As I review articles on problems in K-12 systems, a pattern is emerging that "educators" and their programs lack any fiscal sense or skills. Here is an example where a "Teach for America" group with a $75-million Federally funded budget was lacking ANY records to substantiate HALF of the audited portion of the $75-million in funds they received for teaching classes, providing food, etc. There is NO excuse for this, and the program should be eliminated. If "Educators" do not even learn how to properly document taxpayer funded expenditures, then they should not receive any funds at all.
Recently, I looked at the proposed curriculum for upcoming Principals for the Lake County School District, and there were hardly any learning objectives related to management of fiscal expenditures, controls, accounting methods, etc. That is one reason why educators keep failing to get much credibility from taxpayers when voting on spending requests.
Educators have to step up and add strong fiscal and performance management skills to their learning objectives before they get to "manage" any staff or programs.
Favorite quotes:
Auditors say there was no documentation that any teachers actually attended and completed the class, or that there even was a class.vjIn all, Teach for America failed to account for half the money audited.
Time and time again the audit said there were no basic records or receipts: None for a $123,878 training expense; none for a $342,428 bill.
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from THIS CBS News site
Teach For America Gets Schooled
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2008(CBS) Since 1990, Teach for America has trained college graduates and professionals to work as teachers in needy schools.
Today, the group has 5,000 teachers-in-training and a $75 million budget - a third of it from local school districts, state and federal government. That's your tax dollars, CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports.
Which is why it was such a blow when Teach for America recently got a failing grade on the subject of handling the public's money.
The Department of Education Inspector General examined a small slice of the group's federal funding. What they found was shocking. You can find the entire audit report HERE.
In all, Teach for America failed to account for half the money audited.
Time and time again the audit said there were no basic records or receipts: None for a $123,878 training expense; none for a $342,428 bill.
Teach for America vice president Kevin Huffman chalks it up to poor record keeping.
"We're confident, we're confident that we spent the money on the training of new teachers," Huffman said.
Attkisson said: "There was no agenda; no description of meals; no list of attendees. That sounds like a little more than sloppy bookkeeping."
"I think it's a question of what records should have been kept," Huffman said.
They should have kept records on a tab for more than a quarter million dollars for food and lodging ($277,262) and $26,812 for teacher certification - but didn't. Auditors say there was no documentation that any teachers actually attended and completed the class, or that there even was a class.
"Alarm bells start to go off usually when you start seeing a recipient of a grant or an earmark not being able to provide basic information," said Leslie Paige of Citizens Against Government Waste.
Tax watchdog Paige says it's astonishing that Teach for America has gotten so big without proper accounting systems.
"How do you prove that what you are spending the money on is working?" Paige said.
After the audit, Teach for America tried handing over some newly-found documents, but it didn't help. The Inspector General said they contained "significant discrepancies."
"[They] didn't match up with what you gave them before," Attkisson said to Huffman.
"We gave them ... the wrong documents the first time and then we realized the mistake," Huffman said. "We gave them better documents the second time."
But still not good enough. The audit concluded they should pay taxpayers back the disputed amounts - with interest.
Teach for America says it's learned a lesson, and switched to new accounting system.
Taxpayers better hope so, the group is slated to get $12 million more federal tax dollars this year.
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Here is a similar blog entry from Sharyl Attkisson:
Sharyl Attkisson is an investigative correspondent for CBS News.Teach for America is an organization that helps recruit and place bright college graduates and professionals as temporary teachers in needy schools. The non-profit group wins lots of kudos for its intentions and work. It has grown from modest beginnings in 1990: $2.5 million and 500 teachers. Today, the group says it has 5,000 teachers in training – and the 2007 budget was $75 million.
Funding comes from a mix of public and private sources. According to Teach for America's financial disclosures, about a third of its money is your tax dollars – because it comes from local school districts, and state and federal government. But a recent audit by the Education Department Inspector Genera raises the question: Has this group grown too quickly without the proper accounting systems in place?
The I.G. examined just a small slice of Teach for America's federal grant expenses and found the group was unable to properly account for half the money audited. Citizens Against Government Waste spokesman Leslie Paige says that stat is "astonishing."
"The documentation they were asked to provide was not difficult," Paige told CBS News. "We're talking about basic receipts; the same sort of things you provide in business when you go on a trip, or have a conference and keep a list of who attended. This is not heavy lifting when it comes to documentation."
Much of the money in question was spent on teacher training, according to Teach for America. But the I.G. said time and time again that Teach for America was unable to provide sign-in sheets, complete original documents showing rosters, proof that anyone actually attended some of the courses and received certification. In one case, the I.G. said Teach for America was unable to prove that the course even took place at all.
The idea that complete look back on spending of some government grants wasn't possible because of the poor record-keeping has implications for how the group has probably spent lots of other private and public funds, according to Paige. And it makes it impossible to gauge whether the tax dollars were spent on what they were supposed to be, and whether they accomplished designed goals. "It may be a great program," says Paige, "but how would we know that because they don't provide us any opportunity to gauge what they've done was legitimate. How do you prove that what you are spending the money on is working? And that what you are trying to achieve is actually being achieved if you can't prove how you spent the money."
Teach for America says there is no waste or fraud involved, just poor bookkeeping, and that they've installed new accounting systems to avoid future problems.
