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CBS News
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Lawmaker calls for state audit of LAUSD after fraud lawsuit from former superintendent
A Southern California lawmaker is calling for a state audit of the Los Angeles Unified School District after a lawsuit claims it defrauded taxpayers of millions of dollars in funding. "I've never called for a state audit for anything else before," Assemblyman Isaac Bryan said. "Many of my colleagues have not either ... It's a major move. It's one that if the state auditor decides to follow through on our request, the district is going to have to produce the necessary documents to show that they are in compliance." The district's former superintendent is spearheading the lawsuit. Austin Beutner and Hollywood's biggest stars helped get nearly a billion dollars set aside specifically for new art teachers and classes, through Proposition 28. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said he leaned on the law's intent and used Prop 28 funds to cover existing and new staff. LAUSD said it followed state guidelines and the situation is just a "misunderstanding of the law. "It is our sincere hope to expedite a resolution to this matter that brings clarity to this matter, continues to protect and expand arts education for our students, and avoids legal costs to our publicly funded institution," the district said in a statement. More than two years ago, artists and educators across California came together to reverse declining arts education through a new state law. The change would come from Prop 28, which passed overwhelmingly across California, with 70% of LA County in favor of it. Now, there is nearly $1 billion in additional art funding for all schools, with a larger portion promised to underserved communities and a full 80% specifically earmarked to hire new art teachers. However, after LAUSD got the largest arts funding check in the state, parents began noticing a problem. "The district wasn't doing what was intended with the money," parent Vicky Martinez said. Former Superintendent Beutner said the district received $77 million, but none of it went toward hiring new teachers. Beutner and heads of the LAUSD's largest unions said zero new teachers meant zero real growth in arts education — the very reason he wrote and they backed the law. "It's a loss of opportunity," SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias said. Regarding legal costs, KCAL News asked the district directly about possibly settling the parent lawsuit, but we have not received a response.
CBS News
11-02-2025
- CBS News
LAUSD faces lawsuit claiming the district defrauded taxpayers
A lawsuit filed against the Los Angeles Unified School District and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho on Monday claims they defrauded taxpayers over millions of dollars in funding. The district's former superintendent is spearheading the lawsuit. Austin Beutner and Hollywood's biggest stars helped get nearly a billion dollars set aside specifically for new art teachers and classes, through Proposition 28. More than two years ago, artists and educators across California came together to reverse declining arts education through a new state law. The change would come from Prop 28, which passed overwhelmingly across California, with 70% of LA County in favor of it. Now, there is nearly $1 billion in additional art funding for all schools, with a larger portion promised to underserved communities and a full 80% specifically earmarked to hire new art teachers. However, after LAUSD got the largest arts funding check in the state parents began noticing a problem. "The district wasn't doing what was intended with the money," parent Vicky Martinez said. Former Superintendent Beutner said the district received $77 million for new teachers. "$77 million and how much of that went to new teachers? Beutner said while making a zero with his hand. Beutner and heads of the LAUSD's largest unions said zero new teachers meant zero real growth in arts education — the very reason he wrote and they backed the law. "It's a loss of opportunity," SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias said. The loss has led to this lawsuit from parents such as Martinez and Beutner. The legal action says Carvalho and the district "defrauded the State of California and its taxpayers' over "millions of dollars in funding" that was not used to "hire new art teachers" and that "hundreds of thousands of students have been harmed." The lawsuit claims that LAUSD's own data proves that almost no new teachers were hired. The majority of zeroes listed in the complaint show little or no change in teacher hours, year-over-year, for some elementary schools. "They should have hired more than a thousand teachers," Beutner said. Before filing the suit, Beutner and his associates sent a letter to the governor and state leaders last May, claiming that this "violate(s) the law." By June, the Los Angeles School Board demanded answers, telling Superintendent Carvalho, "We must be able to show the public that we are complying with funding regulations." "Parent groups, schools, art teachers, every single time I'm getting these calls and complaints that it's not happening like it should be happening at the schools," LA School Board member Scott Schmerelson