Part 2
[Editor’s Note: See Part 1 of the interview with Ronni Cooper, president of the Ladera Heights Civic Assn., in her Ladera Heights home, under News, “Ladera Heights Surveys Its Setback and Prepares to Plot a New Route,” Jan. 22.]
As the principal spokesperson for Ladera Heights families in their 2 1/2-year — so far unsuccessful — attempt to transfer out of the Inglewood Unified School District and into Culver City, Ronnie Cooper was asked her opinion of the Jan. 10 state hearing that supposedly sealed the Ladera case in defeat.
“We sent four people to Sacramento, and I thought we did a very nice job. Inglewood sent 10 people, and we saw that they allocated $75,000 in expenditures to argue and spend money on consultants to get this ready.”
Question: In your opinion, was their money well spent, since the state’s decision favored them?
“Of course not. Inglewood has told so many falsehoods, out and out lies and deceptions, throughout this entire process.
“It makes you kind of sad. The reason all those Culver City people were opposed to us coming, in part, was because of all the lies Inglewood said, which later were proved to be lies. But by that time, the damage was done.
“We did not really handle things the way we should have. We handled it the way we were instructed to do it. But we were instructed incorrectly. We had met with the previous superintendent (in Culver City, Dr. Laura McGaughey).
“She had said, ‘Please, let me deal with the School Board. Don’t do anything. I’ll follow through.’
“Originally, the Board was very warm to the idea of our transferring. Of course they were. Why wouldn’t they be, with a billion dollars worth of property taxes? I’d be warm to that, too, to have other people in there helping you with projects around your district where you could fix up schools because you could pass bonds because you’d have money from someplace else.
“But it all got tangled up when we went to those hearings (in Culver City). The vision of the (Culver City) community was ‘900 black gang members’ coming, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
“But, again, the damage was done.
“We just have to move ahead at our own pace, to look for our own solutions. At this point, Inglewood is not one of our solutions. If they someday improve, which is doubtful, then maybe the students would come back. But I sincerely doubt that would happen. ”
Question: When was the last time Inglewood schools were good?
“I can only speak from when my kids went there, from 1976 to 1989. In that span of time, when they came, the school wasn’t good. An excellent principal came during that period, stayed six years and turned the school around.
“Test scores went up. There was a waiting list of hundreds. Our test scores were higher than Palos Verdes and Beverly Hills. We converted the school from a K-6 to a K-8 so the children in our community would have someplace to go. We had a very mixed group of races among our students.
“When the principal who led the turnaround left, and the one who succeeded her did not stay long, that is when the chip, chip, chipping away took place in Inglewood.
“The better teachers began leaving. There has been a succession of principals ever since, each worse than the one before. By a certain time, all of the better teachers had gone. For many years, teachers without full credentials were teaching there.
“The present principal is in his second year. The one before that was here for one year, I think. I am losing track.
“A few years ago, a group of parents came to the school, before their kids were even ready for kindergarden. They said, ‘We want to work with the school to turn it around. We want get in there and raise funds, improve the program. What can we do?’
“One problem was, the school had a principal whose main thing when he came here was selling real estate during school time in Leimert Park.
“So those parents tried, got completely infuriated, left and never came back.
“Here was a little community group that really could have made a difference. Kind of reminded us of our group when we stayed at the school and turned it around. They couldn’t take it, but they didn’t have good leadership there.”
Question: What caused the most recent erosion in Inglewood?
“It’s just a downward spiral. There is no recent erosion. Nothing has changed dramatically that would make it better or worse. When you have had five superintendents in seven or eight years, you don’t have any consistency.
“Between all the superintendent changes, all the principal changes, and then you have the tearing down of La Tijera and the lack of rebuilding it, I mean there is just no way anybody…
“The test scores are abysmal. Abysmal. That part makes me the sickest. Not only are they low, but even in their own expectations — which should be set much higher — the test scores are at the bottom there.
“The test scores are lower than the lowest socio-economic schools in Inglewood. That is just disgusting.
“So why would anyone here in Ladera Heights, college-educated, who wants the best for their children, send their kids to a school like that? They won’t.”
(To be continued)
