Teresa Brady, who spent 24 years as president of Duval Teachers United in Jacksonville, pleaded guilty in federal court Oct. 9 to multiple counts. Co-defendant Ruby George, who was the union’s vice president for 24 years, pleaded guilty in August.

The pair were accused of swindling roughly $1.3 million each by selling supposedly unused vacation days back to the union and approving each other’s paperwork to avoid scrutiny.

Brady faces a maximum of 70 years in prison when sentenced. George faces up to 60 years.聽Lawyers for Brady and George did not respond to requests for comment.

Duval County Public Schools declined to comment. The union didn鈥檛 return multiple requests for comment but in January that said, 鈥渢his will never happen again.鈥�

鈥淒uval Teachers United will pursue all legal channels to recoup lost funds and hold those responsible accountable,鈥� the union said. 鈥淲e want to be clear: Members and current leadership of Duval Teachers United and affiliated unions do not tolerate the undermining of our members or the misuse of valuable membership dollars.鈥�

The union collects $5 million annually in dues from its 6,500 members. Roughly half is forwarded to state and national affiliates.

Federal agents raided the headquarters of Duval Teachers United in September 2023 to investigate potential misappropriation of funds. Brady and George resigned soon after. 

Duval County Public Schools employees accrue 42 vacation days per year, and the time can be rolled over, according to Brady鈥檚 . There鈥檚 no limit to how much accrued leave employees can sell back to the union at a rate equivalent to their hourly pay. 

From 2013 to late 2022, Brady and George concealed their actual leave totals from the union and its auditor, and falsely stated the amount of accumulated leave they said they needed to sell back 鈥渢o avoid the leave being a liability to Duval Teachers United,鈥� the indictment said. 

They would sign each other’s leave buyback checks so the union鈥檚 treasurer wouldn’t see them. The checks were deposited into their personal bank accounts, many in the amounts of $10,000 to more than $30,000, according to court documents. They would also request reimbursement for expenses that weren鈥檛 related to the union and pay each other bonuses without the authorization of the union board.

The leave payouts were hidden in general budget line items for salaries and payroll taxes in the union鈥檚 financial statements, the indictment said. Brady and George defrauded the union out of around $2.6 million over almost 10 years. Both were ordered to pay back the amount they stole, but because the money was already spent, the federal government will be seeking other assets, according to court documents.

Public records show that pay for both union leaders fluctuated wildly. Brady鈥檚 salary ranged from $160,000 in 2006-07 to more than $326,000 in 2019-20. She received $251,868 in 2021-22. George received $134,000 in 2018-19 and almost $327,000 the following year.

鈥淚 accept full responsibility for my actions and their consequences,鈥� Brady . 鈥淚 am truly sorry for my wrongdoing and the harm I caused to Duval Teachers United and its members. Understanding the seriousness of my offenses, I accept the outcome with humility and sincere remorse while deeply regretting breaching the trust placed in me by [Duval Teachers United], my community and my family.鈥�

In the union鈥檚 January press release, it said several steps had been taken to protect membership dues. The organization hired an independent outside bookkeeper and now requires reimbursements to be approved by several union leaders and an outside accountant before payments are processed. The selling of vacation time also has to be approved by the union鈥檚 board of directors. 

鈥淭he board of directors has received training to empower it in their role as the governing body of Duval Teachers United,鈥� the union said. 鈥淏oard members have formed specialty committees that oversee the critical functions of Duval Teachers United operations, so transparency and accountability are always a part of our culture moving forward.鈥�

COLUMBIA 鈥� A Laurens County school district spent nearly $1 million more than it should have on expenses like food, travel and gift cards over the past four years, from the state Office of Inspector General.

The investigation into Laurens County School District 55, which includes schools in the city of Laurens, did not uncover anything criminal or fraudulent. However, the district did waste as much as $973,000 on unnecessary expenses, often originating from questionable record-keeping and policy loopholes, according to the report.

Legislators who represent the district of 5,100 students asked for the investigation in December, after the school board raised concerns about the district鈥檚 speech language pathologist program.

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Once inspectors started reviewing four years鈥� worth of records, they discovered outdated policies and lenient enforcement that put the district at risk of potential fraud, according to the report.

That was the bad news, said Rep. John McCravy, R-Greenwood, a member of the Laurens County delegation.

