UNDER the RADAR Park

ATIMESINVESTIGATION Chargedwith fraud, he blew whistleonthe college scandal

Seeking leniency,L.A. businessman Morrie Tobin tipped off investigators to the admissions scheme.

By Joel Rubin, MatthewOrmseth, SuhaunaHussain and Richard Winton

MorrieTobin wasinBos- Morrie Tobin tontocut the deal of his life. MORRIE TOBIN had MelMelcon Los Angeles Times It wasearlyApril last agreed to payYale’s AN ADULT escortstwo studentsfrom Today’s Fresh Start Charter SchoolinInglewood.Beverly Hills year.Afew weeksbefore, fed- then-soccer coach to residentsClarkand Jeanette Parker founded it and twoother chartersinCompton and South Los Angeles. eral agentshad descended ensure his daughter got on the multimillion-dollar in, prosecutorssay. home Tobin shares with his wife and some of their six vestors and, in the end, he childreninL.A.’sHancock might getsome leniency. UNDER THE RADAR Park. But Tobin, 55,had some- Warrant in hand, the thing else to offerup—a agents searched the French nuggetofinformation that chateau-style mansion for fi- had nothingtodowith stock Wealthycouple’shighlylucrativeoperation, despite yearsof nancial recordsand other markets. He hoped it would evidence to nail Tobin, the interest prosecutors and tip suspected ringleader of a the scales abit further in his allegations of financial andacademic wrongdoing, illustrates stock scam that defrauded favor. investors of millions of dol- When Andrew Lelling, the glaring flaws in California’s regulation of charter schools lars. the U.S. Attorney for Massa- The raid imploded To- chusetts, unveiled asweep- bin’s very comfortable life. ing investigation intoacol- By Anna M. Phillips model Mercedes-Benz outside the Faced with the prospect of lege admissions cheating Firstofthree parts school, shewould think: “Look at years in prison and aseven- scam earlier this month, he your school, then look at what you figure fine, the businessman made acryptic reference to The warning signs appeared drive.” flew to Boston to meet with howhis investigators had soon afterDenise Kawamotoac- “That didn’t sit well with us the federal prosecutors han- uncovered the alleged con- cepted ajob at Today’s Fresh Start teachers,” she said. dling the case. He waslook- spiracy. CharterSchoolinSouth Los Ange- The Parkers have cast them- ing for mercy. “Our firstleadinthis les. selvesasselfless philanthropists, They offeredhim astand- came duringinterviews with Though she wasfresh outofcol- telling the CaliforniaBoardofEdu- arddeal: Come clean about atargetofanentirelysepa- lege,she wasprettysureitwasn’t cation thatthey have “devotedall of the conjob he had runonin- [See Tobin, A16] normal for the school to churn so our lives to the education of other quickly through teachers or to people’schildren, committedmany mountsurveillance camerasineach millions of ourown dollars directly classroom. Old computers were ly- to that particular purpose, with no ■■■ ELECTION 2020 ■■■ ing around, butthe campus had no gain directly to us.” internet access. Pay waslow and But the couple have,infact, supplies scarce —she wasn’t given made millions from their charter Embracing new era booksfor her students. schools. Financial recordsshowthe She struggled to reconcile the Parkers’ schools have paid more school’sconditionswith what little LA SchoolReport than$800,000annually to rent build- she knewabout its wealthy found- MANY of the people responsible ingsthe couple own. Thecharters forblack candidates ers, Clarkand Jeanette Parkerof forregulating the Parkers’ schools have contractedout services to the Beverly Hills. had accepted thousands of dollars Parkers’ nonprofits and companies When Kawamoto sawtheir late- from them in campaign donations. and paid [See Charters, A10] tions of racism, the two Booker and Harris are Democrats areredefining the ideaofwhat it means to defining what it means be ablackpresidentialcan- Trump to cut to runfor president didate. post-Obama. In their tone, their words, nations’ aid wheretheytraveland which audiences they choose, the in retaliation By Jaweed Kaleem senators have embraced and Melanie Mason their black identities and fol- The president says El lowers in ways unprecedent- Salvador,Honduras CoryBookertalks ed for mainstream presi- and Guatemala aren’t frankly about racism as he dentialhopefuls. doing enough to curb campaigns, pointing out They stand in starkcon- migration. WORLD,A4 howthe “darkspirit of big- trast to BarackObama, who otry” waspartofthe nation’s early in his 2008 campaign Offshore drilling founding and urging crowds avoided talking about his ban is upheld to speakthe truth about race to the pointthat the JudgerejectsTrump’s prejudice. [See Candidates, A14] order revoking Obama Kamala Harrisbluntly rule in the Arctic and tells supporters that racism is apotent force in society, O’Rourke kicks Atlantic. NATION, A8 saying Americans have for offhis campaign Weather toolong avoided confronting Mostlysunny, warm. the “awful, shamelesshis- Texas Democrathas set L.A. Basin: 85/60. B10 tory on race in this country.” high expectations. Can In 2019,morethan adec- he meet them? A15 Printed with soy inkson partially recycled paper. ade afterthe nation made Allegation could historybyelecting its first blackpresident, and halfway harm aBiden run MarcMartin Los Angeles Times through the term of apresi- Anew claim of uninvited LY TONG,aself-described “freedom fighter,” flips through abooklet describ- dent whose wordsand ac- touching maycosthim ing his past exploitsduring avisit to Little Saigon in We stminster in 2008. tions have drawn accusa- female votes. A13 On his final approach ‘VietnameseJames Bond,’ an ex-fighterpilot,isa polarizing anti-communist figureinfailing health California Jewels Alongtime supporter,Thien Thanh Los Angeles |April 15, 10am By AnhDo Nguyen, leaned towardhim. “If youcan hear me, pleaselet me know,”hesaid. They calledhim the VietnameseJames In acoma since March 21,Tong turned NewYork Jewels Bond. his head slightly. New York |May 1, 1pm On aSeptemberday in 19 92,LyTong “He’stryinghis best,”Nguyensaid. hijacked an Airbus A310 on acharterflight FormanyVietnamese immigrants from for Vietnam Airlines, flew over Ho Chi the older generation —staunchRepubli- LOS ANGELES PREVIEW Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, and cans and parents and grandparents who April 11-14 dropped his munition: thousands of little sawtheir progeny become increasingly paperbombs calling for the overthrow of liberal—Tong, 74,was an uncompromising INQUIRIES the communist government. enemy against communism.And that, in +1 (323) 436 5424 Afterthe rain of leaflets,hejumped their eyes, made him ahero. from the aircraft, parachuting right intoa “Many Vietnamese in the community [email protected] swamp. respect howherisked himself in thename bonhams.com/jewelry Today,hookedtotubes, the former of freedom for everyone,” said Hao Thai Cu, SouthVietnamesefighter pilot lies on a presidentofthe South Vietnamese Air Bonhams hospitalbed in San Diegoand battles for ForceAssn. of SanDiego.Cuiscoordinat- 7601 W. Sunset Blvd consciousness as he nears his final descent, ing Tong’s medical treatment and promis- Los Angeles, CA 90046 diagnosed with liver disease. es that the group [See Pilot, A12] ©2019Bonhams &ButterfieldsAuctioneers Corp. All rights reserved. Bond No. 57BSBGL0808 A10 SUNDAY, MARCH31, 2019 S LATIMES.COM

Christina House Los Angeles Times YANIN ARDILA and Denise Kawamoto, former teachers at Today’s Fresh Start Charter School in South L.A., questioned the way the Parkers operated the campus. THE BUSINESS OF SCHOOLS

