SELECTED ENTERPRISE & InVESTIGATIVE STORIES
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Here's How Much Money L.A. Parents Are Fundraising For Schools, And What It Buys • In affluent or gentrifying areas of the Los Angeles Unified School District, parent-teacher associations and school booster clubs often foot the bill for expenses you might expect the government to cover: school supplies, art programs; even salaries for assistant principals, gym teachers or science instructors. Since 2016, parents in the district have reliably raised at least $30 million each year — and occasionally much more — according to a database KPCC/LAist built out of more than 1,700 government records. After nearly two years of work, we published a first-of-its-kind data tool to allow parents to compare fundraising totals in schools across L.A. Unified. I also reported on how this fundraising affects efforts to equitably fund lower-income schools.
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Why So Many LAUSD Charter Schools Ended Up With Coronavirus Relief Loans For Small Businesses • In Spring 2020, KPCC/LAist identified a handful of Los Angeles charter schools that had accepted money from the federal Paycheck Protection Program — a loan program meant to help small businesses stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, we didn't know how common it was for charter schools to receive PPP loans. Two months later, "after our own analysis of federal data and charter schools' board documents, we now have a much better idea of how common it is. The answer: very common." More than half of the charter schools in the L.A. Unified School District had received a PPP loan; their loans totaled at least $73.3 million.
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Lewd Photos, Harassment And Retaliation Allegations: Inside The Meltdown At LAUSD's Powerful Watchdog Agency • "The office tasked with inspecting LAUSD's internal workings has been roiled by internal controversy of its own … a KPCC/LAist investigation reveals new details about the turmoil that roiled the department over the last year, and raises the question: Who's holding whom accountable in the L.A. Unified School District?"
LAUSD's Powerful Watchdog Office Has Been Closing Far Fewer Investigations. Why? • "In recent years, the OIG reported a sharp drop in the number of cases its investigative unit completed, according to a KPCC/LAist review of the office's annual reports … Three well-placed sources, one of them a fired OIG investigator, say cases were held open longer than they needed to be under Cabibi's leadership." |
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Why are California charter schools' vaccination rates so much worse than district-run schools? • "Seventh graders in California charter schools were significantly less likely than their peers in district-run public schools to have received all of the vaccinations state law requires last year, KPCC reported last week. Now, a follow-up analysis of state Department of Public Health data revealed roughly the same gap between charter schools — publicly-funded, but run by independent boards and non-profits — and their district counterparts in another grade: kindergarten."
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Ref Rodriguez filed two forms disclosing his 2014 finances. They don't line up • "That form was supposed to cover his 2014 finances — almost the exact same period as the previous form. This time, Rodriguez disclosed nothing about Better 4 You Fundraising. According to that form, obtained by KPCC through a public records request, Rodriguez told PUC Schools he had 'no reportable interests.'"
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