Editorial board, The Republic | azcentral.com 8:42 p.m. MST October 10, 2015
Chandler woman indicted on suspicion of misusing taxpayer-supplied vouchers(Photo: Getty Images)
Funded by Arizona taxpayers, the Empowerment Scholarship Account -- Arizona's version of a school voucher -- ties 21st century financial tools to educational opportunity.
A student earns the scholarship. The state loads a Visa card with its value.
State-financed debit card in hand, the student can conveniently pay for the wide array of educational services the Empowerment Scholarship underwrites, including community college tuition, online classes, educational therapies and other services intended to advance the student's academic prospects.
The programs does not finance shopping sprees at Walmart, however. Nor, for that matter, is it intended to finance a $410 visit to a clinic where abortions are performed.
And the fact that a very irresponsible mom does appear to have used her two sons' scholarship Visa card for such inappropriate uses raises real concerns about the program's control systems.
Rashanett McDermott, who accepted the scholarship funds on behalf of her two sons for the 2014-2015 school year, has been indicted by a state grand jury for illegal use of state funds. According to the indictment, McDermott spent over $900 on electronics on Walmart.com, including a high-definition TV, a smartphone and two computer tablets.
She also used $410 of her sons' education fund at a family-planning center where, according to a spokesman for the state Department of Education, it is alleged that she paid for an abortion.
State auditors eventually determined the inappropriate, non-educational uses of the scholarship money. Perhaps that's not enough. It seems like this program could do with a wee bit more financial oversight and accountability on the part of beneficiaries.
That said, we see heroes in this story.
The two young sons of the accused are burdened with one heck of an (allegedly) irresponsible mother. How they managed to stick to the books enough to qualify for academic scholarships is the great as-yet untold part of this story. Good for them.
As for the state's neo-voucher program, introducing some serious remedial spending oversight is in order.
Read or Share this story: http://azc.cc/1LoM3UY
Source: Our View: Scholarship program needs oversight
No comments:
Post a Comment