[Charters, from A1] dent of the Beverly Hills Republi- Clark Parker generous consulting can Club, author of the self-pub- fees, all with taxpayer money, a lished book “Will You Marry Me? Times investigation found. Jesus Christ Proposes to You!” and Presented with The Times’ aregular contributor to L.A.’s larg- findings, the Parkers did not re- est black newspaper, the Los Ange- spond to multiple requests for les Sentinel, which publishes her comment. columns on topics such as single How the Parkers have stayed in motherhood and why eggs come in business, surviving years of allega- many colors. As superintendent of tions of financial and academic Today’s Fresh Start, she is paid an wrongdoing, illustrates glaring annual salary of about $285,000. flaws in the way California oversees Her husband, Clark, is a its growing number of charter businessman, a vendor of security schools. devices and a real estate developer Many of the people responsible who, in an online biography, says for regulating the couple’s schools, he has “developed hundreds of including school board members commercial and residential prop- and state elected officials, had ac- erties” in Southern California. He cepted thousands of dollars from sits on the board of the South the Parkers in campaign contrib- Coast Air Quality Management utions. District and lists among his acco- Like other charter operators lades the title of honorary consul who have run into trouble, the general of the Central African Re- Parkers were able to appeal to the public. state Board of Education when The Parkers are in their 70s. Be- they faced the threat of being shut tween them, they have two PhDs down; the panel is known for over- and a doctorate of theology from turning local regulators’ decisions. the University of Central Arizona ATimes analysis of the state (a two-man operation forced to board’s decisions has found that, stop conferring degrees in 1980, ac- over the last five years, it has sided Mel Melcon Los Angeles Times cording to contemporaneous re- with charters over local school dis- THE PARKERS, who are in their 70s, live in a 7,700-square-foot home in Beverly Hills with an ports in the Arizona Republic), St. tricts or county offices of education estimated value of $15.3 million. Between them, they have two PhDs and a doctorate of theology. Charles Universityand Pacific In- in about 70% of appeals. ternational University. Both St. California law also enables trou- lowed unscrupulous entrepre- Charles and Pacific International bled charter operators to escape neurs to profit from a fragile and are listed in “Degree Mills: The Bil- sanction or scrutiny by moving to How do you start a charter school fractured regulatory patchwork. lion-Dollar Industry That Has school districts more willing to ac- in California? In L.A., the founder of the char- Sold Over a Million Fake Di- cept them. The Parkers have used ter school network Celerity Educa- plomas,” a book about unaccredit- this to their advantage, keeping tional Group recently pleaded ed for-profit colleges accused of one step ahead of the regulators. guiltyto a felony count of conspira- selling degrees co-written by Allen “They’re like cats,” said cy to misappropriate and embezzle Ezell, a former FBI agent who ran a Kawamoto, who began working at public funds. Federal prosecutors task force on diploma mills. one of the couple’s charter schools You can apply for approval to any of found that Vielka McFarlane had In examining Today’s Fresh in 2006. “They have so many lives.” hundreds of local schooldistricts. used her charter schools’ credit Start, The Times interviewed 11 card to pay for expensive clothing, current and former teachers and :: luxury hotel stays and first-class administrators; reviewed hun- flights for her and her family. She dreds of pages of financial and legal ACCEPTED California now has more than REJECTED faces a maximum sentence of five records; and spoke to those re- 1,300 charter schools — more than years in prison. sponsible for overseeing the or- any other state. Oxford Preparatory Academy, ganization’s schools. It found that Twenty-seven years ago, when You’ll need to find a aChino charter, was forced to close there were plenty of reasons to be California became just the second in 2017 after an audit determined wary of the Parkers well before the ACCEPTED schoolsite ... state to enact a law establishing If rejected, you can (unlessthe schoolyou that the school’s founder had been couple opened their first charter charter schools, state leaders appeal to the county want to open is online.) laundering state funds through her school. framed the experiment as a mod- boardofeducation, private company. Another audit The couple’s first foray into edu- est one that would allow only 10 0 whichcan approve found that a charter network CEO cation was in 1968, when they schools at first. Free-market advo- your schoolinstead. in Livermore had misspent $67 mil- opened a collection of day-care cates saw charters as a way to em- lion in tax-exempt bonds and tried centers in South L.A. under the PTED ... recruit REJECTED power all students to choose from a CE students ... to mislead auditors. When the net- name Golden Day Schools. As di- variety of schools. Other support- AC work filed for bankruptcy and rector, Clark Parker won lucrative ers envisioned them as laborato- closed its four charter schools, state contracts to enroll children ries for testing new teaching meth- You canappealto 1,500 students were displaced. from low-income families — until ods and then bringing successes the StateBoard of Gov. Gavin Newsom signed leg- 2011 , when state officials cut him off, back to traditional public schools. Education,which ... and renewyour islation earlier this month requir- citing “serious, chronic, and sys- The new, privately operated can approve your charter every fiveyears. ing more transparency and stricter temic program violations.” schools would be government- school despite conflict-of-interest rules for char- Two state audits of the day-care funded and tuition-free. They priorrejections. ter schools. Those reforms could program accused the nonprofit of would unleash creativity by liber- lead to changes when they take ef- falsifying records, padding attend- ating schools from many of the REJECTED fect next year. But they are unlikely ance figures and spending public state education code’s rules. But to to fix the structural issues that money to pay above-market rent ensure that they lived up to their have allowed problem charter for properties owned by the Park- promises and spent public money You can try again and school operators to circumvent ers. The organization, which the properly, they would have to be vet- applyinanother district. oversight. state said Clark Parker oversaw, ted and overseen by governmental “There are wildly different lev- had also used public funds to reim- bodies, beginning with the school Sources: Times reporting. Graphics reporting by Anna Phillips els of attention being paid to these burse itself for parking tickets, districts in which they were lo- Swetha Kannan Los Angeles Times schools, and charter schools are Clark Parker’s personal property cated. finding ways to shop around for the taxes and vehicle registration fees That was sufficient check and they had the ability or inclination state’s most robust monitors. But weakest oversight,” said Greg for his Rolls-Royce and Mercedes- balance for the civic-minded indi- to properly police the independ- the roster of charter authorizers Richmond, president of the Na- Benz — costs that state investiga- viduals who ran many charter ently run schools. also includes school districts with tional Assn. of Charter School Au- tors determined had nothing to do schools. But as the number of char- About 330 government entities colorful histories of corruption and thorizers. “As long as California’s with child care. ters in the state grew, the same law have the authority to authorize financial mismanagement. Some authorizing structure stays frag- In 2003, the Los Angeles County that allowed many founders to try and supervise charters in Califor- are so small that they have fewer mented across more than 300 dif- Office of Education approved new ideas with great success cre- nia. By contrast, Texas, the state than a dozen employees in all, with ferent entities, you’re going to keep Jeanette Parker’s petition to open ated opportunities for others. with the second-largest number of insufficient resources to be effec- having these problems.” acharter school. The law allowed for a multitude charter schools, has 18, according tive watchdogs. Over the next 16 years, Today’s of different bodies to serve as “au- to its state education agency. New The system has given rise to :: Fresh Startexpanded from a sin- thorizers,” watching over the new York has two active authorizers. many well-respected charter or- gle campus to the three sites it cur- schools. It gave oversight power Los Angeles Unified, the na- ganizations across the state, in- The Parkers live in a 7,700- rently operates in Los Angeles, not just to the state board, but also tion’s second-largest school dis- cluding KIPP and Green Dot Pub- square-foot home in Beverly Hills Compton and Inglewood. to each of the state’s many school trict, has an entire division devoted lic Schools, which reach students with an estimated value of about Enrollment swelled from 282 stu- districts and county boards of edu- to overseeing the charters it autho- in neighborhoods desperate for $15.3 million. dents to 1,150 in grades K-8 last cation — regardless of whether rizes and is considered one of the better options. But it also has al- Jeanette Parker is a past presi- [See Charters, A11] LATIMES.COM S SUNDAY,MARCH 31,2019 A11