The good news was that the report concluded employees had not been stealing or otherwise intentionally misusing taxpayer dollars, he said.

鈥淣othing dishonest was done,鈥� McCravy told the SC Daily Gazette on Friday.

The problem was more about the district鈥檚 culture, particularly under the most recent superintendent, the report found.

During interviews, officials often told investigators that 鈥渢his is the way we鈥檝e always done it,鈥� despite the fact that former employees said that was not the case. That sort of laissez-faire attitude opened the door to extra spending that could have gone to better use, investigators wrote.

鈥淭one at the top matters,鈥� the report reads.

Superintendent Ameca Thomas headed the district during the years investigators examined. She resigned in January without publicly giving a reason, following months of dysfunction among board members, .

Last week, the district board appointed co-interim Superintendent Jody Pendland to the position permanently.

The report called for the state Department of Education to audit the district and recommended the district update its policies to prevent the possibility of someone taking advantage of outdated rules.

District officials plan to implement those suggestions, according to a statement signed by Pendland and co-interim Superintendent Rhett Harris.

The findings gave 鈥渁 road map for the District鈥檚 leadership team and the Board to improve its delivery of a quality education,鈥� the statement reads.

Superintendent Ellen Weaver has received the report, a department spokesperson confirmed Thursday.

鈥淪he looks forward to working on any remediation needed with the school district,鈥� spokesperson Laura Bayne said in an email.

Overspending

Stanley stainless steel tumblers, steak dinners and electronic picture frames were among expenses charged to an account intended for student meals, the investigation found.

In the Laurens County district, where 78% of students live in poverty, the federal government pays to cover the cost of student meals, as well as the labor and maintenance needed to support them.

That includes one free meal for cafeteria workers per shift, according to state rules.

But Laurens County staff used $12,600 to pay for birthday meals and end-of-year dinners at sit-down restaurants including Saskatoon Steaks Fish and Wild Game in Greenville and the Arizona Handcrafted Fare and Drink Company in Simpsonville, the investigation found.

Staff members spent another $8,500 on gift cards and giveaways, investigators found.

Keeping up with the rules about what is and isn鈥檛 covered by federal programs like that one can be difficult, McCravy said.

In some cases, the report pointed out, employees interviewed did not seem to know or understand the district鈥檚 financial policies, leading them to misuse money without realizing it.

鈥淭here鈥檚 so much officials have to comply with, it鈥檚 an incredible task,鈥� McCravy said.

Other problems came from a lack of policies on how to use district money and lax enforcement of policies that did exist, according to the report.

For instance, the district reimbursed employees for over $36,000 worth of expenses that did not follow district policy, such as trips taken without the proper approvals. In some cases, the district did not provide the forms employees were supposed to fill out before taking a trip, adding to the confusion.

鈥淲ith rare exception, anything received by the Finance Department was reimbursed to the employee without question or ensuring compliance鈥� with the district鈥檚 policies, the report reads.

District policies require a traveling teacher or staff member to try to find the cheapest hotel room possible within reason, such as booking in a block at a discounted rate for a conference. But employees either didn鈥檛 know about that policy or ignored it, according to the report.

Kingston Plantation Resort, in particular, was a favorite among teachers traveling to Myrtle Beach for professional development conferences. Often, the beachfront condos were their first choice, and the district spent a total of $45,500 there over the course of two years.

Officials using purchasing cards, also known as p-cards, also ignored the district鈥檚 reporting policies. During the investigation period, they charged over $46,000 to the district cards without getting the correct approvals or providing documentation, the investigation found.

The district p-card policies were part of the problem, as they were murky.

For example, the policy says nothing about gift cards. The district spent $47,000 on gift cards in four years, despite repeated warnings from the district鈥檚 chief financial officer not to do so.

Much of that came from a program known as 鈥淪pirit of 55,鈥� in which one teacher and one staff member each month received a $55 gift card. The former superintendent also liked to give higher-ups $50 gift cards as birthday presents.

Investigators also found 鈥渁 general culture and expectation of providing food at meetings,鈥� adding up to more than $201,700 over four years for staff meals.

One official acknowledged the district spent more than its policies might allow on food but told auditors that 鈥渃ulture drives everything,鈥� and offering meals during meetings rewarded hard-working teachers and administrators.

