{"id":65,"date":"2026-05-21T11:38:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65"},"modified":"2026-05-21T11:38:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:38:25","slug":"exclusive-minnesotas-quality-learing-center-raked-in-215k-federal-payout-senator-demands-receipts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | Minnesota’s ‘Quality Learing Center’ raked in $215K federal payout — senator demands receipts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Fraudsters behind the notorious \u201cQuality Learing Center\u201d daycare facility in Minnesota raked in nearly a quarter of a million dollars worth of pandemic-era loans from the Small Business Administration, according to a senator\u2019s investigation. <\/p>\n

Read more Italian dictator Mussolini\u2019s granddaughter lands six-figure payday after winning Celebrity Big Brother<\/a><\/p>\n

That daycare center, which had a misspelled name and a near-empty parking lot when YouTuber Nick Shirley stopped by for his viral video last year, became the poster child of the fraud scandal that rocked Minnesota.<\/p>\n

The facility, which shuttered in January, had garnered some $1.9 million from Minnesota\u2019s Child Care Assistance Program last year and some $10 million in state funding since 2019.<\/p>\n

But a probe by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) found that it had also received federal assistance from the Small Business Administration back in April and May of 2020 during the first Trump administration.<\/p>\n

That money was designed to pay salaries, rent, and other expenses during the COVID-19 shutdown at the Quality Learning Center.<\/p>\n

Ernst is trying to figure out how the SBA assistance money was used. While there are records of the loan going out and then being forgiven, there are no \u201creceipts\u201d about where the money went, a source familiar with the matter explained to The Post. <\/p>\n

If the watchdog determines\u00a0the money was spent improperly, the feds could pursue punitive measures, such as criminal investigat<\/span>ions. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe crooks behind the \u2018Learing Center\u2019 didn\u2019t stop there,\u201d Ernst wrote in a letter to the SBA\u2019s Office of the Inspector General. \u201cThey also took advantage of hardworking Americans through COVID-era U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) programs and raked in nearly a quarter of a million dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

The incident is one of 28 cases the Senate DOGE boss is pushing the SBA\u2019s official watchdog to probe, alongside other fraud concerns in Medicaid and Ohio, inspired by DailyWire reporting on the Buckeye State.<\/p>\n

Read more New York City hit with flash floods, leaving drivers submerged<\/a><\/p>\n

In its listings with the SBA, the name, Quality Learning Center, was spelled correctly. Records show it got a $231,472 total award from the agency, including $215,645 in face value worth of loans between April and May of 2020. Those loans were marked on file as getting forgiven.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmericans expect their tax\u00a0dollars\u00a0to be\u00a0spent responsibly \u2014 not\u00a0to bankroll\u00a0criminal enterprises,\u201d Ernst told The Post. \u201cI have a message to anyone even thinking of ripping off taxpayers: You engage in government grift and graft, then you\u2019re getting cuffed and stuffed, with scammers going to the slammer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, in response to Shirley\u2019s viral video, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced that her agency was pumping the brakes on $5.5 million worth of annual funding to the state of Minnesota amid a review.<\/p>\n

She said the agency found 13,600 different COVID-19-era Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans \u2014 $430 million worth \u2014 to the state that were subject to fraud concerns. This included $3 million that was implicated in the Feeding Our Future fraud scandal that roiled the state.<\/p>\n

Prior to Shirley\u2019s viral visit to Minnesota, the feds had slapped charges against dozens of individuals, which have now led to some 65 convictions, according to the Justice Department. <\/p>\n

The Post contacted SBA and SBA OIG for comment. <\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Fraud in Minnesota led to a national reckoning over how taxpayers\u2019 dollars are getting swindled in the country\u2019s web of social welfare programs, including phony hospices in Los Angeles, and more. <\/p>\n

President Trump has tapped Vice President JD Vance to helm the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, which aims to combat that malfeasance. <\/p>\n

Last week, Vance issued an ultimatum to all 50 states, demanding that they step up against fraud in their Medicaid program or else face funding cuts.<\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Son of Sam killer David Berkowitz predicts he\u2019ll go to heaven, tells The Post why he ditched parole hearing<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fraudsters behind the notorious “Quality Learing Center” daycare facility in Minnesota appear to have locked down roughly a quarter of a million dollars worth of loans from the Small Business Administration. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nExclusive | Minnesota's 'Quality Learing Center' raked in $215K federal payout - senator demands receipts - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exclusive | Minnesota's 'Quality Learing Center' raked in $215K federal payout - senator demands receipts - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fraudsters behind the notorious "Quality Learing Center" daycare facility in Minnesota appear to have locked down roughly a quarter of a million dollars worth of loans from the Small Business Administration.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T11:38:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c7c8bb5cc1d7099a2139632e5594cfc0.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"799\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=65#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=65\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Exclusive | Minnesota’s ‘Quality Learing Center’ raked in $215K federal payout — senator demands receipts\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T11:38:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=65\"},\"wordCount\":654,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=65#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c7c8bb5cc1d7099a2139632e5594cfc0.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=65#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=65\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=65\",\"name\":\"Exclusive | Minnesota's 'Quality Learing Center' raked in $215K federal payout - senator demands receipts - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=65#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=65#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c7c8bb5cc1d7099a2139632e5594cfc0.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T11:38:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=65#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=65\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=65#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c7c8bb5cc1d7099a2139632e5594cfc0.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/c7c8bb5cc1d7099a2139632e5594cfc0.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=65#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Exclusive | Minnesota’s ‘Quality Learing Center’ raked in $215K federal payout — senator demands receipts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Exclusive | Minnesota's 'Quality Learing Center' raked in $215K federal payout - senator demands receipts - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Exclusive | Minnesota's 'Quality Learing Center' raked in $215K federal payout - senator demands receipts - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"Fraudsters behind the notorious \"Quality Learing Center\" daycare facility in Minnesota appear to have locked down roughly a quarter of a million dollars worth of loans from the Small Business Administration.","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-05-21T11:38:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":799,"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c7c8bb5cc1d7099a2139632e5594cfc0.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"Exclusive | Minnesota’s ‘Quality Learing Center’ raked in $215K federal payout — senator demands receipts","datePublished":"2026-05-21T11:38:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65"},"wordCount":654,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c7c8bb5cc1d7099a2139632e5594cfc0.webp","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65","name":"Exclusive | Minnesota's 'Quality Learing Center' raked in $215K federal payout - senator demands receipts - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c7c8bb5cc1d7099a2139632e5594cfc0.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-21T11:38:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c7c8bb5cc1d7099a2139632e5594cfc0.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/c7c8bb5cc1d7099a2139632e5594cfc0.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=65#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Exclusive | Minnesota’s ‘Quality Learing Center’ raked in $215K federal payout — senator demands receipts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/64"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}