[Charters, from A10] letter expressing concern over the school year. The vast majority of its charter’s test scores and asking for students are African American or adetailed plan for their improve- Latino children from financially ment. struggling families. Inglewood gave the Parkers a “As soon as we approved them, secure foothold, but it was only a we started getting signs they wer- partial answer to their problems. en’t really operating in the best in- Jeanette Parker had never terests of students and teachers,” stopped fighting the county’s deci- said Darline Robles, a USC profes- sion to revoke her charter — even sor of education who was superin- though the State Board of Educa- tendent of the Los Angeles County tion had taken over the county’s Office of Education when it author- supervisory duties. In 2015, when ized Today’s Fresh Start. the California Supreme Court up- In 2007, a Today’s Fresh Start held the revocation, and other teacher tipped off Robles’ staff to regulatory changes took effect, To- the possibility that the charter was day’s Fresh Start could no longer tampering with the state’s stand- operate its schools in South L.A. ardized tests. An investigation ulti- and Compton under the state mately found that something had board’s oversight. gone wrong — students had been The Parkers, looking for a life- asked to revisit portions of the ex- line, turned to the two districts in ams they had already completed. which the schools were located: No one could say how many chil- L.A. Unified and Compton Unified. dren had participated, or at whose Officials in L.A. took a hard look direction, but it was serious at Today’s Fresh Start and saw enough that county officials pro- how the Parkers’ schools had be- posed sending monitors to oversee come more entangled with their fi- testing. nancial interests. Jeanette Parker refused, writ- After five years under state ing, “There is no state law requiring oversight, they were still using pub- proctors.” lic money to rent buildings they In response, the county wid- owned. ened its inquiry. Clark Parker was no longer on Officials learned that Today’s Luis Sinco Los Angeles Times the board of Today’s Fresh Start — Fresh Start was renting buildings PARENTS in 2017 protest Celerity Educational Group’s plan for a charter school in North Holly- he was on the payroll. Board min- owned by the Parkers and paying wood. Celerity’s founder recently pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misappropriate public funds. utes showed that his wife’s schools Golden Day Schools, their state- had hired him to manage construc- funded child-care business, to pro- tion of the Inglewood school. His vide food for the charters’ stu- initial contract was for $575,000. dents. The charter network had In a strongly worded report to also spent most of a $50,000 state the school board, L.A. Unified offi- grant to hire an unaccredited uni- cials wrote that the Parkers had versity to recommend ways to im- potentially broken California’s prove its charter schools. That uni- conflict-of-interest laws. They versity was founded by Jeanette were also concerned about the Parker. charter’s academics. Although of- Accused by the county of self- ficials found Today’s Fresh Start’s dealing, financial conflicts of inter- test scores acceptable, they wrote est and wrongly administering the that the charter was struggling state tests, Jeanette Parker re- with English learners. These stu- jected the county’s findings. She dents made up 30% of the charter’s said she already had addressed her population, yet over a two-year pe- financial interest in contracts and riod, not a single one had been re- leases by recusing herself from vot- classified as English-proficient. ing on them, leaving those deci- The Parkers denied any wrong- sions to the charter network’s gov- doing. In a speech to the board, erning board. Clark Parker said that Today’s That was an argument that Fresh Start should be judged on could stand up only if the network’s how much it had raised its stu- board was independent. But dents’ test scores, not on other is- county officials found that more sues. The schools were trouble- than half of its members — who in- free, he said, “not one incident of cluded the Parkers — had a finan- any problem at all.” cial stake in the schools. The couple’s lawyer argued that “Thus, it appears that Jeanette L.A. Unified was unfairly holding Parker approves her own actions, them to a stricter conflict-of-inter- evaluates her own performance, est law that applied to district-run sets her own salary and single-han- schools. The law that applied to dedly decides what will occur at Jeff Gritchen Associated Press charters was different. TFSCS,” county officials wrote in a THEN-GOV. Arnold Schwarzenegger visits KIPP L.A. Preparatory School in Boyle Heights in The L.A. school board rejected reportlayingoutthecaseforrevok- 2006. California now has more than 1,300 charter schools — more than any other state. Today’s Fresh Start’s petition. ing the charter. If the charter schools were go- In late 2007, the L.A. County O’Connell led department staff in quiry but closed it after interview- ing to stay open, the Parkers would Board of Education voted to close recommending that the board ing two teachers, according to a need to find another authorizing Today’s Fresh Start, citing more keep Today’s Fresh Start open, ‘Every day, it memo the office provided to The body. than 50 legal and regulatory viola- which the board — including Times. “There does not appear to In July 2015, Today’s Fresh Start tions. Austin — unanimously approved. was like, be any fraud involved,” they wrote. became the first charter approved In states such as New York or The new school year was only In its 2011 audit of the Parkers’ by Compton Unified, a district that Massachusetts, where the powerto weeks away and if the vote had day-care operations, the state had been struggling under a cloud authorize and oversee charter been no, hundreds of students what should reached a different conclusion. It of mismanagement and corrup- schools is concentrated in the would have had to scramble to find found that as Golden Day’s direction for decades. Compton as- hands of a select few regulatory anew school. I do? Should tor, Clark Parker had been system- sumed responsibility for oversee- bodies, that might have marked During O’Connell’s two terms in atically overbilling the state De- ing two of the group’s sites — one in the end of the Parkers’ journey. In office, campaign finance records partment of Education and using Compton and one in South L.A. California, it was only the begin- show, the Parkers had donated I run in there money meant for his day-care cen- In response to questions from ning. more than $73,000 to his various ters to pay the salaries of Today’s The Times, district Supt. Darin The Parkers sued the county to political committees. O’Connell Fresh Start employees. Brawley said that he had visited try to get its decision overturned said the money played no role in his and call 911? In court filings, Parker disputed the schools twice, most recently in and keep their schools open. While decision. the state’s account. He said that 2017. But when asked for records that case was pending, they ap- “In the case of Fresh Start, it Should I just some of his employees had worked from these visits, district officials pealed to the State Board of Edu- was one of those occasions where I for both the day-care centers and said they had none. Nor did they cation, an 11-member body ap- agreed with the state board,” he the charter schools. The audit “is have any of the financial records, pointed by the governor that has wrote to The Times. “The charter get out and flawed and it should be dismissed such as bank statements, annual the power to overrule decisions served an overwhelming number because it is written by Biased tax filings, contracts or lease by school districts and county of low-income, minority kids that I work at Auditors and it is based on specu- agreements, that vigilant autho- boards. believed would contribute to my lation,” he wrote in a request for an rizers use to monitor charter The board often grants appeals overarching focus on closing the appeal. schools. to charters that have been rejected achievement gap.” Starbucks?’ State officials were not per- The Parkers became major elsewhere, sometimes for serious Austin wasn’t as confident. In suaded; they stopped funding the donors to the political campaigns —ANDREW GOUDY, financial and academic failings. retrospect, he said, “I’m not sure it day-care centers. of two Compton Unified board Though it is supposed to be a was the best outcome for kids.” former teacher at Today’s Fresh The state Department of Edu- members. standard-bearer of sorts for other Several months after the state Start, on his frustrations at cation is currently suing Golden Compton school board races authorizers, the state board has a board voted to renew Today’s the charter school Day and Clark Parker to recover are often small-time affairs. With reputation for leniency. Fresh Start’s charter, a teacher more than $19 million it says the unions picking up the cost of mai- Charter schools approved by contacted county and state educa- nonprofit misspent. lers and phone banking, candi- the state board “win by losing,” tion officials. into her first-grade class because State officials had decided they dates have raised less than $10,000 said Thomas Saenz, a civil rights “I would like to report on a they didn’t have a classroom or a could no longer trust Clark Parker and still won. The Parkers wrote attorney who sits on the L.A. school in Los Angeles that is run teacher of their own. On a few occa- to run a day-care business, but large checks — over the course of County Board of Education and poorly and is a danger to their stu- sions, she said, she had to inter- they allowed his wife’s charter the last several years, they have voted to revoke Today’s Fresh dents,” wrote Andrew Goudy on vene to stop the staff from serving schools to stay open. given more than $21,000 to Comp- Start’s charter. “They lose in front the first of nine pages that detailed children bread that was past its ex- Staying in business required ton Unified board President Micah of the school district or the county, problems including cracks in class- piration date. Today’s Fresh Start to keep mov- Ali and Vice President Satra Zu- but they win because they get the room walls, broken air-condition- In a 2014 interview with Beverly ing from one authorizer to another. rita. state as an overseer, and that ing and heating systems, and cafe- Hills Weekly, Jeanette Parker said In 2009, the Parkers persuaded Neither Ali nor Zurita respond- means they get less oversight.” teria food served spoiled or under- her motives for opening Today’s the Inglewood Unified School Dis- ed to requests for comment. cooked. He had, he wrote, maybe Fresh Start were charitable. trict to let them operate a school In late 2017, as Compton was :: one textbook for every three stu- “I wanted to start the charter under its oversight. With the help considering whether to renew To- dents. school personally because I saw of a nearly $20-million facilities day’s Fresh Start, district staff pre- In 2010, the year they made their Goudy wrote that he’d over- the need to educate the inner-city grant from the state, the couple pared a report listing some of the case to the state board, the Parkers heard an administrator call several youth,” she told the weekly news- built a large, boldly colored school charter petition’s deficiencies. spent $15,000 on lobbyists. An students a “total waste” and speak paper. She had grown up in Birm- building on a stretch of Imperial They noted that Jeanette Parker NAACP representative came out of the opportunity “to get rid of” ingham, Ala., with little money, she Highway known for prostitution. had not disclosed who was on her to support them, as did former Lt. those with disabilities. said. She wanted to reach students Inglewood proved to be un- organization’s board or whom Gov. Mervyn Dymally, who in the Years later, in an interview with like herself. equipped to oversee a charter her charter was doing business course of his political career had re- The Times, he said he had never Ardila saw it differently. “They school. with. ceived tens of thousands of dollars worked at a school that showed so didn’t care about students, it was In 2012, with its finances in com- “Please note that the petition is from the Parkers. little regard for students’ well-be- just about money,” she said of the plete disarray, the district was tak- generally vague and inconsistent “I might have been lobbied for ing. school’s leaders. en over by the state Department of regarding the details of the pro- Today’s Fresh Start more than any “Every day, it was like, what After spending a year in a cock- Education. Overwhelmed and sub- grams outlined in the petition,” the other vote I cast on the state should I do?” Goudy said. “Should roach-infested classroom, she said, jected to a rotating cast of state- report said. board,” said former state board Irun in there and call 911? Should I she was moved into a nicer space. appointed leaders, it paid little at- Still, district officials recom- member Ben Austin, who had mis- just get out and work at Star- But the school remained a chaotic tention to the district’s charters. mended renewal. They had been givings about allowing the charter bucks?” place. She left after three years for Asked for copies of charter over- assured, Brawley said, “that the to stay open. The choice, he said, was made ajob at another charter school. sight and inspection reports dat- deficiencies identified in the peti- Austin said he was especially for him. Shortly after he sent the Kawamoto, the former Today’s ing back to when it first authorized tion would be rectified.” troubled by the charter’s academic emails, he said, he was fired. Fresh Start teacher who wasn’t Today’s Fresh Start, the district When the charter’s renewal performance. Its test scores swung Astate employee emailed back, given books for her students, said said it had none. came up in December, Compton wildly, from lows that landed it on a promising to address his concerns. she was suspicious of the odd way Oversight in Inglewood was so school board members did not dis- state list of “persistently lowest- It’s unclear if anyone did. As years in which she was paid. She said she lax that in 2015, when the Parkers cuss the charter’s academic per- achieving” schools to large in- went by, Goudy lost hope that was told to fill out two sets of time asked to have their charter re- formance. They did not question creases in the span of a year. The there would ever be consequences. cards, making it seem as though newed, district officials sat on the the Parkers, who sat before them in pressure to approve the charter He died in October 2018 at the age she divided her time between the request, blowing a 60-day deadline. the audience. was intense, he said. of 48. charter school where she worked As a result, Today’s Fresh Start’s What they did was a foregone “I’m white. And I was getting In interviews, former and cur- and one of the Parkers’ day-care Inglewood charter was auto- conclusion. lobbied by African American lead- rent Today’s Fresh Start teachers centers, which operated out of the matically renewed until 2020. The board took less than a min- ers to vote in a way they perceived echoed his concerns. The more ex- same location. At the end of each State Administrator Thelma ute to vote unanimously to renew would serve the African American perienced among them said they month, her salary was split into Meléndez, who was chosen in 2017 Today’s Fresh Start until June community,” Austin said. “That’s a knew the charter was receiving two paychecks, she said. Goudy to lead the district, said that Ingle- 2023. fairly uncomfortable position to be millions of dollars in government and Ardila — who had never wood doesn’t have the staff to over- in.” funding each year — an amount worked for Golden Day — said they see its charters as rigorously as a Former Times staff writer Zahira Recordings of state board tied to its enrollment — but they also were paid in this way. large district such as L.A. Unified. Torres contributed to this report. meetings show little discussion of could not see evidence of where the While Today’s Fresh Start was Like many small districts, it can’t the L.A. County Board of Educa- money went. under the county education afford to devote even one employee tion’s findings of self-dealing, regu- When Yanin Ardila was hired in board’s oversight, officials there to the task full time. latory violations and testing irreg- 2009, she arrived to find no work- tried to interest the L.A. County There are signs, however, that About this series ularities. Problems at the Golden books, notebooks or crayons for district attorney’s office in investi- Meléndez is paying more attention Tuesday: Small districts Day centers didn’t come up. her students, she said. Half a dozen gating the Parkers’ financial prac- than her predecessors. Earlier this reap big profits by approving State Supt. of Instruction Jack kindergartners had been plopped tices. Prosecutors began an in- month, she sent Jeanette Parker a charters with little oversight. $2.75 DESIGNATED AREASHIGHER©2019 WSCE TUESDAY,APRIL 2, 2019 latimes.com Plan would clear 54,000 convictions for marijuana

