July 10, 2022 – Public Advocates staff were quoted in an investigative piece in CalMatters about oversight of schools’ COVID aid published on June 9, 2022. It was re-syndicated in the Mercury News on July 11, 2022.
“‘I’m just not sure anyone has a good handle on how this money was spent,’ said John Affeldt, managing attorney at Public Advocates who works on educational equity issues. ‘here’s a lot of money that went into the system this year, and we continue to have a concern knowing how … effective it was.’ . . . . Some advocates, like Nicole Gon Ochi, deputy managing attorney at Public Advocates, question whether there are better uses. ‘How much are the districts using toward staffing – which is actually what the kids need – as opposed to more software programs and these digital things?’ Ochi asked.”
https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/07/10/how-did-california-schools-spend-billions-in-covid-aid/
