Maybe it's Time to Go Back to School

Insight on the News, March 5, 2001 by John Elvin

An investigation by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has confirmed a whistleblower's report that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) cannot properly account for billions of dollars in grants.

According to an account of the matter in Government Executive magazine, ED officials say their financial system has "weaknesses," but they felt charges of "gross mismanagement" by whistle-blower John Gard and the OSC were overdoing it. The ED has taken steps to shape up its accounting procedures, they claim.

Gard said he warned top ED officials that the Grants Administration and Payment System was flawed and would waste billions in taxpayer dollars by making improper payments to grant recipients. He says officials responded by trying to boot him out of his job as the department's chief financial officer. The OSC follow-up on Gard's charges found them accurate, but added that ED did not deliberately waste funds.

The OSC checks out whistle-blower allegations in federal operations, investigating about 400 allegations a year. The OSC report will be sent to the president and Congress for further action. Congress already has passed legislation requiring an audit of ED spending. The department has an annual budget of $44.5 billion.