fenders arestill working out ProsecutorsinL.A., howtonotify people of the changes to their records. San Joaquin counties The effortispartofa team with atech partnership with Code for America,anonprofit tech nonprofittoexpunge organization that developed records automatically. acomputer algorithm to quickly analyze countydata By Alene to determine whichcases Tchekmedyian areeligible to be cleared under Proposition 64. Genaro Molina Los Angeles Times Prosecutors said dec- L.A. POLICE push back acrowd on CrenshawBoulevard after astampedeerupted at avigil Mondayfor rap- Afterrecreational mari- ades of drug enforcement per Nipsey Hussle, who was fatallyshot Sunday. The LAFD transported more than adozen people to hospitals. juana waslegalizedinCali- disproportionately targeted fornia, prosecutors in Los minorities.Studies have Angeles Countyexpected a shown thatpeopleofcolor “tsunami” of petitions from aremorelikelytobearrested people looking to clear their and punished in connection Husslestirscityconversation old criminal records. with marijuana offenses, But the process turned eventhoughwhites, blacks outtobecumbersome and and Latinosuse and sell difficult to navigate, so most [See Marijuana, A8] As police huntsuspect,questions of violence and star’sdream linger people didn’t eventry. “Frankly,veryfew people creativitythrough avenues took the legal action re- By Richard Winton, such as the tech industry quired to clear their re- Mark Puente that have not traditionally cords,” L.A. CountyDist. and CindyChang been rooted in black and Atty.Jackie Lacey said at a TRUMP brownneighborhoods. downtownnewsconference The killing waslikemany Hussle’s choice to put his Monday.“And yet, the willof others in this city—ayoung moneyinthe communityhe the voters wasclear.” man gunned down on a came from as the owner of In amovetocarryout THREAT streetinSouthLos Angeles. many small businesses, in- thatwill, prosecutors in L.A. The questions were fa- cluding the clothing store and SanJoaquin counties miliar too. Wasitgang re- wherehewas fatally shot announced plans to auto- lated? Apersonal dispute? Sunday,ispartofwhat matically dismiss or reduce SPARKS But becausethe victim many seeashis legacy.He about 54,000 marijuana-re- wasrenowned rapper viewedentrepreneurship as lated convictions, partofa Nipsey Hussle, the mourn- away to find success beyond growing movement to offer a TRADE ing transcended family and Genaro Molina Los Angeles Times the long-shot occupations of clean slatetoCalifornians friends and becameacity- LAPD SOURCES saythey have identified asuspect sports and music. hamstrung by their past wide conversation. in Hussle’s slaying, but no arrestshad been made. But the choice to stay nowthatpot is legal. Hussle’s coming of ageas closetohome also put him in An estimated 50,000 con- ANXIETY amember of the Rollin’60s the line of fire as awealthy victions in L.A.Countyand Cripswho madeitbig in the Always looking out forhis ’hood and influential person in a 4,000moreinSan Joaquin musicindustrywas on Ange- Long before he was nominated foraGrammy, Nipsey placewheredisputes among Countyare eligible.It’sun- lenos’ minds. Theconversa- acquaintances and rivals clear howfar back those con- Hussle was achampion of South L.A. PAGE A12 Closing the southern tion included broadernarra- aresometimes settled vio- victions go,but many in- borderorports would tives about the persistent vi- He was an inspirational rapper lently. volvepossessing asmall olence in South L.A. and “Being quick to the gun— amount of marijuana and causepolitical chaos Hussle’sefforts to help Hussle poured the trauma of South Los Angeles’ the resolving of problems could dateback decades. and cost economies young people harnesstheir streetsinto his music. CALENDAR, E1 [See Hussle, A12] Prosecutors and public de- billions, experts say.