said. Carvalho said, "The district prioritized the use of Prop 28 funds to cover existing staff as well as hire new staff." "He says he used the money to cover, to pay existing staff," Beutner said. "The law says you may not use the money, in plain language." The money they believe was illegally "redirected" to other things such as "to increase senior staff salaries" claiming their pay has "increased fivefold since 2010, while student enrollment has plunged." "We want to make sure the money that's supposed to go to the schools gets there," Beutner said. This includes the school Martinez's son attends. "It would mean he would have no arts in the middle school, high school," she said. "In his middle school, there's none." She added that she just wants more art, less questionable math, and for her son to dance and not suffer any sidestepping around his opportunities. "It's sad because you want the best for your kids," Martinez said. "I'm not asking for more. I'm asking for what's rightfully theirs." LAUSD said it had increased the total arts budget, beyond $77 million, and nearly doubled staffing. The district issued a statement with their explanation: "Los Angeles Unified recognizes the profound importance of the arts and prioritizes arts instruction, programming and investments. We are committed to providing arts exposure for every student in Los Angeles Unified regardless of their zip code. When Prop. 28 was approved by voters in 2022, the law required school districts to increase arts funding to provide equitable access to the arts districtwide rather than at individual school sites. Los Angeles Unified has done just that by increasing our total arts budget from $114 million in 2022-23 to over $206 million in 2023-24. Additionally, on average, schools saw an $82,000 increase in their total arts budget in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23. Arts staffing also increased from 273 full-time employees (FTE) in 2022-23 to 520 in 2023-24, nearly doubling. With additional funds being allocated for elementary arts teachers, the total FTE in 2024-25 is projected to be 726. This represents an increase of 206 FTE (~40%) from 2023-24. The District consulted and received guidance from CDE in how we are allocating Prop. 28 funding. Some have questioned how the District has allocated funding by identifying school site variances, but this is a misunderstanding of the law, or a disagreement with the stipulations of Prop. 28 itself and how the District determined to allocate other arts funding. Per CDE guidance, the determination of supplement/supplant is tested at the District level rather than at the individual school level. Further, though some individuals may have promised the public that every school across California would see an increase in arts funding, this was not included in the requirements of Prop. 28. Families are welcome to view their school budgets through our school directory website. Important background: School variance in expenditures is due, in part, to how the state calculates Prop. 28 funding and is adjusted as school enrollment changes. The CDE's Prop. 28 allocation is based on $111 per enrolled student and $78 for each student receiving free or reduced-price meals (FRPM)."
CBS News
07-02-2025
- General
- CBS News
Child care providers affected by Eaton Fire in Altadena call for additional relief from state officials
Child care providers who were affected by the Eaton Fire in Altadena are calling for extended fire relief and support from state officials. Several child care providers with Child Care Providers United and other local leaders held a news conference on Friday morning. "At least 24 family child care providers lost their homes and their livelihoods and at least 30 more sustained damage severe enough that they have not been able to reopen due to the Eaton and Palisades fires," a statement from Child Care Providers United said. The organization includes 40,000 family child care providers across the state. It is a partnership of SEIU Local 99, SEIU Local 521 and UDW/AFSCME Local 3930. The news conference took place the day after 30-day emergency relief for child care providers ended. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that gave providers an additional 30 days of pay after the start of the fires. The group said state officials have not indicated if there are plans to extend the relief. "Thirty days simply isn't enough time for anyone to recover," said Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, who represents the Pasadena and Altadena areas. "We are still navigating this disaster." Felisa Wright, a child care provider in Altadena that lost her home, and her business shared her story of struggle. Wright said her entire family including her three adult daughters and six grandchildren have been displaced since the Eaton Fire erupted on Jan. 7. "Our recovery efforts must prioritize assisting child care providers in regaining stability, such as securing affordable housing to reopen our daycares," Wright said. The group said without the additional relief, the state's child care crisis would only be intensified. Aside from the lack of pay, they listed several other barriers which are preventing some providers from reopening including denial from FEMA and SBA for additional help and lack of affordable or accessible spaces to rent.
