Gulen Charter School Magnolia Science Academy issed a California State Audit

This is from Educational GURU Diane Ravitch's blog http://dianeravitch.net/2014/08/15/california-investigating-magnolia-charter-schools/


Another scoop by KPCC’s Annie Gilbertson. The California State Auditor is investigating four of the state’s 11 Magnolia Science Academies, part of the Gulen charter chain.
“After sampling transactions from Magnolia campuses in 2012, L.A. Unified found over $43,000 in duplicate payments to vendors, flagging those as potential misuse of funds.
“The Los Angeles Unified school board ordered a second audit in 2014, voting to close two of the schools if any fiscal problems arose.
“The audit, which the district is calling a “forensic review,” revealed that schools sent $2.8 million to the network’s management organization. The funds were poorly documented loans, and much of the cash was never paid back to classrooms, according to L.A. Unified.
“District auditors found the management organization met the definition of insolvent, operating on a $1.7 million deficit.
“Magnolia refutes much of the findings.”