State Inspector General Brian Lamkin called the spending excessive. Auditors suggested the district tighten up its policies and enforcement, as well as trim costs that aren鈥檛 needed.

鈥淲e need to be careful with taxpayer money,鈥� McCravy said.

Contract workers

Between July 2020 and January 2024, the district 鈥渇ailed to execute basic contract management,鈥� according to the report, paying more than $531,000 to three vendors without official contracts.

Contracts are in place to protect the district, giving officials a baseline for services and payment rates they can use to make sure the company is doing the work the district is paying for, the investigator wrote.

鈥淭he execution of a contract enables the District to establish agreed upon terms for service and ensures the prescribed terms are met before payment is made to the vendor,鈥� the report reads.

Without them, the inspector general鈥檚 office could not determine whether the money was spent appropriately, so the report deemed it wasteful.

Even in the case of established contracts, the district spent more than it should have, the report found.

For instance, officials hired a speech language pathologist assistant in October 2022 at a rate of $55 per hour, according to the contract the district signed. For the next seven months, however, the district paid the assistant $75 per hour.

That extra $20 per hour added up to $11,105, which the report suggested the district should try to get back.

Officials also included contract workers in district-wide bonuses, even though school board members intended the money only for teachers and other workers employed directly by the district, board members told investigators.

Altogether, contract workers received more than $63,400 in bonuses not required in their contracts between 2020 and 2024.

Uncertified teachers

Investigators found that an uncertified speech therapist had been teaching at the district, using a speech pathology license registered to someone with a similar name and another person鈥檚 teaching certificate.

Once the district鈥檚 special education director realized the speech therapist did not have the state-required license, the employee was barred from the district鈥檚 campuses. The contractor responsible for hiring the worker with fake credentials fired the person and reimbursed the district for that worker鈥檚 time in classrooms, according to the report.

The contractor should have checked that the person was legitimately licensed, and the district handled the problem correctly, the report found.

What it did not handle correctly were the teachers it knew to be uncertified for the grade level or subject area they were teaching, according to the report.

Under state law, a district is required to notify a parent if their child is being taught for four weeks or longer by a teacher without the proper certifications.

The Laurens County district had 103 instances of teachers without correct certifications teaching between 2020 and 2024. Officials sent out only 15 letters to parents in that time. The human resources department told principals to send out the letters but did not follow up to make sure they did, according to the report.

After the inspector general鈥檚 office pointed this out to district officials, they sent out letters for this school year鈥檚 uncertified teachers in April, a month before classes ended.

The district also failed to report uncertified teachers to the state. Instead, it partnered them with certified teachers, who officials then reported as the primary teachers in a classroom, even if they were not.

Administrative staff told auditors they thought they were not allowed to report uncertified teachers. The inspector general鈥檚 office suggested they follow state regulations in the future to 鈥渁void the appearance of circumventing state and federal requirements regarding the disclosure of teaching assignments of uncertified teachers,鈥� the report reads.

Once the district adopts the changes laid out in the report, it will be able to improve those problems, McCravy said.

鈥淭his will benefit the district in the long run,鈥� McCravy said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com. Follow SC Daily Gazette on and .

They鈥檙e called 鈥淧ell runners鈥� 鈥� after enrolling at a community college they apply for a federal Pell grant, collect as much as $7,400, then vanish.

Since fall 2021, California鈥檚 community colleges have given more than $5 million to Pell runners, according to monthly reports they sent to the California Community Colleges Chancellor鈥檚 Office. Colleges also report they鈥檝e given nearly $1.5 million in state and local aid to these scammers.

The chancellor鈥檚 office began requiring the state鈥檚 116 community colleges to submit these reports three years ago, after fraud cases surged.

At the time, the office said it suspected . Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government loosened some restrictions around financial aid, making it easier for students to prove they were eligible, and provided special one-time grants to help keep them enrolled. Once these pandemic-era exceptions ended in 2023 and some classes returned to in-person instruction, college officials said they expected fraud to subside. 

It hasn鈥檛. In January, the chancellor鈥檚 office suspected 25% of college applicants were fraudulent, said Paul Feist, a spokesperson for the office. 

