promoearn: The Daily Money: Did charter schools take PPP loans they didn't need?

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

The Daily Money: Did charter schools take PPP loans they didn't need?

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Tuesday, March 22

Subscribe to The Daily Money newsletter. Come for our roundup of each day's top stories from USA TODAY Money. Stay for the pop-culture references and financial news-inspired playlist.

Good morning and happy Tuesday, Daily Money readers. Jayme Deerwester back with you after a sunny spring row in a quad scull (four people with two oars each), alongside our coach and an amused muskrat.

🗞 News you should know 🗞

Yesterday, we told you about a USA TODAY investigation that found that privately operated but publicly funded charter schools took a collective $1 billion in Payroll Protection Program loans when they didn't actually need the money.

Today, we're focusing on Albert Einstein Academies, a San Diego-based charter school that declined COVID relief funds, saying it was "the ethical thing to do" because the PPP program was intended to help financially struggling small businesses stay open and avoid laying off employees in the first year of the pandemic.

Einstein didn't suffer financially because California continued its pre-pandemic level of public school funding during the health crisis even if enrollment declined, giving some schools additional money.

"We could have always used the money," said superintendent David Sciarretta, whose school educates 1,450 students, many of whom come from low-income housing and qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. "But, growing up, my mom told me: 'If there's food on the table and there are other folks who are hungrier than you, then you need to let them eat because they have a greater need than you do.'"

🚨 More stories you shouldn't miss 🚨

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HIP-HOP BEEFS AREN'T WHAT THEY USED TO BE: Rapper Pusha T unloads on McDonald's in a new commercial for Arby's.

REASONS NOT TO RETIRE IN YOUR 50s: Access to your money, Medicare are among the factors to consider before you go through with it.

'FLYING TESLA' STUNT GOES AWRY: TikTok star Dominykas Zeglaitis named person of interest in hit-and-run.

💡 Daily insight 💡

Ukrainian officials are continuing to leverage cryptocurrencies as a way to raise funds in their fight to resist Russian invaders. So far, they've crowdsourced $120 million in aid, prompting economists to label the conflict "the world's first crypto war."

"This is really a turning point," says former Biden staffer Tomicah Tillemann of Ukraine's ability to raise donations through cryptocurrency, bypassing the traditional banking infrastructure. "We are seeing now extraordinary amounts of assistance in excess of what many governments around the world are able to provide flowing directly to the government of Ukraine.

He adds, "My assumption is that these innovations are here to stay, and they're not going away anytime soon."

⛽️ Living with higher gas prices ⛽️

Smaller cars are coming into vogue again just as they did during the Great Recession. However, despite even higher gas prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and inflation, people aren't as willing to part with their SUVs this time around.

Unlike during the 2008 gas price runup, today's SUVs are more fuel efficient. The smaller ones are often built on the same chassis as automakers' subcompact cars. And with drivers preferring SUVs' high seating positions and extra room, motorists are sticking by them, says Ian Beavis, chief strategy officer for AMCI, an automotive marketing firm. "Once people get into small SUVs and see the convenience of them, they won't go back to small sedans."

That's fortunate for automakers, particularly because of all the small-car models they have ditched in the past few years, leaving them vulnerable to a market shift if gas suddenly became precious and expensive.

💵 Taxes and inflation 💵

Higher living costs are causing a lot of Americans a world of financial stress. If you've been dipping into your savings account to cover your everyday bills, you're probably in good company. But what if you don't have savings to fall back on? In that case, you may slowly but surely be racking up debt just to stay afloat.

That's the bad news. The good news, however, is that if you have cash coming your way from the IRS, your refund could be just the thing that helps you get through these tricky times. So consider putting that money to keep up with bills or pay past-due expenses.

🎧 Mood music 🎧

Today's lyric comes from Aloe Blacc's "I Need a Dollar," which kinda sums up where many people are right now, through no fault of their own: "Well, I don't know if I'm walking on solid ground 'cause everything around me is crumbling down. And all I want is for someone to help me."

LISTEN WHILE YOU WORK: Remember, you can listen to this song and every track I've quoted in the newsletter in the Daily Money Mood Music playlist on Spotify.