A recent report by Open the Books and the State Financial Officers Foundation has uncovered over $225 million in fraud in K-12 schools across the United States. The report analyzed six years of data from the US Department of Education’s Office of the Inspector General and found numerous instances of fraud in school districts across the country.

Fraud Schemes

The report found that Indiana schools documented the largest fraud scheme, with two virtual online charter schools inflating their enrollment numbers and receiving an additional $44 million from the state. Leaders at the school directed the fraudulent funds to several companies, according to the Office of the Inspector General.

In another instance, a former maintenance director in Boone County, West Virginia, pleaded guilty to defrauding the school district of $3.4 million. He falsified documents requesting janitorial supplies in order to buy vehicles and make home improvements.

Consequences of Fraud

Rhyen Staley, a former educator and director of Research at Defending Education, stated that fraud schemes in K-12 schools erode public trust between teachers and staff. “You start to become suspicious of good people on the inside unfairly,” Staley said. “It does create a lot of animosity toward teachers.”

The report also found that Florida, Illinois, Puerto Rico, and Texas had numerous cases of fraud over the past six years. Chicago Public Schools lost $1 million in Indian Education formula grants that were intended for Native American and Alaska Native ancestry students.

Preventing Future Fraud

Kimberly Yee, Arizona’s state treasurer, emphasized the importance of transparency and accountability in preventing future fraud. “Fiscal responsibility should rest with the states,” Yee said. “Many of these types of issues really require better transparency and accountability, and you don’t have that when you’re in this giant building in Washington, D.C.”

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.