鈥淭his is getting significantly worse,鈥� said Todd Coston, an associate vice chancellor with the Kern Community College District. He said that last year, 鈥渟omething changed and all of a sudden everything spiked like crazy.鈥�

Online classes that historically don鈥檛 fill up were suddenly overwhelmed with students 鈥� a sign that many of them might be fake 鈥� Coston said. Administrators at other large districts, including the Los Rios Community College District in Sacramento, the Mt. San Antonio Community College District in Walnut, California and the Los Angeles Community College District, told CalMatters that fraudsters are evading each new cybersecurity strategy. 

The reason for the reported increase in fraud is because the chancellor鈥檚 office and college administrators are getting better at detecting it, he said. Since 2022, the state has allocated more than , cybersecurity and other changes in the online application process at community colleges.

The reports the colleges submitted don鈥檛 include how much fraud they prevented. 

The rise in suspected fraud coincides with years of efforts, both at the state and local level, to increase access to community college. Schools are reducing fees 鈥� or making college free 鈥� while legislators have worked to simplify and expand financial aid. Those efforts accelerated during the pandemic, when 

It鈥檚 not surprising, then, that 鈥渂ad actors鈥� would take advantage of the system鈥檚 good intentions, Feist said. 

Financial aid fraud is not new

College officials suspect most of the fake students are bots and often, they display tell-tale signs. In Sacramento, community colleges started seeing an influx of applications from Russia, China, and India during the start of the pandemic. Around the same time, administrators at Mt. San Antonio College saw students using Social Security numbers of retirees. Others had home addresses that were abandoned lots. Uncommon email domains, such as AOL.com, were another red flag. 

These scams aren鈥檛 new. The federal government has long required colleges to report instances of financial aid fraud. Every year, the federal government closes around , including a recent  who stole nearly a million dollars by collecting fraudulent student loans. California community colleges also say they鈥檝e spotted fraudulent applications from people trying to get an .edu email address in order to receive student discounts.

When the chancellor鈥檚 office began requiring community colleges to file monthly reports, it asked for the number of fake applications and the amount of money they gave to fraudsters.

CalMatters submitted a public records request for the data, broken down by campus. After the request was initially rejected, CalMatters appealed and received an anonymized copy of all of the monthly reports, lacking individual campus details. 

The reports show that between September 2021 and January 2024, the colleges received roughly 900,000 fraudulent college applications and gave fraudsters more than $5 million in federal aid, as well as nearly $1.5 million in state and local aid. 

The numbers show that fraud represents less than 1% of the total amount of financial aid awarded to community college students in the same time period. It鈥檚 hard to tell how accurate the data is because compliance is spotty, with some months missing reports from as many as half the colleges. 

More fraud, in more places

To understand how fraud is evolving, the chancellor鈥檚 office uses several sources of information and data, Feist said. One indicator is an atypical bump in applications. 

鈥淚f I saw, for example, that a college that only gets 1,000 applications in some time frame gets 5,000, you kind of know something is probably up,鈥� said Valerie Lundy-Wagner, a vice chancellor for the community college system. 

The chancellor鈥檚 office provided CalMatters with anonymous application data for each month from September 2021 to January 2024. CalMatters analyzed the data using two different techniques to identify statistical outliers in the application data and asked the office to verify the methodology. The office repeatedly declined.

According to the analysis, more than 50 of the state鈥檚 116 community colleges saw at least one unusual spike in the number of applications they received during that time frame. In the last year, colleges have seen more unusual spikes than at any point since 2021. Along with fraud, however, outliers could also reflect normal fluctuations in applications or the . 

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e hearing is that (fraud) is happening more widespread than people are letting on, but people just have their heads in the sand because it looks good to have your enrollment going up,鈥� said Coston with the Kern Community College District. Many college administrators say improvements in artificial intelligence have made it easier for people to attempt fraud on a larger scale. 

Yet clamping down too hard on fraud can have unintended consequences. More than 20% of community college students in California don鈥檛 receive Pell grants they鈥檙e eligible for. Administrative hurdles 鈥� including the verification process 鈥� are one reason why, according to  by researchers at UC Davis. To help, the federal government is trying to simplify its financial aid application, but in some cases, it鈥檚 . 

鈥淲e鈥檝e overcorrected at times, even in policy, and in how stringently we鈥檙e verifying students relative to the amount of fraud in the system,鈥� said Jake Brymer, a deputy director with the California Student Aid Commission. As a result, he said, real low-income students get pushed out.

Kicking real students out of class

Sometimes, the fraud detection backfires on actual students, ousting people like Martin Romero.  

