A story today in the LA Times UPDATE: see Harvey's comment for bugmenot login. I must've been really tired last night when I wrote this, because when I went to bugmenot, it just looked wrong... Heh. Guess I need more sleep! Thanks Harvey!

Schools Closed in Alleged Fraud

It seems there is a chain of "alternative" High Schools that is preying on immigrants who are trying to get an education.

The defendants "made a lucrative career of exploiting immigrants' dreams of a better life through education," according to a request for a temporary restraining order that was granted Wednesday. They used community churches to solicit students and hold classes, according to the records, and claimed to be "fulfilling a divine mission to help Latinos escape poverty by earning a high school education."

My hope is that they throw the book and everything in it at these people. You have immigrants coming to this country, trying to make a better life for themselves and their families, and these cretins rip them off. Promising that in a few short weeks they'll learn everything they need to get a High School diploma.

That might sound far fetched to those who grew up here and had to sit through 4 years of High School in order to graduate. But you have to remember, these people did not grow up here. They are completely ignorant of our school system and it's requirements. I'm sure that for some, the lure of getting something fast and easy was just too good to pass up. Nevertheless, this can not be condoned.

Some did try to check it out.

Rose Serrato, a 52-year-old Pacoima resident, paid $475 to enroll in the course in February after learning she needed a high-school equivalency diploma, or GED, to keep her part-time job with the Los Angeles Unified School District.

After two classes, she said, she had doubts about the program. She asked her daughter to look up the school on the Internet, and both were convinced by the website they found that the school was legitimate.

One wonders why she didn't go to the people she worked with and ask them about this school and if it was legitimate. But, we don't know her whole story, only what is told in the paper. After all - she was working for a school district!!!

Anyway, here are some of the things taught to the people attending these schools

Workbook examples

According to court papers filed by the California attorney general's office, the California Alternative High School's 54-page bilingual workbook contains the following statements:

• There are 53 states in the United States. In addition to the "original" 50 states, the union has added Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. But the flag has not yet been updated to reflect the addition of the last three states.

• There are four branches of government. They are the legislative, judicial, executive and "administrative" branches. Asked about the fourth branch by investigators, one teacher responded that "not much is heard about it because it works behind the scenes." The Treasury Department is part of the "administrative" branch.

• There are two houses of Congress: the Senate for Democrats and the House for Republicans.

• World War II occurred from 1938 to 1942.

• One question in the workbook says: "Read the book 'Death of a Traveling Salesman' and write a commentary."

Source: California attorney general's

office

Amazing! Words simply fail me.

Hat tip: Rush Limbaugh

Posted by: Teresa in Education at 06:15 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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