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Note: I had prepared this article for release on Monday May 3, 2010. However, since putting the article together, I have since learned that a documentary on public education that ties in to this report on school corruption will now be available in Cambridge for one week only. Hence, this article will be published automatically, in my absence, on Monday April 26th at precisely 12:00 noon.

I am on a tech free vacation; so, I won’t be able to respond until next week. If you have comments or questions, you can send them, but they won’t show up until I get back to scan for spam, obscenities and the like and approve those that are legitimate.

This article begins NOW:

The following comes from “Stopping School Corruption, A Manual For Taxpayers”, Armand A. Fusco, Ed.D, published by the yankeeinstitute.org. Dr. Fusco is also the author of “School Corruption: Betrayal of Children and the Public Trust“

…a very important reason for asking critical questions is to determine whether corrupt acts have taken place, are taking place, or could take place in a district. In this regard, it is vital to understand what is meant by the term “school corruption.” One dictionary defines corruption as: “breach of trust, bribery, crime, crookedness, deceit, deception, dishonesty, exploitation, evil, extortion, fraud, graft, malfeasance, nepotism, payoff, profiteering, tainted, unethical, untrustworthy and unscrupulousness”

Based on the definition, school corruption can be broken down into three levels:

1 Cheating and deceit,
2 Waste and mismanagement, and
3 Fraud and stealing.


Question 1: Asset Management

Is there a comprehensive list of assets and an independent system in place to regularly document the existence of each asset? Failure to have a list of monitored assets is an indication that the school district does not believe it is important to manage school resources responsibly.


Question 2: Board Policies

Are there any board policies dealing with school corruption? What policies, if any, have been adopted to prevent corruption, and what policies have been adopted to monitor school resources most effectively?

Question 3: Credit Cards

Who has credit cards? How are charges independently verified to see if they are proper school expenses?

Question 4: Federal and State Grants

How are grants being managed in the school district? Who is responsible for monitoring the grants for proper implementation? How is the monitoring actually done?

Question 5: Student Activity Funds

How are student activity funds and other cash collections monitored? Who monitors such funds? Are income and disbursements verified for accuracy, and proper usage? Are bank statements reviewed on a monthly basis? Who conducts the review?

Question 6: Petty Cash Funds

Who has control of each petty cash fund, in what amounts, and how are the funds monitored?

Question 7: No-Bid Contracts

Which contracts (construction, insurance, consultants, etc.) have been awarded without competitive bids? What process was used to award such contracts? Who received such contracts? What school official was given the responsibility to oversee the proper completion or implementation of each contract? Was any form of nepotism or favoritism involved? Were board policies followed?

Question 8: Teacher’s Student Loads

What are the number of students each teacher has during each period of the day, and the total number of students each teacher has during the course of the day? How many aides are there to augment teacher loads and assignments?

Question 9: Non-Classroom Staff

How is the time and load of non-classroom certified staff (psychologists, social workers, counselors, speech therapists, etc.) monitored? How is the time of fulltime staff with reduced loads (department chairman, supervising teachers, etc.) monitored?

Question 10: Benefits

Do part-time employees pay a proportional share of their insurance benefits? If not, why not? Are retirees who are being paid their medical insurance by the school district entitled to the payments? Are there retirees listed who are deceased but still having their benefits paid? Is the list reviewed yearly to keep it updated?

I would suggest that each of these questions also be directed toward FINCOM as items to be asked and answered prior to recommending a school committee budget. If FINCOM is to deliberate and recommend school committee budgets, it is imperative that FINCOM have proper documentation that each of these areas have been addressed, responded to in detail and analyzed for appropriateness prior to funding any school department budget.

The Town Manager should direct an independent annual forensic auditing committee or an independent taxpayer group to conduct annual audits utilizing solid paper trail and analytical techniques in tracking monies and assets to ensure their existence and actual use. These are standard management principles that are used by most corporations and they are applicable to town governments and pubic schools for accountability purposes.

To read the entire article in context with pertinent background information and a proposed solution, click here.

Additionally, if you want to further expand your thinking and insight regarding public education, consider going to see the documentary “The Cartel”. It is playing for a limited time only at the Kendall Square Cinema from April 30th through May 6th. For reviews of the documentary so far, check the short video (90 seconds) and/or breeze through the reviews below it.


The Praise is Rolling In!

“[The Cartel is] a brisk, incisive and mind-boggling – no other phrase will work – exposé”. Read more here.
-Kevin Thomas, L.A. Times

“Few documentaries have covered such an important matter so convincingly and with such clarity.” Read more here.
-Kyle Smith, The New York Post

“The Cartel is garnering praise from critics and film festivals alike”… Read more here.-New Jersey Herald

“Bowdon’s strength as a documentarist is… evident in the patience and logic with which he makes an argument for a state and a system in desperate need of reform.” Read more here.
-Michelle Orange, The Village Voice & LA Weekly

“This movie says it all, and is a must see for any American.” Read more.
-Philadelphia City Paper

“The Cartel is a must-see.” Read more.-Bob Ingle, APP.com

“…a tough-talking exposé.” Read more.
-Kathleen Carroll, The Record

“Is your school sub-par? Are costs for education still high? Bob Bowdon can connect the dots.” Read more.
-Timothy J. Carroll, Hudson Reporter

“Challenges New Jersey’s education establishment.” Read more.
- Kristen Alloway, Star-Ledger

“Bowdon paints a picture of ‘rampant, pervasive, institutional’ corruption in a state that’s mired in the ‘school district business.’” Read more.
-Michael Slenske, GOOD Education

“See The Cartel, and take your kids, too.” Read more.-Alex Adrianson, InsiderOnline

“The Cartel surpasses all expectations.” Read more.
-Joe Bendel, j.b. spins

“Bowdon uses facts and data, not just emotion, to make his point.”
-Fred Snowflack, DailyRecord.com

“The Cartel is a terrific documentary which vividly illuminates what school reformers already know—the ‘system’ is in trouble and teacher unions are the major problem.”
-Robert Enlow, President & CEO, Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice

My favorite recommendation was to take your children to see it with you. This would, of course, make for some interesting dinner conversation for a few evenings. It may be sufficiently motivating to get a significant number of parents more involved with school activities and meetings.

I would like the School Committee to require that this documentary be shown to all high school students to be followed up with a mandatory “film critic’s” assessment of the movie, it’s message and how it compares to the student’s perspective on public education.

By the way, you can also ask the same 10 questions to your Town Manager and the Board of Selectmen! Imagine that…

What do you think?