State Auditor Adam Edelin says Kentucky school board members need better training in financial literacy and should more closely scrutinize district expenses.
Edelin made his comments in Frankfort this week to House and Senate members of the Interim Joint Committee on Education. The auditor has now completed special examinations of spending practices in 14 different school districts. The reviews included the Breathitt, Ashland Independent, Montgomery, Menifee and Martin districts.
Edelin says he found the worst abuses in the Mason County and Dayton Independent schools. There’s more likely to be trouble, says Edelin, when school boards become rubber stamps for the district’s administrative staff.
“In Kenton County, the cafeteria staff spent a whopping 116 thousand dollars on out-of-state travel and you can’t make this up, including a trip to Vegas for 46 workers to the tune of 40 thousand dollars. All the while, we’re seeing teachers laid off, we’re seeing teachers not getting regular raises.” –Adam Edelin
Edelin says Kentucky teachers spend an average of two to three-thousand dollars of their own money on classroom materials for their students. He says that’s why it’s critical that school boards make sure as many dollars as possible go toward educating children.
