An anonymous letter leads to a mountain of records into alleged mismanagement of the county’s Early Learning Program.

Sara Rubin here, reflecting on the power of old-fashioned snail mail. I do have a soft spot for exchanging handwritten letters, but this week I’m thinking more about how much letters still matter in journalism. 

We receive a good deal of handwritten and typewritten snail mail at the Weekly. (When the penmanship is legible and a letter is on topic, I type them up to include in our Letters to the Editor section.) We receive story ideas through a variety of channels, including our tipline and by phone. Sometimes a source chooses the most anonymous option and sends a letter by post. 

It was an unsigned, typewritten letter several months ago that spurred us to file a request for information with the Monterey County Office of Education, which oversees the county’s Early Learning Program, which educates hundreds of local children from eligible low-income families through federal Head Start and California State Preschool funds. 

In February, we submitted a California Public Records Act to MCOE, looking for audits and/or investigations into the former ELP director and assistant director. At that time, it wasn’t clear if we’d get anything, or that any relevant records actually existed. 

As it turns out, they did—three hefty reports by a third-party auditing firm, plus hundreds of pages of related emails. Before providing redacted copies of the report to the Weekly, MCOE notified the former employees of the records request. Both say that was the first time they actually got to see complete copies of the investigation into their alleged conduct, which led them both to resign. (You can view copies of the reports obtained by the Weekly at this link.) 

In conclusion, the reports found: “The investigation into the Early Learning Program revealed widespread mismanagement, unethical practices, and violations of financial and labor regulations that compromise the integrity and compliance of the program. Key areas of concern include the misallocation of public funds, falsification of work hours, conflicts of interest, favoritism in hiring and promotions, and a toxic workplace culture characterized by intimidation and retaliation.”

You can read more detail about the findings of the investigation in this week’s cover story. But perhaps even more importantly, you can read about the people whose lives have been impacted by the program, mostly for the better. Findings in an investigation like this matter because the program matters so much to so many families. 

Addressing early childhood is one of the best opportunities our society has to close the inequality gap. Making sure programs are above board and work for the children, not to enrich friends or family of staff, is critical to keeping that mission going.