Dive Brief:
- The Tennessee body charged with turning around failing schools across the state is the target of what the Times Free Press calls a ‘blistering critique’ by state auditors for financial mismanagement.
- The Chattanooga paper reports the audit found loose controls over spending, travel and credit cards, as well as inadequate fiscal monitoring of the schools the Achievement School District was supposed to oversee.
- In a particularly striking example, auditors found payments totaling $5,895 to employees who had already left the district, and the poor management contributed to the state Department of Education’s takeover of fiscal processes in April, while the audit was ongoing.
Dive Insight:
State takeovers have had mixed results around the country. While states step in to address troubling failures at the local level, they often develop significant problems of their own or fail to achieve the changes they promised. In Georgia, a range of organizations have joined forces to oppose a constitutional amendment Gov. Nathan Deal is seeking to give the governor’s office the power to take over persistently failing schools. In Illinois, Gov. Bruce Rauner has been angling for a state takeover of Chicago Public Schools practically since he got elected. As in Georgia, the state constitution does not give him the authority to do so.
In New Orleans, education officials are working through a reunification plan to bring the Recovery School District back together with the Orleans Parish School Board. The recovery system was created after Hurricane Katrina, and 52 charter schools currently exist under its umbrella.