2020 LAUSD ELECTIONS

School Board Candidate Silent As Charter Schools Double Dip At The Public Trough

Marilyn Koziatek will not answer questions about Granada Hills Charter taking over $8 million from the Paycheck Protection Program.

“I hear time and time again that charters are not businesses. If they’re not, then why are they able to get this money?”

- LAUSD Parent

Charter schools in California are funded based on their enrollment using the same per-pupil funding rates as their public school counterparts. Additionally, the charter school industry’s investment in political campaigns has given them advantages over their competition in receiving public funds for their private operations. For example, Granada Hills Charter school played a shell game to take advantage of a loophole written into the Charter School Facility Grant (SB740) which “is intended to provide grants to charter schools to assist with facilities’ rent and lease costs associated with the school.” Since SB740 does not allow schools to get reimbursed for mortgage payments, the school transferred property they own to a Limited Liability Company (LLC) that they completely control. The school then signed a lease with the LLC and gets reimbursed for the payments that they are sending to themselves.

While all schools have struggled to adapt to the challenges presented by COVID-19, only charter schools were given the opportunity, under the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) of the CARES Act, to receive funds that were meant to help prevent small businesses from laying off employees. In Los Angeles, Citizens of the World Charter Schools, Da Vinci Schools, iLead, Larchmont Charter School and Palisades Charter High School each received $2 to $5 million under the program. After getting “the money while the getting’s good”, the board at Palisades then voted to lay off some of their employees. Brightstar Schools, Granada Hills Charter, and Birmingham Community Charter High School each took $5 to $10 million.