Seven New Orleans private schools that participated in the state’s private school voucher program for the 2010-2011 school year were overpaid a combined $25,000 by the state, according to the most recent independent audit on nonpublic school allocations. But the overpayments to private schools could be higher than what the audit reports, as the auditing firm was not instructed by the state to verify the attendance of all students in the program.
The state-run voucher program, which funded private school tuitions for more than 1,600 low-income students in New Orleans last year, has come under the limelight in recent weeks as Gov. Bobby Jindal pushes for a statewide expansion that would make 380,000 students eligible to attend private schools with public money.
As The Independent reports in this week’s cover story, “Incomplete,” a review of the program reveals problems with the program’s monitoring practices for the students it serves and also confirms that much of the data related to program enrollment and standardized testing for the voucher students are inaccurate.
Two weeks into a public records battle with the state Department of Education, The Independent learned that the payments to private schools are tracked through an independent audit, which verifies attendance records at each of the private schools and determines whether the schools are receiving what they are owed.
When The Ind asked for a copy, state Department of Education spokeswoman Rene Greer sent The Independent a partial document titled “Monitoring Procedures,” a four-page attachment that included pages 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the audit. The missing pages were sent to The Ind two days later and only after the newspaper specified that the entire document should be sent. The audit was not listed among the list of other DOE audit reports found on the Legislative Auditor’s website.
The report, prepared by accounting firm Provost, Salter, Harper and Alford, points out (in the missing pages) that the findings do not represent a complete audit of the program’s finances. The audit is narrow in scope and only details a random selection of the students for which private schools are billing the state.
“Had we performed additional procedures, other matters might have come to our attention that would have been reported to you,” the audit report states.
If a private school in New Orleans enrolled more than five students, the state instructed the auditor to select a random sample of 10 percent of total enrollment or a minimum of five students, whichever is higher. It’s worth noting that two private schools in the program last year accepted more than 100 students, with two others taking more than 150 students and one enrolling a whopping 294 voucher students.
Of the random students selected, the latest audit finds that the state was overbilled more than $25,000 from seven schools. Greer says the schools are required to repay the money to the state.
The report also reveals that out of more than 1,600 students in the program last year, only four were special education students, which further supports a Feb. 4 analysis from The Times-Picayune noting that the two private schools in New Orleans with the highest test scores do not enroll children with special needs, “nor are they required to” as public schools are. State Superintendent John White has repeatedly said that private schools accepting voucher money cannot be selective in their admissions.
Click here for the full Times-Pic report.
Read The Independent’s cover story and accompanying editorial on the voucher program here.
MAY 23 Here's a story in the Picayune about some statistics that must come as a blow to folks who believe that any private school can do a better job of educating kids than any public school: Danielle Dreilinger reports that only 30 percent of the voucher kids are passing. That's less than half of the state wide average, she says. It's an interesting statistic because most of the schools (if not all) taking voucher kids have never had their students' standardized test scores released to the public before.
MAY 23 Stephen Sabludowsky blogs on Bayou Buzz about auditor requests here. Recently the state GOP started crowing about a request from the Legislative Auditor, claiming they were being targeted because of their anti-tax stance. (Uh, your what?) Denial and hyperbole aside, the state Democratic party blew holes in that theory with an email announcing they'd received the same request, Sabludowsky writes here.
MAY 23 Jim Brown blogs about the senate race in this post. He says that, given Bobby Jindal's "lack of traction" on the national stage, it might make more sense for the governor to consider running against Mary Landrieu for the senate seat. Since Tim Teeple left the Cassidy team, it makes sense he might land on a Jindal for Senate team, Brown opines.
MAY 23 In this Louisiana Voice post, blogger Tom Aswell writes of rumors that his nemesis, state Superintendent of Education John White, may be soon departing Louisiana for a federal post. It's hard to believe, given his performance, Aswell says, but stranger things have happened. An anti-White BESE member says that, if true, White is quitting before he can be fired.
MAY 23 In this post on American Zombie, blogger Jason Berry writes about the Mother's Day shooting. Mayor Landrieu said that "this is not who we are," but the fact is, this is New Orleans, Berry writes. The violence infused in the city is the result of a culture created by "sins of omission or sins of commission," Berry writes. It's not a problem that can be solved by legislating, policing, praying or publicizing, he says: Someone's got to understand what's happening first.
MAY 23 This post in the Westside Journal tells us what Port Allen Mayor Deedy has been up to lately: vetoing ordinances, apparently. This story is most interesting, however, when it delves into a petition that has been circulating around the city lately. It accuses the former mayor of a lot of nasty things; the former mayor says it is full of lies and "broken syntax" which may be a larger offense in his eyes.
MAY 23 This editorial posted in The Advocate is a bit confusing. The writing is poor - definitely not up to the usual editorial writing standard there - and the point is hard to grasp. Apparently, the writer is saying that privatization of state efforts is OK, as long as there is oversight and transparency, but Jindal's not good at that, and the legislature shouldn't over-react. Okey Dokey. Can't they get one of them Pulitzer-winning people to write an editorial?
MAY 23 This post on The Lens gives you links to a new Google Earth tool that allows you to see any spot on earth transform over the past 30 years. Bob Marshall, who covers the coast for the paper, says that in the case of Louisiana's coastline, it's possibly something you don't want to see, because it's not a pretty picture. There are several clips here, showing critical areas erode away. For Marshall, it was vindication for all those times he was met with eye-rolling when he talked about erosion.
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