Hermandad Part of State Education Funds Probe

A second probe into how the state Department of Education administers its adult education program and whether potentially millions were misused by community groups that offer adult classes was launched Monday by a state Legislature committee.

State Sen. Raymond M. Haynes (R-Riverside) said he requested the probe in response to allegations by the state Department of Education that 10 community groups that provide English and citizenship classes to Latino and Asian immigrants did not properly account for how they spent $15 million in education funds.

Haynes, a member of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, called for the state auditor’s office to conduct the investigation. Haynes and Assemblyman Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles), the committee chairman, said the investigation will also look at how the 10 community organizations, including the Santa Ana- and Los Angeles-based Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, obtained the funding from the Department of Education.

Hermandad officials did not return phone calls seeking comment Monday. But leaders of the Latino rights organization have said that they have the documentation to prove that their share of state education funds was properly spent.

Department spokesman Doug Stone said education officials welcome the audit.

“We plan to cooperate totally with the state auditor and whatever he requests,” Stone said.

The Times reported in May that federal investigators are probing the state Department of Education’s administration of millions of dollars in adult education funds and the possible misuse of the funds. Among the allegations being looked at are charges that some groups received reimbursement for classes that were never held and equipment that was never purchased.

Officials familiar with the federal probe said investigators are looking at charges that some adult education groups continued to receive state funding even after they could not account for how money received earlier was spent.

Haynes said he wants the auditor’s office to look at the education department’s adult education fund from 1994 to the present “because of the allegations of impropriety that have occurred.”

“There is evidence that the department didn’t pay attention to concerns raised by their internal auditors,” Haynes said. “If the department had listened to its own internal auditors, there wouldn’t be any problems. I want to know why some groups like Hermandad continued receiving funding when the department’s own auditors said the funding should be stopped.”

The latest probe will also look at how the education department reviews grant applications, Wildman said.

Haynes said the probe should look into allegations raised by former Assistant State Supt. Robert Cervantes, who oversaw adult education statewide. Cervantes, who filed a whistle-blower lawsuit that spurred the FBI investigation, charged that he alerted state education officials in 1995 and 1996 to the financial irregularities and attempted to cut funding to some of the 10 groups.

Cervantes was fired from that post in May 1996 and transferred to a low-ranking civil service job.

In June, state education officials took the unusual step of ordering Hermandad to repay $4.3 million it received for adult education classes in the last three years, after authorities said it was impossible to determine whether the funds had been properly spent.

Hermandad leaders are fighting that decision and have vowed to supply the paperwork that they say will prove the funds were properly spent. On Monday, committee officials said that Hermandad representatives turned over some documents, but committee members had yet to examine the files.