Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Audits removed from illegal school fees bill | California Watch

Audits removed from illegal school fees bill | California Watch:


Audits removed from illegal school fees bill

U.S. Census Bureau
Proposed legislation aimed at ending illegal fees in public schools will no longer require superintendents to audit their schools to ensure compliance.
Brooks Allen, director of education advocacy for the ACLU's Southern California office, said Assembly members tweaked the bill – AB 1575 – to overcome concerns raised by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Brown vetoed a similar effort to stamp out illegal school fees in 2010, saying requiring audits of all schools "goes too far."
Allen said Assembly members were concerned that the audits would be a financial burden to schools. The ACLU and the bill's sponsor, Ricardo Lara, D-South Gate, support the changes, Allen said.
 
Since 2010, the civil rights group has spearheaded the effort to eliminate illegal fees after finding widespread


Scrutiny of Oakland church school grows

Michael Short/California Watch Robert Lacy Jr. is a teacher at St. Andrew Missionary Baptist Church private school in West Oakland. 
Scrutiny of a West Oakland church school accused of abuse by parents and students is growing, with BART officials now questioning the school's right to solicit for donations in stations and state officials investigating whether federal funds should have gone to school leaders.
The latest actions follow an ongoing investigation by California Watch and CBS 5 into St. Andrew Missionary Baptist Church and private school, where students as young as 9 say they were required to ask for money for hours after school and federal funding appears to be based on inflated enrollment numbers. The Oakland school board also has launched an investigation after a rancorous school board meeting earlier this month, where parents alleged mistreatment of students at the school.
"We should not be in the position of allowing children to be exploited in any kind of way," said BART Director 
at