NJ lawmakers DEMAND federal probe over alleged COVID relief mismanagement [0:00-5:03]

So, New Jersey lawmakers say that 287 million in federal funds meant to help kids and newer schools have been mismanaged. So where did all the money go? Lawmakers, at least 16,000 students were supposed to get tutored, but less than 2,000 actually did. And 1.4 million dollar contracts for a literacy consultant was approved. But no work was ever done. There's no public record of what happened to the funds. Three New Jersey state lawmakers wrote to Education Secretary Linda McMahon asking for federal investigation, saying federal funds intended to help at-risk students recover cannot be approved, allocated, and left unaccounted for while outcomes worsen. Let's bring in New Jersey, a similarly woman, Don Fantasia, one of the lawmakers who wrote the letter. A similar woman, thank you so much for joining the program. There's clearly a problem here. When you look at the proficiency rate being at 34%, the kids can't read. They have money, but they're not receiving the money to improve those scores. That's correct. And thank you for bringing us on to talk about this. When we were doing remediation in English and mathematics following COVID, the federal government did step up and provided a bevy of funding for school specifically meant for learning loss, for mental health support, and for air quality projects and school districts. But what we found in Newark was shocking, and it follows a pattern. It follows a pattern of adults behaving badly, mismanaging funds that are meant to students, for students, and we were always at the belief that Newark, which was under government control for 25 years, was just doing this with state funds. But now they've really crossed the line into the federal territory. They were allocated $287 million, and what they have done with it is entirely unclear. But one thing we do know is it did not improve student learning. It did not improve outcomes, and the adults absolutely behave badly with no judgment whatsoever in this situation. So this is the numbers that we have, a similar one, the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment for 2025, grades three to eight, Newark's proficiency in the English language arts is at 34%. The math pass test rate is 21%. The statewide rate is 53%. For math, 41%. So the state in general is not doing its best, but the kids in Newark are underperforming when it comes to that state level. Absolutely, and students are sometimes considered at risk, right, due to socioeconomic factors. So we know that those communities definitely can be hit the hardest. Now, I myself am an urban educator for the past 18 years in New Jersey, and I was an English teacher. I was a school principal during COVID, during recovery from the pandemic. So I see exactly the challenges that come with this. However, what I also see is when scores like this happen, and there is no measurable improvement, and when Newark allocates $1.4 million for a no-show consultant whose only past experience is actually showing student decrease. The no-show consultant they hired actually took fourth grade students from a 34% literacy rate in the school she worked down to a 10.6% literacy rate. Now, that's a terrible return on investment dollars that are meant to help children improve and learn. Representative, can you explain that to me because the school district when we reached out to them, they're saying they never hired that consultant. Can you explain to me what exactly happened there? Yes, that's absolutely untrue. They put out a request for consultants as part of the ESSA and ARP funding plan. What they were to do with their money, every school had to submit their plan to the state of New Jersey. This individual was one of four consultants that was selected out of a group of 12. Oprah Records indicate her exact application. She was extended a contract for $1.4 million. There was one dissenting vote on the Newark Board of Education against it. And this lady put up the flag and she said, hey, what do we know about this person? I don't have enough information to actually support this and voted no against it. So I don't know where the information is coming from, that a contract was never extended. Not only was it an extended public record. So a similarly woman, instead of addressing the mayors of your concerns here, the school district has made this personal. I want to read the statement they released to us. They said this, this elected official is attacking the Newark Public Schools, one of the largest and most effective public school district in the nation because she has failed to effectively serve her own constituents.