The small Phoenix charter school SySTEM was forced to close its doors last week due to low enrollment, and its 32 students needed to find new schools quickly.
That’s when the chief operating officer of the Arizona Charter Schools Association, Robert Di Bacco, stepped in. He reached out to the school’s principal and offered to get her in touch with someone who could help students find new schools.
However, Di Bacco’s contact was his wife, Paola Leyton Salas. She runs Enrollment Experts, a paid recruiter for another Phoenix charter school — Self Development Academy.
Arizona Republic investigative reporter Craig Harris explained what happened.
