Odest Riley Jr.
Odest Riley Jr. was a candidate for Seat 1 representative on the Inglewood Unified School District school board in California. Riley was defeated in the at-large general election on April 4, 2017.
Riley participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Elections
2017
Three seats on the Inglewood Unified School District Advisory Board of Education were up for election on April 4, 2017. Seat 1 incumbent Margaret Richards-Bowers did not file to run for re-election, leaving the seat open for a newcomer. Dionne Young Faulk and Odest Riley Jr. ran for that seat, and Faulk won. In their bids for re-election, Seat 2 incumbent Carliss McGhee and Seat 3 incumbent Melody O. Ngaue-Tuuholoaki ran unopposed and won additional terms on the board.[1][2]
The school board election was held at large, but candidates ran for specific seats. Seats were not tied to a specific jurisdiction. All registered voters in the school district could vote for all the seats on the ballot, and candidates could run for any seat on the ballot, no matter where they lived.[3]
Results
| Inglewood Unified School District, Seat 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Dionne Young Faulk |
65.70% | 2,697 |
| Odest Riley Jr. | 33.08% | 1,358 |
| Write-in votes | 1.22% | 50 |
| Total Votes | 4,105 | |
| Source: Inglewood City Clerk, "General Municipal Election April 4 2017 Summary Report (Final Count)," accessed April 19, 2017 | ||
Funding
At the time of this election, the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staffers requested this information, but the only free method of viewing the files was at their office.
The Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk targeted the end of 2018 to make school board candidate campaign finance reports available online for free. From that point forward, Ballotpedia began including campaign finance data for Los Angeles County school board candidates.[4][5][6]
Endorsements
Riley was endorsed by the following elected officials:[7][8]
- Inglewood Mayor James Butts
- Inglewood City Treasurer Wanda Brown
- Inglewood City Council member George Dotson
- Inglewood City Council member Alex Padilla
- Inglewood City Council member Ralph Franklin
- Hawthorne City Council member Angie English
- Inglewood Unified Advisory Board of Education member Melody O. Ngaue-Tuuholoaki
- Inglewood Unified Advisory Board of Education member Carliss Richardson-McGhee
- Inglewood Unified Advisory Board of Education member Margaret Richards-Bowers
Riley was also endorsed by a number of community members. Click here to see a list of his supporters.
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Odest Riley Jr participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[9] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on February 28, 2017:
| “ | I want to share my team oriented work ethic, marketing know-how and financial expertise to help with creating a united front that is dedicated to overseeing a balanced budget and communicating effectively to the community what’s going on in our schools.[10][11] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in California. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | .[11] | ” |
| —Odest Riley Jr (February 28, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| No. Inglewood Unified has enough Charter schools, which is affecting funding for Inglewood Public schools. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Standardized test offer a measure of how well a school is doing versus another school or a school district is doing versus another school district or a state versus another state. A standardized test may not cover the breath of the materials covered in a particular classroom, only a test given by the teacher would do that. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. private schools should not be eligible for public money because they are not subject to public oversight. Their source of funds is tuition paid by the parents of the students and whatever endowments they may have. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be used as a last resort. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| The curriculum Inglewood has proven over the years that when the right curriculum is used students perform well. It comes down to execution which is the responsibility of the school administration, they must make sure the teachers have the right tools to equip students. |
Candidate website
Riley highlighted the following issues on his campaign website:
| “ | Back to Basics: Vision for Inglewood Unified School District
As a longtime neighbor and a business owner in the city of Inglewood, I remember when our school system was touted as the “Inglewood Miracle.” Teachers provided a strong educational foundation for me to succeed that enabled me to attend a world-renowned college, earn a degree, start my own company and return to the city that I love. I owe a great debt of gratitude to my teachers and to you – my community. Today, I am saddened by the condition of our school system and disappointed that our schools are now run by the state. IUSD has been in state receivership since October 2012. The children of Inglewood deserve a sustainable school district and Inglewood residents deserve a strong school district. I am running to be an advocate for students and parents of our community who feel their voices haven't been heard. My goal is to make sure every student effectively competes in our global economy. I have the financial expertise and organizational skills to effectively provide oversight and accountability to improve how IUSD operates. I believe that education matters and that IUSD can be successful again. Join me in this campaign to achieve these goals.[11] |
” |
| —Odest Riley Jr. (2017)[12] | ||
See also
External links
- Inglewood Unified School District
- Campaign website
- Campaign Facebook page
- Twitter account
- LinkedIn profile
Footnotes
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Yvonne Horton, Inglewood City Clerk," January 11, 2017
- ↑ Abbey Smith, "Email communication with Yvonne Horton, Inglewood City Clerk" April 5, 2017
- ↑ Inglewood City Clerk's Office, "Elections," accessed January 9, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed July 2, 2014
- ↑ Daniel Anderson, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," October 7, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," January 2, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Wave, "Inglewood school board election limited to one seat," March 23, 2017
- ↑ Odest Riley Jr. for Inglewood School Board, Seat 1, "Endorsements," accessed March 29, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Odest Riley Jr's responses," February 28, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Odest Riley Jr. for Inglewood School Board, Seat 1, "Home," accessed March 29, 2017
| Inglewood Unified School District elections in 2017 | |
| Los Angeles County, California | |
| Election date: | April 4, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Seat 1: • Dionne Young Faulk • Odest Riley Jr. Seat 2: • Incumbent, Carliss McGhee Seat 3: • Incumbent, Melody O. Ngaue-Tuuholoaki |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