By MollyO’Toole, NoahBierman Clooney’s boycott and Eli Stokols

WASHINGTON —When call draws blowback the Trump administration abruptly shutteredthe San Ysidroborder crossing for idiosyncrasies by having his five hoursonthe Sunday af- Some criticize the star roast beef sandwichesdeliv- terThanksgivingfollowing a ered to atreenook. skirmish with agroup of mi- fortaking on asultan From Elizabeth Taylor grants, holiday traffic over anti-gaylaws. celebrating six of her eight snarled for hours south of honeymoons theretoDon- San Diego. By JoeMozingo, ald Trumpholingupwith Businessesonthe U.S. Shashank Bengali Stormy Daniels in one of its side of theborder lost about and Ben Poston famous curbside bungalows, $5.3 million in sales, local of- the Pink Palace on Sunset ficials said. Tens of thou- Boulevardhas remained at sands of people were tempo- The Beverly Hills Hotel the heartofHollywood since rarily stuck on both sides of has long been arefugewhere the beginning. the border, creating chaosin Hollywood could both hide No one muchnoticed nearbyareas. and showits true self. Where when thesultan of Brunei President Trump nowis actors couldretreat from bought the hotel in 19 96. threateningtoincrease the scandal, divorce, abotched Even fewerwould have con- scaleofthat disruption, plastic surgery. nected that meal at the Polo vowing to indefinitely close WhereHumphrey Bogart Loungewith the tiny,oil-rich the U.S. border withMexico and FrankSinatra —and autocracy halfway around to showhis resolve—and his many,manyothers —got el- the world. pique—astens of thou- egantly trashed at the Polo But arecent announce- sandsofCentral American Lounge.Where waiters ment by the sultanatemight Kent Nishimura Los Angeles Times migrantscontinue to jam le- catered to Howard Hughes’ turn that sip of Chairman’s SUPT.DAVID THOMING of NewJerusalem district in Tracy, known for galentry points and un- Sour —named afterSinatra being charter-friendly, says he “paid aprice” forsupporting schoolchoice. guarded remote areas. —abit too sour. Trump’sacting chief of Brunei says it will stone staff, Mick Mulvaney,said ATIMESINVESTIGATION to death anyone charged Sunday thatthe president, with adulteryorhomosex- who has threatened to close uality, in accordance with the border before,isnot sharia law, beginning bluffing. But WhiteHouse Wednesday. MONEYTALKING officials declined to provide Thisbrought outthe side details of what, if anything, of Hollywood that didn’t Trump intendstodo. need to hide behind Across California,small school districts thathad felt It is probably impossible bougainvillea-draped walls, to close the entire2,000- the one it lovedtoshowthe the pain of the GreatRecession arereaping big profits mile-longborder.But world: fighting for acause. Trump could shut some or Duncan McGlynn Getty Images In acolumn for Deadline by approving charterswithlittleoversight all of the 47 official entry GEORGE CLOONEY on Thursday,George ports, whichprocess more acknowledged thathis Clooney called for aboycott than 1million people and boycott of the sultan’s of the hotel, Hotel Bel-Air By Anna M. Phillips or making harmful cuts,the district was about $1.7 billion in com- hotels is mostlysymbolic. [See Boycott, A9] Second of three parts facing insolvency and the threat of astate merce every day. takeover. Even alimited and tem- The superintendent’s plan wasborn of In California’scharter school law, porary closurewould be felt necessity. Woodard sawfinancial salvation. from California to Texas. A In the aftermath of the Great Reces- In the years to come, some would longer-term closure would ReportonUSC After 2016,labor sion, as tax revenue plummeted, small praise his creativity.Others would accuse devastatelocal businesses gynecologist may cautious for2020 school districts across California quickly him of embarrassing the district. Every- and ripple throughregional stayconfidential Union leaderswant to felt the pain. Many were already lean, one agreed thathis strategywas entre- supply chains,directly af- whereadministrators didthe work of two preneurial, though not everyone meant it fecting the farms and auto- Alaw firm’s investiga- avoid the membership or three,and students were counted in as acompliment. mobile manufacturers tion into Dr.George revoltthatcame from tens, not thousands. The economic col- Courtrecords detail how—method- [See Border, A4] Tyndall remains unfin- their early supportof lapsethreatened their very existence. ically and rapidly —the Acton-Agua Dul- ished, and the school Hillary Clinton. In Supt. Brent Woodard’srural dis- ce Unified School District began approv- mayciteattorney-client NATION,A5 trict,whichcovered the towns of Acton ing newcharterschools.The firstyear, privilegetokeep it se- Mexico president Weather: Cooler. and Agua Dulce about 45 miles north of there were two. The next: 11 .By2017, the cret from his alleged L.A. Basin: 70/55. B6 LosAngeles, enrollment in 2013 had fallen district, whichoperates only three sees aminefield victims, alawyersays. by morethanaquarter over five years. schools of its own, had authorized17 char- Andres Manuel Lopez CALIFORNIA, B1 The area’spopulation had aged, the terschools. Obrador sidesteps media Printed with soy inkson birthrate declined and some students Some were outside the district’s geo- questions about Trump’s partially recycled paper. were choosing to attend schools outside graphical boundaries, in placessuchas threattoclose the south- the district. Without increasingrevenue L.A., Santa [See Charters, A6] ern border. WORLD, A4 A6 TUESDAY, APRIL2,2019 LATIMES.COM

Photographs by Kent Nishimura Los Angeles Times STUDENTS play basketball during recess at the New Jerusalem School District. In the mid-1990s, rising costs sent the district’s leaders searching for new revenue. A FINANCIAL INCENTIVE

[Charters, from A1] opportunity. Clarita and Pasadena. Some were Over the next two decades, New based entirely online. Jerusalem opened a series of what Each charter brought the dis- are called dependent charters — trict something it badly needed: schools that are free from many money. state regulations but still con- “It was common knowledge ... trolled by their local school dis- just go to [Acton-Agua Dulce], tricts. The charters siphoned stu- they’ll sponsor anyone,” said Ken dents away from neighboring Pfalzgraf, who won a seat on the school districts, along with the district’s board in 2016. state revenue that came with Woodard did not respond to them. several requests for comment. Thoming quickly got a reputa- Across California, other small tion for being charter-friendly. districts hatched similar plans as When a lawyer representing char- word spread that they could fix ter schools called to ask whether he their financial problems by ap- would consider approving an inde- proving certain types of charters pendently run charter not con- and then charging them for a range trolled by the district, Thoming of services. and his school board agreed. State law allows school districts After that, the tiny school dis- to charge charters fees that are trict found itself awash in charter meant to cover the cost of monitor- petitions. ing the schools, but it does not re- By 2016, New Jerusalem was strict how districts use the money. overseeing six independent char- As a result, districts have spent ter schools in addition to its seven charter oversight fees on sports BOBBY McWilliams, 15, and Devin de Lemos, 17, both of Tracy, high-five during the New Jerusalem district-run charters and its lone coaches, textbooks and computers district’s fall player picnic. When California’s charter law passed, the district saw an opportunity. traditional school. Over five years, for their own schools. its enrollment had soared from 686 When the California Legislature In the fall of 2017, the California students to 5,015, and millions of passed the Charter Schools Act in A much larger presence state auditor released a report that dollars had poured in. 1992, it was intended to introduce exposed two school districts’ tac- “I’m not going to deny we were competition into public education The number of charter schools in California has increased tics of increasing revenue by ap- getting more money, but I do chafe as well as an incentive for districts 89% over the last decade. proving out-of-district charter when people say, ‘You guys were to experiment. There was sup- schools. doing this just to bring in more 1,273 posed to be a marketplace of ideas Total California charter schools Investigators found that Acton- money,’ ” Thoming said. “I felt like I about new ways of teaching and Agua Dulce had taken a 3.5% cut was leading the charge for kids and learning. But what has evolved in from each of its charters, surpass- for school choice. Looking back, I some parts of the state resembles 1,000 ing the legal limit, even though its paid a price.” an actual marketplace in which 675 charters made only “sporadic use” Four of the independent char- charter schools can shop for leni- of the extra services. The district ter schools New Jerusalem ap- ent authorizers and school dis- 500 ultimately reduced its fees. proved closed because of financial tricts can rake in much-needed The report also determined problems. cash. that New Jerusalem Elementary Two of them had begun to fall Before he was elected to the School District, in a rural part of apart after only a year. Although 0 school board for Acton-Agua Dul- ’07- ’09- ’11- ’13- ’15- ’17- San Joaquin County, had over- the schools were authorized by ce, Pfalzgraf recalls attending ’08 ’10 ’12 ’14 ’16 ’18 charged one of its charters by New Jerusalem, they opened in meetings and watching with grow- $100,000, a finding the district dis- Stockton Unified under the man- ing concern as a line of charter op- Trending in different directions puted. agement of a nonprofit called the erators sought approval to open California charter school enrollment has more than doubled in 10 Charter operators are aware Tri-Valley Learning Corp. Loaded new schools. He remembers those years, while non-charter public schools have seen enrollment decline. that the income they provide to with debt and tainted by fiscal mis- meetings as breezy, friendly affairs districts can be vital, and they have management, Tri-Valley in 2016 de- in which the answer was nearly al- Yearly percentage changefrom 2007-08 school year courted small districts across the clared bankruptcy and closed all of ways yes and district officials +153.1% state. its charters the following year. 150% asked few questions, even of “People were coming and say- Under California law, there are schools known to have been re- Charterschool ing, ‘Hey, we can give you some- no penalties for school districts jected previously by other dis- 100 enrollment where between 1[%] to 3% of the that authorize and don’t ad- tricts. enrollment [revenue],’ and the equately supervise charters that 50 “You’re telling people they’re Non-charter, public small districts were saying, ‘Boy, are poor-performing or financially supposed to vet charters. But they 0% school enrollment could we use that,’ ” said Justin troubled. No one can revoke a dis- also know that if there’s no charter 0 Cunningham, a retired superin- trict’s authority to approve more revenue, they don’t have a job,” -7.2% tendent on the executive commit- charters or require it to improve its Pfalzgraf said. “I think staff was -50 tee of the Small School Districts’ oversight. looking at this and going, ‘If I rec- ’07- ’09- ’11- ’13- ’15- ’17- Assn. About the only thing the state ommend no, what’s going to hap- ’08 ’10 ’12 ’14 ’16 ’18 Cunningham approves of what can do is call for an audit. The state pen to me?’ ” Source: California Department of Education he calls this “collaborative model.” auditor chastised New Jerusalem The district’s income from Jon Schleuss Los Angeles Time He was superintendent of the Bon- for not doing enough to police the charter fees has more than sall Unified School District (popu- Tri-Valley charters. doubled in the last five years, sur- dents enrolled are attending char- five charters — all but one conduct lation 2,930) in San Diego County, Thoming said the audit’s criti- passing $3 million last school year. ter schools. most of their classes online. and he is familiar with the tight cism was overstated. By his ac- Roughly 25% of its operating Some run only a few neighbor- In one small San Diego County margins that make running a small count, once he saw the problems, budget now comes from those fees, hood schools but have authorized district, charter oversight fees district a challenge. If “the smalls,” he went after the charter group, ul- according to its current superin- as many as 10 charters. In Acton- made up nearly a third of its op- as he called them, make deals with timately spending about $500,000 tendent. Agua Dulce, about 1,000 children erating budget last school year. charter schools that financially in legal fees to shut them down. Students attending the out-of- were enrolled in district-run benefit both sides, then it’s a win- What he got for his effort, he said, town charter schools have not al- schools last year; nearly 14 ,000, :: win. was unfair criticism. ways benefited. Last school year, many of them from outside the “It’s almost like what bankers Still, Thoming said he became most of the charters Acton-Agua area, were in district-authorized School districts looking to call ‘creative financing,’ ” he said. concerned that charter operators Dulce oversaw posted lower pass- charters. make money from charters often “That’s how the schools are adapt- were choosing New Jerusalem being rates on state exams than its Many of the charters approved begin by approving only charters ing to survive.” cause they saw its leaders as easy own district schools. In four of the by small districts are classified as that are unlikely to compete with marks. charters, more than 95% of stu- non-classroom-based, meaning their own district-run schools. :: In March 2017, he received a dents failed the math test. their students receive much of Some take advantage of provisions vaguely worded charter petition California has more than 1,000 their instruction off campus. in the law that allow certain char- For the first century of its exist- that seemed to confirm his fears. school districts, and most do not Schools in that category typically ters to locate outside the bounda- ence, the New Jerusalem Elemen- The paperwork for the virtual rely on charter school fees to keep aren’t a threat to district ries of their authorizing districts — tary School District consisted of a charter school, to be called Rise the lights on. In fact, charter sup- enrollment numbers because they if, for instance, they can’t find a single schoolhouse surrounded by Academy, looked as though it had porters often complain, correctly, draw from different markets — suitable school site in the district farmland. Located in Tracy, about been inexpertly copied from an- that districts have a strong finan- home-schooled children, students or partner with a job training pro- 25 miles south of Stockton, the dis- other charter school’s proposal. cial incentive not to approve char- who work full time and others who gram. trict had never had more than 240 Page numbers were cut off, one ters within their boundaries be- have dropped out. Under state law, districts that students in kindergarten through document was for a school called cause the new schools may lure In Shasta County, for example, authorize charter schools can eighth grade, according to its cur- California Prep, and all of the par- away students and the funding aone-school district with 35 stu- charge oversight fees of up to 3% of rent superintendent, David Thom- ents who had signed a petition in that goes with them. dents and one part-time adminis- acharter’s revenue. In practice, ing. support of the school had home ad- But a Times analysis of trator has approved three non- however, districts can add thou- In the mid-1990s, though, rising dresses in another partof the state. enrollment data found more than classroom-based charters. sands of dollars in fees or an array costs sent the district’s leaders When Thoming called them, sev- 60 California school districts in In Kern County, a district with of extra services, such as help with searching for new revenue. When eral told him they had no interest in which more than half of the stu- about 300 students has authorized human resources. the charter law passed, they saw an [See Charters, A7] LATIMES.COM WSCE TUESDAY,APRIL 2, 2019 A7

