Help make a Difference and Secure the Blessings of Your Car Or Truck Gifts for a Los Angeles Area Charity

1. Superintendent of Direction for the California schools, Jack O'Connell, started an audit more than a year earlier into the fiscal concerns of the Choices for Youth and Opportunities for Knowing (OYO) schools. The OYO is a chain of independent study charter schools within the California schools system, which are privately run but funded by the state. The OYO California schools serve students who have left of the conventional high schools. They presently have about 15,000 students in 40 store areas across the state. These California schools students do the majority of their work at house, conference with instructors twice a week. According to state records, student achievement test and high school exit exam ratings are above average, as compared to other alternative high schools within the California schools system. According to a Los Angeles Times article of August 10th, just 11 percent car donation in mn of OYO students graduated throughout the 2003-2004 school year. The remainder of trainees that left school that year either dropped out, were expelled, or transferred to other schools. The California schools' audit was carried out by the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Group, who concluded their analysis and provided their findings in a report that was launched in August 2006. The audit cites accounting flaws, overpayments by the state, disputes of interest, nepotism, extreme settlement, and blending personal business concerns with public schools. The OYO was founded and still operated by John and Joan Hall, former instructors from Hollywood High School. They have completely cooperated with the California schools' audit, but dispute the majority of the findings. Some examples from the audit report are: • Accounting Flaws and Overpayments. The Halls count each of their instructors as 1.92 full-time positions. Their representative, Stevan Allen, specified that this is a common practice for charter schools in the California schools system and is a legitimate technique for compensating school personnel for longer days and year-round schedules. California schools superintendent O'Connell thinks teachers ought to be counted only as one full-time position each. The auditors disagreed, mentioning that conventional California schools teachers spend much less time working each year than those at OYO. However, the auditors believed the 1.92 amount is pumped up. This example, alone, accounts for majority of the $57 million overpayment. In addition, the report noted several doubtful expenditures. One example of unrestrained spending, offered by the Times was an $18,000 staff celebration held at Disneyland. Allen safeguarded that occasion as an attempt at relationship structure between staff members, who are spread throughout the state. He noted that the expenses was less than $50 per personnel member. • Disputes of Interest and Mixing Private Organisation with Public Schools. Besides the charter schools, the Halls own and run several private companies that offer materials and services to schools. The Times noted that the Options in OYO was the not-for-profit part of the setup, with the Opportunities part being for-profit. The audit calls this practice and setup into concern. • Excessive Payment. The audit also questions the combined incomes for the Halls, which is $600,000 yearly. The report specifies that it may be excessive for the amount of time the couple in fact works. • Nepotism. The Halls produced a separate charity with $10.8 countless the California schools' financing, called Pathways in Education. The charity is run by their daughter, Jamie Hall. Little money has actually been spent towards education thus far. The Halls compete that they previously had asked for assistance on their operation from the California schools often times, however never ever got any reaction. Therefore, they attempted to follow California schools requirements as finest they might with their understanding of the policies. Even O'Connell yielded that none of the

2. cited practices are unlawful. The audit suggests the California schools need to attempt to recuperate the $57 million in overpayment from the OYO. O'Connell has sent the report to the state's attorney general of the United States's office for review and any required action.