The Learning Curve: More Cash for Schools Means More Transparency Concerns
Several education advocacy organizations are calling for more transparency, accountability and stakeholder engagement in how school districts spend billions of dollars in coronavirus aid.
Sweetwater Union High School faculty rally against a district proposal to lay off more than 200 employees and shut down learning centers dedicated to struggling students. / Photo by Adriana Heldiz
If true, that’s good news. Because the children of San Diego and California are, in theory, about to be the beneficiaries of a spending bonanza.
Despite those reassuring studies on spending, several education advocacy organizations are calling for more transparency, accountability and stakeholder engagement in how school districts spend this historic investment.
That’s where we come in.
Who Polices the Police
Police killings of people of color have gotten a lot more attention in recent years in large part because of social media. That kind of news travels fast now.
In response, protesters have taken to the streets and advocates have pushed policy to demand reforms, including greater oversight of law enforcement.
Which poses an important question: Who should police the police?
VOSD’s Jesse Marx explains how police oversight is currently structured and what happens when cops get convicted.
How Schools Get Money
In California, there are more than 6 million children in the K-12 public school system. In San Diego County, more than half a million.
Morning Report: Where Sweetwater s COVID-19 Funds Went
Chula Vista High School / Photo by Adriana Heldiz
For months, parents and other stakeholders in South Bay have been trying to figure out where state and federal relief money has gone during the pandemic.
In answering this question, Ashly McGlone dug through the public records and found that while the district has spent emergency funds on things like personal protective equipment and air filters, administrators have also used the relief to pay employees $6.7 million and counting.
The district has defended this decision as legal and appropriate. State and federal rules for coronavirus money give schools a lot of discretion over what constitutes a COVID expense.
San Ysidro School District Has Spent $480K Trying to Recover $291K From Ex-Superintendent
Ex San Ysidro superintendent Manuel Paul received $211,000 in severance pay when he resigned in 2013, after being indicted in a corruption case, as well as $80,000 in leave pay. If all goes well for the district, Paul will pay that back, plus damages and attorney fees.
By Ashly McGlone, Voice of San Diego
Manuel Paul
San Ysidro School District is still trying to recover more than $291,000 from disgraced former superintendent Manuel Paul, and has racked up far more than that in legal bills trying to make it happen.
The district has paid Long Beach law firm Leal-Trejo $480,000 as part of the lawsuit against Paul, filed in February 2015, according to figures provided to Voice of San Diego in response to a Public Records Act request.
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THE BUZZ
GARCETTI A NO-GO: He was there for Joe Biden’s presidential bid from the start, but
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Thursday put an end to longstanding speculation about his future, saying he’s staying in town and won’t be taking a post in the Biden Administration after all.