California appears to be facing significant corruption issues, particularly regarding the recent arts funding bill for schools. Despite the passage of a measure that raised over a billion dollars for arts and music education, there has been no visible increase in teachers or programs in schools. The Los Angeles Unified School District is now being sued for allegedly defrauding taxpayers, with former superintendent Austin Buettner and union leaders asserting that the lack of new hires indicates no real growth in arts education. The district's own data supports these claims.
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@WallStreetApes - Wall Street Apes
California is likely the most corrupt state in America
California promoted a bill for funding schools arts programs
It passed, Democrats taxed citizens over a billion dollars and the money is gone. Los Angeles Unified School District is being sued for defrauding tax payers
βOne billion dollars more for arts and music education. Now there's nearly a billion dollars 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.β
βDid you see more teachers at your school
No.
Did you see more programs?
No.
Did you see more arts in general?
No.β
βFormer superintendent Austin Buettner and these heads of LAUSD's largest union say, zero teachers means zero real growth in arts education.β
βYou think they're breaking the law?
100%.
You think they're breaking the law?
Absolutely.β
βThe district's own data they claim in their lawsuit proves that almost no new teachers were hired.β
Video Transcript AI Summary
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) received $77 million in arts funding from Proposition 28, intended to hire new arts teachers. However, parents and former superintendent Austin Buettner allege the funds were misused. They claim few, if any, new teachers were hired, contradicting the district's report of 100 new arts teachers (a 2% increase). The district allegedly used the money to cover existing staff salaries and increase senior staff pay, while student enrollment decreased. This led to a lawsuit alleging fraud and violation of the law, claiming hundreds of thousands of students were harmed by the lack of new arts teachers and programs. The plaintiffs argue the law explicitly stated the funds were for hiring new teachers, not supplementing existing staff.
Speaker 0: Much did LAUSD get?
Speaker 1: $77,000,000.
Speaker 0: 70 7 million dollars. And how much of that went to new teachers?
Speaker 1: Is this you can tell this is a zero. Right?
Speaker 2: Doctor Dre, Jimmy Iovine, Quincy Jones, and Barbara Streisand were all part of a coalition of more than a million people who helped former LAUSD superintendent Austin Buettner try to reverse declining arts education through a new state law. On a bill to be passed that's gonna change the lives of all your peers in this city. The change would come from proposition 28. And it passed overwhelmingly across California by 70% here in Los Angeles County. 1 Billion Dollars more for arts and music education.
Now there's nearly a billion dollars 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. After LAUSD got the largest arts funding check-in the state, parents began noticing a problem.
Speaker 0: The district was not doing what they were intended to do with the money.
Speaker 2: You don't believe the
Speaker 0: money was coming to your school Absolutely. For the arts program. Absolutely. Did you see more teachers at your school? No.
Did you see more programs?
Speaker 2: No. Did you see more arts in general?
Speaker 0: No. And what did you think about that? I was furious.
Speaker 2: Former superintendent Austin Buettner and these heads of LAUSD's largest union say zero teachers means zero real growth in arts education. The very reason he wrote and they backed the law.
Speaker 1: So money leads to teacher, leads to instruction engagement for kids.
Speaker 0: And that is missing from school.
Speaker 2: Those teachers.
Speaker 0: Those teachers. It's a loss of opportunity.
Speaker 2: That loss has now led to this lawsuit from parents like Vicki Martinez and from former superintendent Butner himself, not only against Los Angeles Unified, but against the current superintendent, Alberto Carvallo, saying they 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.
Speaker 0: You think they're breaking the law?
Speaker 1: %.
Speaker 0: You think they're breaking breaking the law? Absolutely.
Speaker 2: And you think
Speaker 1: they're breaking
Speaker 2: the law?
Speaker 1: Oh, yes.
Speaker 0: Is the school district failing these kids? Yes.
Speaker 2: Yes. The district's own data they claimed in their lawsuit proves that almost no new teachers were hired. The majority of zeros listed in the final column here for some elementary schools shows little or no change in teacher hours year over year.
Speaker 1: They should have hired more than a thousand teachers.
Speaker 0: Did they hire any?
Speaker 1: Few of
Speaker 2: any. Before filing suit, they sent a letter to the governor and state leaders last May claiming that this violates the law. And by June, the Los Angeles Unified School Board itself was demanding answers, telling superintendent Carvallo, we must be able to show the public that we are complying with funding regulation.
Speaker 3: Parent groups, schools, arts teachers, every single time I'm getting these calls and complaints that it's not happening like it should be happening at the schools.
Speaker 2: Notwithstanding the letter of the law, we decided to lean on the intent. Carvallo fully responded in August, saying after Prop 28, one hundred new teachers were hired and contracted in art, dance, music, and theater, representing a 2% increase from the prior year.
Speaker 1: I think it's not true. There are some blatant inaccuracies in there.
Speaker 2: Carvallo also added though the district prioritize the use of Prop 28 funds to cover existing staff as well as hire new staff.
Speaker 1: Yeah. He says they use the money cover. They use the money to pay existing staff.
Speaker 0: And you believe that's illegal?
Speaker 1: The law says you may not use the money in plain language.
Speaker 2: And the money they believe was illegally redirected to other things like to increase senior staff salaries, claiming their pay has increased fivefold since 2010 while student enrollment has plunged.
Speaker 1: They wanna make sure the money that's supposed to go to the schools which serve their children gets
