Lizzie – Page 2 – East of 52 News

Thirteen Points of Spin: How Dehesa’s Superintendent Tried to Rewrite the Record

Close-up of a desk covered in highlighted public records, sticky notes, and a yellow highlighter, symbolizing an investigation into a school district’s charter finances and oversight.

When Dehesa’s superintendent fired off a thirteen-point defamation threat over my coverage of his tiny district’s massive charter empire, he didn’t just dispute a story—he became part of it. What began as an investigation into Dehesa’s charter footprint, land deals, and sliding Dashboard scores is now also a case study in how a public official tried to intimidate a critic, and instead guaranteed that every uncomfortable fact would be pulled into the light and laid out in one place.

Erasing the Public Square: Dehesa Scrubs Its Facebook Page After Parent Pushback

Photorealistic landscape photo of a laptop on a desk showing a “Page Not Found” screen for a school Facebook page, with a hand holding a phone that reads “This page isn’t available” and a blurred school bulletin board in the background.

When the questions got uncomfortable, the forum disappeared. That choice tells parents more about governance culture than any press release ever will.

Rethinking Charter Oversight: A Path Toward Fairness, Representation, and Educational Integrity

A photorealistic scene of a schoolroom table with stacks of U.S. cash, a calculator, pencils, manila folders, and a rubber stamp in focus; empty student desks and an American flag are softly blurred in the background.

California’s charter dilemma isn’t about charters—it’s about who oversees them. This blueprint replaces district authorizers with independent regional boards, returns oversight fees to public benefit, gives charter families a voice, and stabilizes schools by ending political whiplash and conflicts of interest.

Stop Calling It Choice: Public Funds Deserve Public Standards

A sunlit school gymnasium with voting booths lined up and a child standing alone in the center, evoking themes of public accountability, education policy, and democratic process.

Charter schools were created in the spirit of innovation and flexibility—but with billions in public funds flowing into private hands and virtually no voter accountability, the promise of “choice” now comes at the expense of public trust, transparency, and educational equity.

When the Tail Wags the Dog: How Tiny Districts Like Dehesa Are Raking in Millions While Educating Almost No One

A close-up, high-resolution photograph of U.S. currency, with tightly stacked hundred-dollar bills in sharp focus. The lighting emphasizes the texture and detail of the paper, evoking themes of money, funding, and financial influence.

A small East County school district with under 100 students authorizes more than 13,000 charter enrollments across Southern California. As oversight fees rise and land deals expand, questions emerge about governance, priorities, and whether this model echoes past controversies in California’s charter school history.

If I Weren’t a Responsible Journalist I Would Name-Drop

A fragile house of cards beginning to collapse on a wooden desk under warm light, symbolizing the fragility of power, accountability, and corruption

A reporter’s reflection on restraint, ethics, and the stories I chose not to publish—yet.

Inside the Arena: A Reporter’s Reflection

Stadium crowd stands, raising black “Turning Point” signs; red-white-blue outfits fill the seats during the Charlie Kirk memorial in Glendale, Arizona.

From the floor, I did a slow 360 and felt chills rip through me. The crowd rose, sang, embraced, and the emotion hit like a tidal wave—love, admiration, mourning, resolve. Whatever your side, everyone agreed on one thing: to honor a life that changed theirs. It was humbling. It was beautiful. It was a turning point.