[Charters, from A6] Rise Academy. (The Times also made calls to the parents on this list. Most did not answer, but two who did said they had never heard of the charter.) Thoming said Rise Academy’s petitioners offered him a deal sweetener. If the school was approved, they said, on top of oversight fees, they would reimburse the district for any money it would lose if its students switched to the charter. “Their main pitch was, ‘You’re going to get more money,’ ” Thom- ing said. “I remember thinking: That’s dirty. That completely flies in the face of the charter law, which is to provide competition.” Rise Academy’s leaders eventu- ally withdrew their petition. They would try again, petitioner Greg Ruffin wrote Thoming, with “another district that is comfortable with charters.” In an interview, Ruffin said that although he was one of the charter’s founders, he had no role in writing the petition or collecting signatures and that he didn’t know who was responsible. He said he had mistakenly submitted the wrong list of parent signatures but the district wouldn’t let him fix the problem. Of New Jerusalem, he said: “They were very hostile.” The Times contacted three Brian van der Brug Los Angeles Times otherpeopleinvolved in Rise Acad- KEN PFALZGRAF is a board member in the Acton-Agua Dulce School District, which methodically began approving new charters. emy’s petition, but none respond- ed to requests for comment. But for districts that do the statement to The Times, Mono In Acton-Agua Dulce, the dis- The thought of Rise Academy ‘You’re bare minimum, charter fees be- County Office of Education attor- trict now is eager to break with its approaching other school dis- come new revenue. Across the ney Timothy Cary said that the past. tricts, shopping for one that state, charter oversight fees have school board had not found that “You have to ask yourself, why wouldn’t examine its petition too telling subsidized sports programs and she “did anything inappropriate” are these charters really picking us closely, made Thoming uneasy. He extracurricular activities as well as but that she would pay back all of as their authorizer?” said board understood small districts’ finan- people the salaries of teaching assistants the $24,500 by June “to avoid any member Pfalzgraf. “I don’t like hav- cial pressures. He knew some su- and classroom aides. negative public perception.” ing the reputation of a barfly. I’m perintendents didn’t have the time There have also been cases of not easy,” he said. or the know-how to tell a well- they’re less altruistic spending. :: Woodard, the superintendent meaning charter operator from a In 2016, former Mountain Em- who made approving charters a profiteer. He acknowledged rue- supposed to pire Unified School District Supt. The fact that some authorizers side business, left the district in fully that he had been one of them. Steve Van Zant pleaded guilty to have a financial incentive to ap- 2017. Lawrence King, the veteran What he didn’t know was that violating conflict-of-interest laws. prove online and out-of-district administrator who replaced him, the same group behind Rise Acad- vet charters. Van Zant, prosecutors said, had charter schools and keep them said the district thoroughly re- emy had sent nearly identical ap- been getting a cut of the fees from open regardless of performance views charter applications now. plications to a handful of other But they also each charter school the district au- has not been lost on the charter “We take our oversight responsibil- small districts that had approved thorized, and some of those char- movement’s leaders. ities very seriously,” King said. them. It was already in business ters had hired his consulting firm. Each year since 2011 , the Califor- He has said he would like to im- under different names. know that if In his plea deal, he agreed to reim- nia Charter Schools Assn. has pub- prove the district’s reputation, re- burse the district for roughly lished a list of “chronically under- turning it to a time when it was bet- :: $51,000. performing” charters that it be- ter known for its own schools than there’s no Recently, a rural county in the lieves should be closed — based for its lucrative fleet of charters. California doesn’t track Eastern Sierra has been embroiled primarily on test scores and gradu- But that’s easier said than whether the fees charter schools charter in a dispute over how its superin- ation rates. In assembling the list, done. Though financial problems pay school districts are used to tendent spent fees from the three the group has encountered dis- have caused several of its charters monitor charters or hire football far-flung charter schools it author- tricts that have refused to shut to shut down in the last year, Ac- coaches. revenue, ized. down charters even after they’ve ton-Agua Dulce still oversees 15. It Districts that properly exercise Mono County Supt. Stacey Ad- been given evidence that the remains heavily dependent on that their oversight powers often find they don’t ler told the Orange County Regis- schools are failing students. income. that the fees don’t come close to ter that some of the money had But charter advocates and covering their costs. The $10.8 mil- have a job.’ gone to spelling bees, mock trials teachers unions have been unable lion that L.A. Unified collected last and other programs that the state to agree on legislation to solve the About this series year, for example, fell short, ac- did not fund. But a former employ- problems. The political gridlock —KEN PFALZGRAF, cording to district officials, of the ee alleged in a lawsuit that Adler has left districts and counties to Thursday: California’s charter expense of overseeing its more Acton-Agua Dulce Unified had paid herself from the fees. decide for themselves what kind of school law has defied reform. than 250 charters. School District board Adler declined to comment. In a authorizers they want to be. Can Newsom end the gridlock?