In order to graduate from East Los Angeles College, Romero, 20, must take American history, so last fall he enrolled in an online class where students can watch pre-recorded lectures on their own time. 

He said it鈥檚 all he had time for. Romero takes four classes at East Los Angeles College each semester and serves as its student body president. He also helps out at his family鈥檚 auto body shop, sometimes as much as 15 hours a week. 

On the first day of class last fall, he said the online portal, Canvas, wasn鈥檛 working on his computer.

That day, the American history professor did a test through Canvas, asking students to respond to a prompt in order to prove they were not a bot. Romero didn鈥檛 answer, so the professor dropped him from the class. 

鈥淚 was freaking out,鈥� he said, and wrote to the professor as soon as he found out, begging to be reinstated. The professor told him the class was already full again, so letting him in would mean kicking someone else out. 

For the college鈥檚 Academic Senate, the faculty group that governs academic matters, fake students is one of the top three issues, said its president, Leticia Barajas. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e frustrated with the fact that some of these courses are getting filled really quickly,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e see it as an access issue for our students.鈥�

She said there鈥檚 been an uptick in recent months, especially in certain kinds of online classes, that has forced professors to focus on hunting bots instead of teaching. Professors now are expected to test their students in the first weeks, asking them to submit answers to prompts, sign copies of the syllabus, or send other evidence to prove they are real. 

Increasingly, she said, the bots are evading detection, especially with the help of AI. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e submitting assignments. It鈥檚 gibberish,鈥� she said.

The endless, multi-million dollar game of combating fraud

Campus and state officials described fraud detection as a game of whack-a-mole. 鈥淲hen we get better at addressing one thing, something else pops up,鈥� said Lundy-Wagner. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 sort of the nature of fraud.鈥�

To fight fraud, she said, the chancellor鈥檚 office, the 73 independently governed districts and their colleges all must work together, including those who oversee information technology, enrollment and financial aid. Part of the challenge is that the system is so 鈥渄ecentralized,鈥� she said.

The largest reform underway is , the state鈥檚 community college application portal, which will offer more cybersecurity, Feist said. He also said there are other 鈥減romising鈥� short-term projects. 

One of them, a software tool known as ID.Me, launched in February. The contract with the software company, , gives it permission to check college applicants for identification, including video interviews in certain cases. Privacy experts have warned that the company鈥檚 video technology could be  

To mitigate these privacy concerns and avoid creating enrollment barriers, applicants need to opt in to the new verification software. 

In the first few days after its implementation, 29% of applicants opted in to ID.Me鈥檚 new vetting process. Some applicants started the verification process but never finished, said Feist, while others are ineligible because they鈥檙e under the age of 18. The rest chose not to verify their identity for other reasons, including many who are suspected bots. 

鈥榃e鈥檙e just trying to survive鈥�

In Los Angeles, community colleges have already seen a drop in suspicious applications, said Nicole Albo-Lopez, a vice chancellor with the district. But she鈥檚 skeptical the problem is solved. 鈥淭he lull we see, I don鈥檛 believe we鈥檒l be able to sustain,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l find another way to come in.鈥� 

Her district is now concerned that bots are trying to steal data or intellectual property, not just financial aid. 鈥淪ay I have 400 sections of English 101 online. There are 400 variations of readings, assignments, peer-to-peer questions that somebody can go in and scrape,鈥� Albo-Lopez said. 

Barajas said faculty at East Los Angeles College are so overwhelmed by bots they haven鈥檛 discussed the potential risk to their intellectual property: 鈥淲e鈥檙e at such a level where we鈥檙e just trying to survive.鈥�

Meanwhile, students like Romero who are wrongly mistaken for bots must develop their own survival skills. When the professor denied the request to re-enroll, he signed up for the same course in the one format that was still available 鈥� in-person. The class met every Monday and Wednesday at 7:10 a.m., and the professor deducted points for anyone who was late.

鈥淚t was torture,鈥� he said, noting that he missed two classes and was late to around four. He finished the class with a B but said he would have had an A if he had gotten into the class he wanted.

As student body president, he said he鈥檚 been outspoken about the issue. While he was able to fulfill his history requirement, he worries that other students may not be so lucky. 

Data reporter Erica Yee contributed to this reporting. 

Adam Echelman covers California鈥檚 community colleges in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on higher education.