Audits can be valuable tools

by David Safier

It looks like the former superintendent of Tolleson Union High School District was misusing a district credit card issued to him by the district. (The story is in the subscription-only Arizona Guardian). It also looks like 41 employees were given stipends for cell phones without the supe getting consent from his school board.

How did they find out this was happening? It was revealed in a random state audit.

Do we know similar misuses of funds aren't going on in charter schools? No, because no one is even looking at the financial reports the charters submit, let alone conducting thorough audits. (It used to be that the state Auditor General looked over charter school's finances. Then the state Charter School Board took over the duties. The Board has 8 employees, none of them trained auditors. No one is minding the store.)

The Star tells us about every possibly unnecessary or overly generous salary in TUSD. We find out when the district messes up, when items are lost and stolen, and so one. The Star knows giving TUSD a drubbing sells papers. And the district knows someone is always looking over its shoulder.

But we don't have similar information about our local charter schools. Rhonda Bodfield ran one recent expose which talked about problems at 2 local charters. That's about it for the past few years. I can't tell you if any similar articles have been written in the past decade.

Oversight. It's essential. Audits are one form of oversight. School visitations by professionals is another. Without anyone looking over charters' shoulders, they can rob the taxpayers blind, and rob students of their right to an education without anyone knowing what's going on.