ALTERNATIVE HIGH SCHOOL SUED LOCKYER SAYS OPERATOR CHEATED IMMIGRANTS.Byline: Jennifer Radcliffe Staff Writer The state attorney general said Thursday that his office has filed a lawsuit against California Alternative High School, seeking $32 million in penalties plus full tuition reimbursement for hundreds of former students - most of them Latino immigrants - who were awarded ``worthless'' high school diplomas. State prosecutors seized evidence from school owner Daniel Gossai's Rancho Palos Verdes Rancho Pal·os Ver·des A city of southern California on a channel of the Pacific Ocean west of Long Beach. Population: 42,100. home and school offices, filed a temporary restraining order temporary restraining order: see injunction. and froze the school's assets. On Monday, the attorney general filed a consumer protection lawsuit against the Lomita-based private school. Most California Alternative High School classes were held in Latino churches throughout Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , including the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . ``This scam is especially disturbing because it exploits immigrants trying to improve their lives,'' California Attorney General The California Attorney General is the State Attorney General of the government of the state of California in the USA. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (California Constitution, Article V, Section 13. Bill Lockyer William Westwood "Bill" Lockyer (born May 8, 1941) is the current State Treasurer of California. Prior to this, he served as California's Attorney General and head of the Department of Justice for the U.S. state of California. said in a statement. ``What's worse, these ripoff artists have cloaked their con in religious faith and duped well-meaning clergy and their congregations.'' The school, which has already been sued in Iowa and Nebraska, is accused of defrauding immigrant and low-income students by charging them $450 to $1,450 for 30 hours of classes over 10 weeks. They also were led to believe that the diplomas they received were accredited accredited recognition by an appropriate authority that the performance of a particular institution has satisfied a prestated set of criteria. accredited herds cattle herds which have achieved a low level of reactors to, e.g. by education authorities. Reseda resident Bessy Echeverria, a 28-year-old immigrant from El Salvador El Salvador (ĕl sälväthōr`), officially Republic of El Salvador, republic (2005 est. pop. 6,705,000), 8,260 sq mi (21,393 sq km), Central America. , led the charge to close the school in California after officials at the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Unified School District's West Valley Occupation Center would not accept her CAHS CAHS Canadian Aviation Historical Society CAHS Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies (US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC) CAHS Columbus Alternative High School (Columbus, OH) CAHS Cathedral High School diploma for admission. Echeverria filed a lawsuit last year asking that her $475 in CAHS tuition be refunded. The case was ultimately consolidated with a $2 million defamation suit Gossai filed against Echeverria and two of her relatives. The suit is pending. ``We are really happy (the state is) getting involved and that finally they're going to listen to all these people, because I'm not the only one,'' Echeverria said. The attorney general charges that the school violated state laws, which prohibit unfair competition and false or deceptive advertising. The school operates at about 30 locations in California and 78 nationally. Gossai could not be reached for comment Thursday, and his attorney Scott Furstman declined to comment. Earlier this year, Furstman told the Daily News that the California Alternative High School ``provides a service to individuals within the community that welcome and need alternatives.'' A school brochure states that CAHS is ``committed in a special way to help the Hispanic population, and I (Gossai), as principal of CAHS, have accepted my calling from God to help the Hispanic population to improve their lives and to get out of poverty.'' Aside from CAHS and Gossai, other defendants in the attorney general's case include: West Side Education Corp.; David Soto, president of West Side; Noel Brito, director of West Side; Fabricio Sandoval, CAHS director of admissions and instructor; Janira Jacobs, CAHS administrator and teacher; and Janet Gossai, wife of Daniel Gossai. The attorney general said West Side purchased rights to the CAHS program about four years ago and has been actively expanding the program in California and other states. The attorney general contends that Gossai does not have teaching credentials and was fired from a position at Victor Valley Community College for immoral conduct, dishonesty and unfitness for service. Jennifer Radcliffe, (818) 713-3722 jennifer.radcliffe(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): box Box: LEARNING DIFFICULTIES |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion