November 6, 2012, 12:05 AM
Cash-strapped colleges seem to take every opportunity to rustle up funding from donors for naming rights – College of the Desert recently named two buildings after two different donors, and City College of San Francisco even attempted in 2009 to get donors to sponsor individual classes. ...
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June 28, 2012, 12:05 AM
UPDATE, June 28, 2012: The Alameda County Social Services Agency provided a response regarding allegations of child abuse at St. Andrew private school. The Oakland Unified School District has put a controversial church school on notice that its federal funding may be cut off if...
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June 25, 2012, 11:05 PM
Scrutiny of a West Oakland church school accused of abuse by parents and students is growing, with BART officials now questioning the school's right to solicit for donations in stations and state officials investigating whether federal funds should have gone to school leaders. The...
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June 14, 2012, 2:57 PM
Oakland's school board has ordered a formal investigation of a church school, a school board member confirmed today, following a meeting last night where angry parents of former students accused the school of exploiting and abusing children.
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June 13, 2012, 2:01 AM
School officials in Oakland heard an earful Wednesday night from parents and former students of Saint Andrew Missionary Baptist Church Private School, which sends students out to panhandle at BART stations. The school may be private, but a joint CBS 5 and California Watch investigation found...
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June 8, 2012, 12:05 AM
Oakland school board members are calling for the district to investigate whether a private school accused of abuse is inflating enrollment numbers to get more than its share of taxpayer funding. The board members were responding to a California Watch investigation into a West Oakland K-12...
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June 4, 2012, 11:05 PM
St. Andrew Missionary Baptist Church, where some former students have accused a teacher of physical abuse, has inflated its enrollment and gained thousands in extra federal dollars.
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June 4, 2012, 2:01 AM
Two years ago, a CBS 5 investigation raised questions about their school and fundraising practices. Now, a joint investigation with our media partners at California Watch is raising new questions about how the school is getting tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
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June 4, 2012, 12:05 AM
Elite donors gave nearly five times as much to winning candidates as they did to losers. And about 55 percent of every dollar they contributed aided a winning initiative campaign.
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June 4, 2012, 12:05 AM
“The Rainmakers” isn’t the first attempt to identify powerful donors in California.
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May 31, 2012, 1:05 AM
Seventeen months ago, I started teaching an investigative reporting class at Stanford University. It would last only 11 weeks. But my 16 Stanford students laid the groundwork for a project that California Watch will unveil just in time for the California primary election. The project, which...
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May 7, 2012, 12:05 AM
With the American political system deluged with super-sized donations, a few innovative proposals are trying to harness small donors and, in one case, divert campaign cash to charity. The Federal Election Commission recently OK'd a proposal to let consumers cash in loyalty program points,...
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March 29, 2012, 12:05 AM
In September, Herman Rowland, a Fairfield candy manufacturer and GOP donor, gave $2,500 to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, then a contender for the Republican presidential nomination. In November, as Perry faded, Rowland gave $1,000 to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. In December, he gave $2,...
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January 19, 2012, 12:05 AM
School foundations and PTAs used to raise money for the extras – high-tech projectors and special field trips. But these days, private donations to schools have grown dramatically and are being used to prevent teacher layoffs, keep libraries open, and save music and foreign-language classes....
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December 5, 2011, 12:05 AM
Thirteen charitable organizations raised more than $1 million each in California by hiring for-profit fundraisers last year but got back 10 percent of the money or less, according to newly released data from the state attorney general. Some prominent charities – such as Amnesty...
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