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By Patrick J. McDonnell State legislationalone

ALDEA NICA, Guate- won’tprevent deadly mala —Candido Antonio shootings or lock up Romero heardthe voice as he lay trapped beneath the moreofficers, experts dead and the injured, amid on both sides say. the moans of pain and the pleasfor help. By AnitaChabria “Get up!” the voice shouted. Three days earlier, Rom- SACRAMENTO —Inthe ero, his friend Carlos Her- GaryCoronado Los Angeles Times aftermath of several contro- nandez and at least eight of BORDER PATROL has set up apen under abridgeinElPaso to hold men, women and children —one of versialpolice shootingsin theirneighbors —all in their several controversial practices in response to an increase in Central Americans requesting U.S. asylum. California, activistsand vic- teens or 20s —had leftthe tims’ familieshavehoped villageofNica in western their anguish would leadto Guatemalawith one of the action. many smugglers who guide They have protested, migrants to the United AparadoxinTrump’s Cabinet pleaded and lobbied for a States. lawthatwould clear long- Now,theirAmerican standing hurdles to criminal dream had ended with that prosecutioninsome cases. of dozens of other migrants Embattled Homeland Security chief hangs on, but at what cost? But the focus of their in an overturned truck along hopes —abill facing itsfirst an isolated stretchofhigh- publichearing next week — wayinsouthern Mexico. By MollyO’Toole Overcrowding on border may come up short. Experts In his half-conscious on both sides of the debate state, Romerowondered WASHINGTON —Homeland Security Arare glimpse inside aburdened say the proposal won’tbe whether it wasall ahalluci- SecretaryKirstjen Nielsen put down her Texas migrantfacility. NATION, A6 whatcommunitygroups nation —orwhether he was pen, stood up and huggedthe officials from want or whatlaw enforce- about to takehis final El Salvador,Guatemalaand Honduras, ment fears. breath. thankingthemfor their work on what she Trump declared. “I don’t thinkits going to The voice —perhaps a hailed as a“historic” pact to targetun- ForNielsen,thatincident last week was end proactivepolicing, and I rescuer,perhaps an internal authorizedmigration. only the latest exampleofbeing publicly don’t thinkit’sgoing to exhortation,hewasn’t sure Withinhours,President Trump had ac- undercutbythe president. cause moreofficers to be —continued: “It’s not your cused the “Northern Triangle”countries of Fifteenmonths intoher tenure as head locked up,” said John Burris, time to die!” doing “nothing”and threatened not only to of the government’s third-largest depart- acivil rights attorney who Afew weeksearlier,a cancel aid to all three,but to close the U.S.- Susan Walsh Associated Press ment, Nielsenembodies aparadox: She has specializesinpolice shoot- front man for asmuggling Mexicoborder entirely. KIRSTJEN NIELSEN is succeeded in holding on to her job, defying ings. “I think it’s moreofa operation had come to Nica “We’renot paying them anymorebe- the public face of controver- numerous reports that Trump had decided scaretactic thannot.” [See Guatemala, A4] cause they haven’tdone athing for us,” sial and ineffective policies. to fire her, but has [See Nielsen, A5] In fervent rhetoric at the Capitol, police reform activ- ists have said Assembly Bill 392 will makeiteasier to criminally charge officers who use guns toorecklessly, Adding urgency especially against people of color.And, many believe,it could provide what they see to emergency alerts as elusivejusticefor cases like that of StephonClark, who wasshot by Sacra- November,whole neighbor- mentoofficers afterthey Proposed state rules hoods in Paradise were ne- mistook his cellphonefor a vertold to evacuateasthe weapon —sparking the aim to update warning Camp fire swept toward legislation. systemsand prevent town. Lawenforcement advo- In eachcase, local emer- cates arguethat, if enacted, hesitation by officials gency preparedness agen- the bill couldpromptpolice worried about apanic. cies failed to adequately to hesitate, putting “blue warn communities that lives” and the public in dan- By Joseph Serna death wasapproaching. gerincritical moments, and Experts say the failures would criminalizeofficers as point to an approachto they react to risky and fast- In Mendocino County, emergency management — moving situations. emergency staffers waited administered by individual But thereisquiet consen- for asupervisortoshowup counties—that has proved sus from some police, law- beforethey warned resi- outdated in an eraofmas- yers and academics —even dents of agrowing fire siege sive,fast-moving wildfires those who support or op- in 2017. and other extreme weather pose the measureonother In SantaBarbara events. grounds—that it willdolit- Mason Trinca ForThe Times County, officials hesitated “Peopleimagine thatall tle if any of that. STUDENTS speak up at aschoolboard meeting in Oakland, where, as in L.A., to issueblanket evacuation this public warningstuff has “Thereare many reasons board elections canbeproxy warsbetween charter and teachersunion forces. orders beforemudslides been handled. That some- why police kill so manypeo- ripped through Montecito in body somewhere is in charge ple …and thereare many ATIMES INVESTIGATION 2018 becausethey worried of it andit’sall gettingdone. reasons why they arenot they might triggerapanic. …Itisn’t,”said ArtBotterell, held accountable, and this CHARTER SCHOOLS And in Butte Countyin [See Alerts, A7] [See Force, A8]

Biden ‘mindful’ MAYSEE NEWRULES of personal space The former vice presi- Apolitical standoffhas thwarted efforts to fix the state’s dent responds to criticism by women who were system of oversight. Gov. Newsom mightchangethat. uncomfortable with his tendencytotouch and hugpeople. NATION, A8 By Anna M. Phillips have for years begun eachlegislativeses- Last of three parts sion by introducingahandful of bills favor- Singing to survive able to one side or the other.Manyhave California is home to about one out of died in committee.Those that have madeit Recent challenges have every five charterschools in the United to agovernor’s desk oftenhavebeen forced the GayMen’s States, but stateoversight of them is far vetoed. Chorus of Los Angeles from anational model. With the arrival of Gov. GavinNewsom, into painful self-reflec- Since the CharterSchools Actof1992 thereare signs that the gridlock is ending. tion. CALENDAR, E1 waspassed morethanaquarter-century Shortly afterhewas swornin, Newsom Weather ago, apolitical standoff in Sacramentohas instructed lawmakers to fast-track charter Mostlycloudy. made it almostimpossible to repair even legislationthatpoliticians had been argu- Charles Krupa Associated Press L.A. Basin: 66/53. B6 the parts of the charterlaw that no one dis- ing over foryears. The lawhesigned last putes arebroken. month makes charterschools subject to Stars face judgeincollege scandal Printed with soy inkson partially recycled paper. Even though Democrats have afirm the same public records, open meeting and Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, J. Mossimo grip on the Legislature, theyare not united conflict-of-interest laws that apply to tra- Giannulli, leave court in Boston after answering a on charterschools.Torn between alle- ditional public schools. magistrate’s questions. Some parentsinthe case giances to pro-charterphilanthropists and “Leadership matters. Whoisatthe top are close to striking plea deals. CALIFORNIA, B1 the powerful teachers union, lawmakers matters,” said [See Charters, A9]

