State Auditor Rob Sand Releases Statement on Proposed School Funding Bill

[rurallib]

https://www.rcreader.com/news-releases/state-auditor-rob-sand-releases-statement-proposed-school-funding-bill

Whether you call them ESAs or vouchers, as Iowa's tax-payer watchdog, I am alarmed by the intentional lack of transparency and accountability under the proposed legislation.

This bill gives private schools your tax dollars, and gives you no right to know what they are doing with them.

Existing law requires public schools to have open meetings, maintain and produce public records, and have elected citizen oversight. They must follow budgeting laws. They must have an annual audit. We learn of waste, fraud, and abuse of tax dollars in part because of these obligations. None of these obligations apply to private schools the same way. This bill won’t change that.

Also, this bill provides no rules for how private school use these funds. After a private school gets public dollars as tuition, they could buy a teacher or teachers brand new Ford Mustang convertibles in the name of incentive pay. The public may not find out at all, and if they did, there may be no recourse for taxpayers. That is flatly, fundamentally irresponsible.

With no transparency obligations, no required public audits, no public records, and no public meetings, uncovering waste, fraud, and abuse of your tax dollars will be much harder.

Yep - republicans at their finest

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Rob Sand is the real deal. A man with integrity.

I supported his reelection and it's so good he's there, keeping an eye on things.

I hope he can help keep this from becoming law. The republicans are chipping away at our right to know how our money is being spent.

[rurallib]

2. I don't think Sand has any power to stop this bill from becoming law

But I do suspect he will be watching very closely how money is handled from the states to the parents to the schools.

During the campaign our governor, Corporate Kim, kept crying that she wanted her 'own auditor.' This is no doubt one of the reasons - the money could be handed out without any watchdog.

It just stinks to high heaven. And don't get me started on the church-state thing.
Churches are businesses and here comes a HUGE bundle of money their way.

[progressoid]

3. This whole thing stinks

The trolls came out in droves on Twitter to attack Sand over this too. Dipshits.

[rurallib]

4. stinks like all corruption stinks

But those men and women of Gawd will have lots of nice greenbacks to soothe any conscience problems they have.