CRUSADE TO SHUT DOWN SCHOOL GRAD LAUNCHES LEGAL BATTLE AFTER ALMA MATER'S DIPLOMAS RAISE QUESTIONS.

Byline: Jennifer Radcliffe Staff Writer

A Salvadoran immigrant - dubbed the Erin Brockovich of education by supporters - has led the charge to shut down a private school under investigation in at least three other states for conferring questionable high school diplomas to low-income Latino and immigrant students.

Bessy Echeverria, 28, of Reseda won a small claims suit in a Van Nuys court last year ordering the Lomita-based California Alternative High School to refund her $475 in tuition after the diploma she received was not accepted by the West Valley Occupational Center.

Last month, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge granted her request for an injunction to stop the school's owner, Daniel Gossai, 53, of Hawthorne, from advertising that it offers either a high school education or diploma.

``I want to help the Hispanic community so this man won't take advantage of them anymore,'' Echeverria said.

``It was upsetting because my dream was to have my high school diploma ... from the United States. When I found out this ... I felt all my dreams went to the floor - all my hopes, too.''

But Echeverria's fight is far from over.

Gossai is appealing the injunction and has slapped Echeverria and two relatives with a $2 million defamation suit, even as the school is still holding classes in California. Court documents he filed say the women visited classes and questioned the legitimacy of the school, which Echeverria and her relatives deny.

Gossai's attorney, Scott Furstman, said his client has done nothing wrong and that the school ``provides a service to individuals within the community that welcome and need alternatives.''

``My client believes that the girls made outrageous, slanderous statements,'' Furstman said.

Furstman said California Alternative has added a disclaimer on its brochures stating the school has not been approved by the state. He also said thousands of students have graduated from the school since it was founded about 20 years ago.

``From our perspective, these series of allegations and complaints are the first in the history of CAHS,'' Furstman said.

But officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer Affairs and the state Department of Education say they have received dozens of complaints and questions from students and prosecutors in other states.

Like Echeverria, they complain that the diplomas granted by the school have not been accepted by academic institutions.

``We have received 13 requests for mediation on this school,'' said Pastor Herrera, the county's director of consumer affairs. ``At this point, this is the only school (of its kind) that I know of that we're working on.''

What especially upsets Echeverria is the school's close relationship with local churches, where it advertises its diplomas and conducts most of its classes.

``It's in a church and (Gossai) uses God. That makes you think, how can this be a lie? I was stupid to believe them, but I asked them a million times,'' she said.

Echeverria said her classes were held for just three hours each Saturday for a total of 10 weeks. She participated in a graduation ceremony, wearing a mint green cap and gown, after passing the school's competency test.

``The graduation was so real,'' said Echeverria, tears streaming down her face. ``My family was there. That's what hurt the most - they were devastated (when they found out later).''

She moved from El Salvador a decade ago - when she was just a year short of completing high school. She's since been learning English, working, raising her two young children and taking GED classes at Los Angeles Unified's West Valley Occupational Center.

When she heard about the California Alternative High School at her church - Iglesia de Dios Camino de Santidad in Encino - she thought her prayers had been answered: a fast way to get her diploma.

A school brochure said, ``We are 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.''

The brochure also states that the school is ``recognized by both the state of California and the federal government as an institution conferring the high school diploma for students to participate in financial aid programs at accredited colleges and universities.''

Although she couldn't find any state or federal officials to confirm the school's legitimacy, she had faith that the diploma would be real.

Mary Jones, a consultant with the state Department of Education, said she's received dozens of calls about California Alternative, including inquiries from officials in Nebraska, Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona, where the school also operates.

But she said private schools in California are not regulated by the state.

``It's basically a buyer-beware situation for private schools.''

In some states with more regulatory power, attorneys general have taken steps to shut down California Alternative, which operates in many churches that serve the Latino community. Late last month, an Iowa court temporarily banned the school from recruiting students or conducting classes in the state.

Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for the attorney general's office in California, said: ``At this point in time, we have no comment on California Alternative High School.''

When Gossai filed the defamation suit, Echeverria hired Los Angeles attorney Stephen Shikes.

``I just sat there and listened with my mouth open,'' Shikes said. ``I just knew something had to be done.''

``There is no loophole in California law which allows Gossai to continue to bilk and defraud the unsuspecting, unsophisticated and trusting public,'' Shikes wrote in a countersuit filed against Gossai's defamation suit.

Shikes said the monetary amount sought by Echeverria and her relatives in the countersuit has not yet been determined.

The long fight has been a learning experience for Echeverria, whose supporters see her as similar to Erin Brockovich, the Westlake Village legal assistant who helped win a record judgment against Pacific Gas and Electric for environmental contamination in the California town of Hinkley.

Janine Quint, a counselor at the West Valley Occupational Center, said she's seen about a dozen students try to enroll with California Alternative diplomas.

``Several come in, and we tell them that it's bogus. They cry. They get upset,'' she said. ``It's amazing that Bessy took this on. It's usually too much trouble.''

Echeverria said it's inspired her to push harder for justice in her community.

``My dream was to get a career. Now I'm thinking, since I went through this, of studying law so I can help my people get legal advice.''

Jennifer Radcliffe, [phone]

jennifer.radcliffe(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Bessy Echeverria holds her California Alternative diploma, which has not been accepted by other academic institutions.

(2) Angela DiMascio, left, and Janine Quint, right, of West Valley Occupational Center look at files as Bessy Echeverria waits.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

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