We have good schools here in Torrance, but I am not satisfied with just being good.  I want our schools to be great and rival competing schools in other South Bay cities.  I want my kids to have at least as good a public education as I had growing up and I am just not confident the status quo will get us there.

As a School Board member, I will approach tough issues from a parents perspective by addressing questions like:

• After taking $550 Million from the taxpayers, why did the School Board reward the public trust by entering into illegal contracts with the very contractors that poured thousands of dollars into the bond campaigns?  Why does the status quo not support litigation that would return $109 Million to our schools due to those illegal contracts?
• What has the status quo done about recent lapses in child safety such as kids seriously injured in an unprotected crosswalk, coaches accused of molesting and raping students, and schools taking 60 minutes to shelter-in-place after the refinery explosion?
• Why did the status quo discourage fundraising by expressing concerns about one school site receiving more parental donations than another?
• How will Common Core impact our kids?
• What is being done to ensure SCROC stays open?

Anza Elementary Daddy-Daughter Dance

I grew up going to an average public school in a lower middle class area. In elementary school, we had PE, art, music, science, after-school programs, school plays and music performances, awesome field trips, intervention teachers, etc.  In High School we had coaches that received paid stipends and athletic trainers to support our teams at practices and games.   Plus, our facilities were nice.  When I see what’s happening at our schools and I look at our facilities, I worry that my kids are getting less than what I had and I think that’s a shame.

Anza, where my kids attend, is still a dilapidated old place. Torrance High lockers weren’t replaced in 50 plus years despite literally rusting off the wall.  Parents are volunteering as librarians, teaching art, music and P.E., running school programs, buying computer labs, paying for intervention teachers, and are responsible for a whole host of other activities and expenses that used to fall within the District’s budget.  This has resulted in parents feeling overburdened and over-stressed as the District increasingly relies upon their volunteer service and financial contributions to fill in the gaps at our schools.  We can do better.

The status quo won’t get us where we need to go.

SAY NO TO THE STATUS QUO!

ILLEGAL CONTRACTS

The fox has been guarding the henhouse!! The community entrusted the School Board with $550 Million of taxpayer dollars funded through the passage of bond measures Y and Z, and more recently T and U.  The School Board rewarded that public trust by entering into illegal contracts with the very contractors that poured thousands of dollars into the bond campaigns as evidenced by the campaign finance disclosures.

Torrance High Lockers

I believe this is a serious violation of the public trust as not only was it illegal but it also quite possibly led to millions of taxpayer dollars going to line the pockets of unscrupulous contractors instead of going to help improve our facilities and our kids education.  The illegal contracts also led to a recent construction halt at local schools that has delayed key projects and inconvenienced teachers and students.

We know the contracts were illegal because they were actually challenged in court through lawsuits filed by public interest groups.  One of those lawsuits resulted in a favorable ruling by the California Fifth District Court of Appeals. That ruling was appealed to the California Supreme Court with that body recently confirming that the decision by the Appellate body should stand as legal precedent and remain the law of the land.

The issue came about after TUSD hired a large international construction firm to act as the District’s construction consultant/manager.  In that role, the construction consultant acted as an agent for the District and developed the scope, determined the requirements, and set the budgets/schedules for the intended projects. They also helped the District pass the bond measures by funneling thousands of dollars into the campaigns.  Then, once the bonds passed they convinced the District to utilize a construction method dubbed “lease/leaseback” which enabled them to award the ensuing contracts to themselves and their cohorts without soliciting competitive bids.

Once the Appellate court determined this practice was illegal, TUSD’s construction contractor immediately halted all projects as they were at risk of having to return any money earned on the illegal contracts back to the District. They were at risk due to a California law requiring that contractors return all monies earned on an illegal contract back to the public entity.  The present lawsuit against the District could return as much as $109 Million to our schools. Instead of joining the lawsuit that would return the $109 Million, the current School Board continues to fight against it.  Why?

The ball is now in the court of the voters. Will you stand with the California Supreme Court and other organizations and individuals that believe in good government or will you side with large international contractors and the asleep at the wheel School Boards that likely allowed these contractors to reap high profits at the expense of school children? It’s your call.

STUDENT SAFETY

Two elementary school children were hit in a crosswalk on their way to school last fall. The District did nothing in response.  A TUSD wrestling coach was recently accused of molesting multiple students while employed with TUSD. Many of the heinous acts allegedly occurred on school property. As a result, the District is currently facing at least 37 separate lawsuits presumably from the victims of this one coach.  The District was also set to hire an individual to coach girl’s basketball at West High that is now accused of raping one of his former players. A chess coach who was a volunteer at Victor Elementary was recently charged with molesting girls as young as 5 and 6. What is TUSD doing to ensure our kids are safe at school?

When incidents like this occur, why doesn’t TUSD release a detailed statement describing the individuals history with TUSD, the accusations against the person, what the District policy is in situations like this, the actions the District actually took, and what actions the District will take in the future to ensure our kids are safe? I believe the District should be communicating as much as possible and encouraging other victims, if any, to come forward and say what happened without fear of reprisal. Instead, the District is almost completely silent on the subject.  Silence is not leadership. Leaders communicate with the community and let them know what is going on.

With regard to the emergency response in the aftermath of the ExxonMobil explosion Deputy Superintendent of TUSD, Dr. Stabler, admitted before a state senate panel that the District’s short wave radio system did not function properly and that the ExxonMobil emergency warning system that they have in their offices did not go off that day. Has the District done anything to correct these failings?

COMMON CORE

As a parent I share many of the concerns expressed about Common Core.  I worry about the loss of local control and have felt the District has not done an adequate job communicating with parents and addressing concerns.  Were parents informed, for example, that they have a right to opt their child out of Common Core testing?

Below are some of the questions I have that I want answered:

• How often will my child be tested?
• Can I see a sample test so I can review the content?
• Will my child be subject to psycho-metric testing?
• Is data being collected on my child and my family socio-economic status?
• With whom is the District sharing that data?
• How much money is the District spending to implement the new standards, adopt new curriculum, train teachers, and obtain new materials (textbooks, test capabilities, etc)?
• Will my child be introduced to sensitive subjects like sex education at an earlier age?
• Will there be shifts of emphasis in how some subjects like history and sex are taught?
• Will this dumb down education by removing some subjects like calculus and other AP courses?
• Is it true that the tests are different for each child because the questions change based on the responses?  If so, how is my child evaluated?
• Why is my child so confused by how math is being taught?
• What was wrong with the old standards?
• Has implementation of Common Core been proven through empirical data and rigorous studies to enhance the quality of education for our kids?
• What is the benefit to TUSD in implementing it?

Please visit the TUSD website.  Are these questions adequately addressed with the information provided?  No parent should have to feel like their questions are not being answered when it comes to their child’s education.  Yet, I believe that is exactly what is happening with Common Core.  You will hear it’s all about teaching critical thinking skills to our kids and creating common standards across the nation.  That sounds good, but as parents we are smart enough to know there is more to it than that and we are concerned enough that we want to know exactly how it impacts our kids.  If elected, I’ll ensure that any parent wanting answers receives them.