Steve Hemingway's Priorities

By Steve A. Hemingway

I have worked for the last 3 years to put money in the classroom and stop the board from making decisions that harm our kid's education.

My priorities are to fight for student programs and bring back music, art, P.E. and language teachers. These subjects should be included in a basic education; they shouldn't be considered extracurricular.

I am one of the original founders of Torrance Parents Organization. I arranged those yard signs that said, "Torrance Says NO to Class Size Increases K-12", placed several ads in the Daily Breeze, and led parent protests when the district wanted to increase class size and cut programs for our kids. I took a stand for children because my priorities are in the right place.

This year we saw another round of cuts that hurt our kids, YET THE DISTRICT RECEIVED OVER $6,000,000 MORE from the State of California. The district "lost" $3,300,000 and one board member said it was "just like forgetting to write it down in your checkbook register." At about the same time, the board decided to fire 32 teachers in Kindergarten or 3rd Grade for a net savings of only $110,000. Parents like you and me raised this money to save 3rd grade from having 12 more kids in each classroom. Why did you do this? Because your priorities are the same as mine, to give our kids the teachers they need to have a great education.

To put money in the classroom, I've worked for over 18 months to give the people of Torrance the right to vote on whether it is more important to fund our children's education or to keep unnecessary personnel in the district. I personally gathered over 500 signatures of Torrance residents to put Measure X on the Ballot on November 8. Torrance schools operated for more than 40 years with only a human resources department. Today our schools have both human resources and a personnel commission doing essentially the same duties. Common sense tells us that we can eliminate one department and be more efficient. Finally, you have the right to send a message that we value our kid's education more than some bureaucrat's job. VOTE YES ON MEASURE X and you will send that message. If you're still curious or unsure, please visit our website at http://www.XthePC.com.

You are a more informed and active parent. You know the value of smaller class sizes. Without your support, many 3rd graders would have left Torrance Unified altogether this year when they faced the shock of 12 more kids in their classroom.

The district loses children in 4th and 5th grade when class sizes jump to 32 or more. Did you know that the district simply lets more "permit" children in, mainly from L.A. Unified, to make up the revenue loss? Currently, Torrance has around 10% of its student population coming from outside the district boundaries. Nearly all the permit children are great kids. That's not the issue. Our priority must be to serve the needs of Torrance kids first.

We must give our kids the benefit of our wonderful school system. We must carry on the tradition of giving the next generation of students a better school system than the one we inherited.

Thank you, Steve Hemingway