Fraud at school: The U.S. attorney is right to look at education funds
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One of U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton's new initiatives will target public corruption in education, and recent events suggest that local school districts will be a rich vein for the region's federal prosecutor to mine.
During a meeting with Post-Gazette editors this month, Mr. Hickton, who has been head of the Western District of Pennsylvania office since August 2010, said he would be looking at "systemic corruption" and evidence of fraud and abuse of public education funds. He said he is offended by the misuse of tax dollars that should be spent educating children.
Just this month, there were developments regarding questionable practices in two districts. Residents of the West Mifflin Area School District complained at a public meeting after the state Ethics Commission ruled outgoing board member Albert Graham did not violate state law even though the superintendent, the late Patrick Risha, had workers replace a dishwasher and repair the swimming pool at Mr. Graham's home in 2008.
In the Montour School District, a special audit ordered after finance director Samuel Reichl III was removed found duplicate and improper payments, tax collection failures, problems with contracts and bids, money paid for work that was not done and other irregularities, to the tune of more than $750,000.
School districts already are subject to rules on competitive bidding and state audits and oversight of construction projects, but Mr. Hickton's office can tackle practices in a broader way, with more powerful investigative tools and tougher sanctions.
His interest is welcome and his timing is perfect. We encourage his idea of a school corruption hotline where residents can report problems, as well as development of a multi-agency group focused on school corruption.
First Published November 14, 2011 12:00 am
