Stimulus Funds Sent to the Department of Education Need Thorough Oversight

As part of my continued efforts to track down waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars, I’ve been asking questions about why the Department of Education is providing stimulus funds to school districts with a track record of fiscal mismanagement.  Taxpayers have a right to know what happened to the $98 billion from the stimulus that were allocated to the Department of Education in February 2009. 

Americans deserve to know why $343 million in stimulus funds were given to a school district that already owes the Department of Education $17 million for reimbursements deemed unallowable, and over $58 million in stimulus funds were given to a school district that couldn’t account for $300,000 in property when audited.

To get to the bottom of this, I recently sent a letter to Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan asking for detailed information on these school districts, information on whether the department takes the history of a state’s or territory’s handling of funds into account before granting it stimulus funds, and information on what steps are taken to ensure proper use of stimulus funds.  I’ve also asked for a complete and up-to-date list of grantees the department has designated “high-risk” and what criteria they use to designate school districts as “high risk.”

Thorough oversight of tax dollars is a top priority for me.  I will continue to pursue this issue so taxpayers know where their money went. 

The letter to the Secretary of Education is available here.

The Inspector General report on the Virgin Island’s Department of Education is available here.

The Inspector General report on the Philadelphia School District is available here.