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[Charters, from A1] state Sen. Connie Leyva (D- Chino), who chairs the Senate Ed- ucation Committee. “We have a new governor who is interested in transparency, he’s interested in these issues and he wanted to make it happen.” How far Newsom will go to tighten regulation of charters remains to be seen, however — and there’s reason to be cautious in predicting legislative support. For 27 years, the teachers union and pro-charter advocates have been fighting a custody battle over California’s public schoolchildren and the state funding that follows them. Although the California Teach- ers Assn. and the California Char- ter Schools Assn. insist that they are willing to negotiate with each other, there has been scant evidence of cooperation. Both organi- zations have spent millions to sway public opinion far beyond Sacra- mento. In charter-packed L.A. and Oakland, school board elections have become proxy wars. The result mostly has been policy paralysis. With the exception of afew tweaks around the edges, charters’ regulatory framework has remained frozen in amber — a reflection of ideas that made sense more than two decades ago, when the schools were new and rare. The two sides have rejected even each others’ most modest suggestions for change. At times, Genaro Molina Los Angeles Times each has pushed aggressive mea- L.A. TEACHERS rally during their strike against LAUSD in January. Teachers unions are a powerful foe against charter schools. sures wholly unacceptable to the other when compromise might needs authorizers insulated from have been possible. day-to-day politics. Neither has fought for the kind “If I had to do it all over again, of change that experts say could be I’m not sure granting chartering most meaningful — stronger regu- authority to school boards makes a lations that are already in place in lot of sense,” he said. “It was a little many other states. bit of a pipe dream.” “There’s been almost no political action to think about how we :: can do this better,” said UCLA education professor John Rogers. Newsom was not many charter advocates’ favorite candidate for :: governor. Though he was supportive of Of the 44 states that have char- charter schools as mayor of San ter school laws on the books, at Francisco, he did not share Gov. least half have enacted quality- Brown’s personal connection as a control measures that don’t exist former charter school founder. On in California, according to a recent the campaign trail, Newsom was analysisby Harvard University re- endorsed by the California Teach- searchers. ers Assn. and called for a moratori- Many states hold authorizers to um on new charters. Also, charter aset of performance standards. supporters spent $23 million in the Some sanction authorizers or gubernatorial primary to try to don’t let them approve new schools elect former Los Angeles Mayor if they are negligent, sponsor char- Antonio Villaraigosa. ters with poor track records or try But Newsom’s election isn’t the to block every applicant. only reason those who want to Six states and Washington, Mason Trinca For The Times change the charter law now see op- D.C., have created independent DIRK TILLOTSON has started charters in Oakland and New Yo rk City. New Yo rk has consistent portunity. chartering boards on the theory rules, he says, “But in California, the politics of it make it a crap shoot. Here, it’s the Wild We st.” He’d been in office just about a that forcing state education agen- week when L.A. teachers staged cies to act as authorizers distracts their first strike in 30 years. them from their main jobs and In the national spotlight, they often leads to weak oversight. Campaign donation gridlock called for higher pay, smaller class “The good news, and frustrat- Charter school and teachers’ union campaign contributions were sizes, more funding for public edu- ing news, is we know how to do this. mostly split among California Assembly and state Senate members. cation. They also spoke out force- You can go to places and see good fully about charters — schooling authorizing. It’s not like we’re try- Legislators favored by... the public about the financial con- ing to put a person on Saturn,” said sequences when charter schools Teachers Neither Both Charter Greg Richmond, president and woo away traditional public school union Schools Assn. chief executive of the National students and the funding that goes Assn. of Charter School Authoriz- with them. ers, citing New York, Washington Assembly The teachers union asked for a and Boston as examples of suc- cap on new charters. It asked for cess. 39 legislators 9 3 29 tougher regulation. As the founder of a nonprofit After the strike ended, the L.A. that helps launch new charter school board voted to call for a tem- schools, Dirk Tillotson knows the Senate porary moratorium on new charter problems with California’s charter schools in the district while it stud- law. 15 54 16 ies their effects on traditional Tillotson has spent more than Sources: California Civic Data Coalition, Times analysis. Note: Campaign contributions were schools. 20 years bouncing between Oak- recorded only for the legislators' last run. The next month, striking Oak- land and New York City, where he Kirk McKoy Los Angeles Times Ryan Menezes and Jon Schleuss Los Angeles Times land teachers won a pledge from helped open 17 charter schools. their district to put opening new Both cities have experienced as- charters on pause. tonishing charter booms which quality from one district to the calls for a moratorium on new Even if Newsom’s preference have been followed by backlashes ‘If I had to next.” charters. Without such a step, sup- might have been to push off charter led by progressives alarmed by the Neither the state’s labor unions porters say, the districts will never school issues in favor of other proj- influence of ultra-wealthy charter do it all over nor charter proponents have been recover financially or academi- ects, Rogers said, “he doesn’t have school backers. eager to embrace — and push legis- cally. the luxury of not attending to it be- New York, Tillotson said, is a far lators to embrace — the prescrip- Lawmakers aligned with the cause of the political dynamics.” better place to open a charter again, I’m tions for how to solve these well- union have repeatedly proposed Charteradvocates knowthey’re school, and not just because state documented problems. legislation to allow districts to re- on shaky ground. They have tried funding is more generous. not sure ject charters if they pose a “finan- to ally themselves with striking Rather than deputizing every :: cial hardship” to traditional public teachers’ calls for more public school district to approve, deny schools. They also have argued for school funding, while rejecting the and supervise charters, New York granting The problem is that making reducing appeals, giving districts premise that charters contribute reserves that job primarily for the changes requires those who have final say on most charter petitions. to district schools’ money woes. State Board of Regents and the certain powers and freedoms to be Many charter supporters, how- Meanwhile, a package of union- State University of New York chartering willing to give them up. ever, say that a system that allows friendly bills that would cap char- Board of Trustees. Though neither The California Teachers Assn. school districts to authorize charter school growth, restrict char- of the institutions can claim to be authority to has opposed the rapid expansion ter schools is like putting the taxi ters’ right to appeal and allow dis- completely impervious to shifting of charter schools, which are industry in charge of regulating tricts more latitude to reject their political winds, they have devel- mostly not unionized. But if those Uber and Lyft. Because school dis- petitions has been introduced in oped expertise, consistent meth- school schools keep multiplying, then the tricts view charter schools as com- the statehouse. Other proposed ods and scale. union would prefer keeping regula- petition, they argue, they have an legislation would bar charters “New York is much better than boards makes tory authority at the local level, inherent conflict of interest. from opening schools outside their here because there’s predictabil- where the association has been "There was supposed to be a dy- authorizing districts. ity,” Tillotson said. “There’s a set of able to forge relationships with and namic tension, and a certain These combined proposals standards that are relatively a lot of help elect school board leaders. amount of it is healthy and good,” would have the effect of concen- equally applied across the board.... As a result, the teachers union said Myrna Castrejón, president trating power in the hands of But in California, the politics of it sense. It was has become a defender of local con- and chief executive of the Califor- school districts. Castrejón claimed make it a crap shoot. Here, it’s the trol, arguing that school districts nia Charter Schools Assn. “But they would force the closure of the Wild West.” are the best gatekeepers of charter often in a highly politicized envi- majority of charter schools within Over the years, study after a little bit of schools and that they need more ronment, without clear guardrails, five years. “To me, that seems like study has come to a similar conclu- power to make decisions, not less. it can really easily devolve.” their end goal,” she said. sion — that California’s system of a pipe “We believe that charter schools Some in the pro-charter move- California lawmakers could, of charter authorizers needs an over- should be authorized by local ment suggest that it would be bet- course, remain paralyzed, trapped haul. school boards. Those are the ones ter to create a system that left between opposing sides, fearful of Fifteen years ago, in 2004, the dream.’ accountable to the voters,” said charter authorization decisions to incurring either the unions’ or the Legislative Analyst’s Office called California Teachers Assn. Presi- county boards, which are not di- charter backers’ wrath. for the Legislature to build checks —GARY HART dent Eric Heins. To those who ar- rect competitors. But others The system could default to do- and balances into the process by author of the original charter gue that local control leads to in- counter that charter school propo- ing what it has done in the past: ad- creating basic criteria for authoriz- school law consistent regulation, Heins says: nents would then just try to stack dressing peripheral issues and ers and empowering the state to “It’s like saying democracy is cha- the county boards of education leaving the core problems in the bar those that failed to meet those otic. Well, yeah, but democracy is with pro-charter people. charter law unresolved. standards from future charter su- the state allowed far too many au- the best system we have.” Former state Sen. Gary Hart, Last summer, former Supt. of pervision. thorizing bodies. The argument for local control the author of the original charter Public Instruction Tom Torlakson In 2010, the nonpartisan Little “There are some advantages to resonates in districts like Oakland, school law, said in an interview that convened a panel of experts to con- Hoover Commission called the sys- local oversight, including direct fa- where about 26% of the district’s after the 1992 law passed, he sider ways to improve the law. The tem “dysfunctional” and urged miliarity with student needs and 50,000 students enrolled in charter quickly realized that it was wrong group disbanded without agreeing lawmakers to assign charter-over- relationships with social services,” schools last year, and Inglewood, to assume that school board mem- on a set of recommendations. sight duties to an independent the association said. “But the cur- where 29% did. Students leaving bers would have the time and incli- Newsom has requested a new state commission. rent policy has produced a crazy their local schools for charters nation to monitor charter schools task force to study the fiscal im- In 2016, the National Assn. of quilt of charter oversight charac- have helped push those already fi- properly. He still believes that dis- pact of charter schools on school Charter School Authorizers, in a terized by extreme variances in au- nancially struggling districts to the tricts should play a role but now districts. It’s supposed to report report on California’s law, said that thorizing attitudes, practices, and brink of fiscal crisis, and have led to tends to think that California back in July.