Education Oversight

12/21/2018

The Chicago Tribune recently reported on a case that Maribeth Vander Weele initiated in 2001 when she served as Inspector General of Chicago Public Schools. The case, disclosed in court records, is relevant today as CPS implements reforms to protect children from sexual violence. Since 2008, police have investigated 523 cases of sexual abuse or assault of students in Chicago Public Schools, the Tribune reported.

By law, school personnel must report even a suspicion of child abuse to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

In 2001, Vander Weele received a complaint that a principal ignored warnings of a sexual predator at Johnson Elementary School, and immediately launched an investigation. Her team learned that in 1986, Marvin Lovett began volunteering at the school and was later hired to run a program for boys. While a trusted mentor for children, he enticed boys to his apartment and secretly made pornographic videotapes using a hidden camera. Vander Weele's team found that Principal Mattie Tyson ignored at least four warnings about Lovett and continued to permit Lovett to volunteer and work at the school. When speaking to investigators, Tyson denied knowing about the abuse or the warnings.

In 2000, a former student and abuse victim shot Lovett to death. After his death, Lovett was accused of sexually abusing 19 boys in the North Lawndale community. The investigation by Vander Weele's team concluded that "Tyson knew or should have known that Lovett was either an active pe*****le or posed a risk to the students at Johnson School" and that she "had reasonable cause to believe that children known to her in her professional or official capacity may have been abused." Her failure to inform child welfare officials was a violation of both CPS policy and state law, Vander Weele’s team concluded.

The Tribune reported that after Vander Weele left the school system in 2002, the findings of her report were overturned with a one-line explanation. In 2018, the report was brought to light in a lawsuit against Chicago Public Schools for failing to protect students from the abuse they endured at the hands of Lovett. This is the largest known case of sexual abuse involving a CPS worker, volunteer, or vendor in recent decades, and has led to $2.7 million in legal settlements.

Tyson was not disciplined and retired in 2004.

In 2003, Maribeth Vander Weele founded the Vander Weele Group, a firm that provides oversight to large-scale programs that serve children and at-risk populations. Visit EducationOversight.com to learn more.

Marvin Lovett was a trusted mentor at Johnson Elementary. He also was a pe*****le, accused of abusing 19 boys. The Tribune has obtained a report that concluded the principal knew or should have known he posed a risk. But the findings were rejected and the principal was not disciplined.

12/19/2018

Maintaining integrity should be a key goal of educational leadership. One scandal can mar a system’s reputation irreparably and derail its mission. Knowing the signs of a compromised organization can help school board members reduce risks to reputation. This is more important as the educational landscape becomes increasingly competitive, and families find more options. To learn the signs of a compromised organization click here: https://www.educationoversight.com/fraud-and-abuse.html
One red flag is the deafening silence of underlings in the presence of their supervisors, particularly when questions are directed at them. Employees who don’t speak up are often afraid of retribution. While effective school board members know that day-to-day management should be left to the school leader, they shouldn’t shy away from speaking with staff at every level. Such information is critical for effective oversight. Beware of supervisors who prohibit that.

03/12/2018

Malfeasance in educational systems may be rare, but when it does happen, it may be difficult to detect and takes an incalculable toll. Read our newest blog post, Five Signs of a Compromised Organization, for help identifying red flags in education fraud and mismanagement.

​Malfeasance in educational systems may be rare, but when it does happen, it takes an incalculable toll. One scandal can mar a system’s reputation irreparably and derail its mission. As...

01/22/2018

The American School Board Journal recently published an article written by Vander Weele Group CEO and Founder, Maribeth Vander Weele. The article focuses on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the importance of monitoring not only to achieve effective oversight, but also to help schools overcome barriers to success.

ESSA monitoring can bring benefits to districts Maribeth Vander Weele During a state monitoring visit, Toledo Schools Administrator Scott TenEyck saw a program that transformed a school from chaos to purposeful organization and improved graduation rates. So he spread the word —and the college read...

10/18/2017

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit of Western Governors University, a private, non-profit, online university in Salt Lake City, to determine if it complied with Higher Education Act (HEA) and Title IV requirements such as institutional and program eligibility and disbursements. OIG concluded that Wester Governors University did not comply with institutional eligibility requirements and the school ought to return $712,670,616 in Title IV funds.

10/17/2017

New Mexico State Auditor, Tim Keller, believes the allegations that a charter school manager mishandled $700,000 indicate a larger pattern of poor oversight. The annual audits of La Promesa Early Learning Center did not discover any evidence of fraud or embezzlement throughout the six years of alleged mishandling. Keller was alerted to the allegations through a confidential hotline.

State Auditor Tim Keller says the situation at a New Mexico charter school involving allegations that a former business manager mishandled nearly $700,000 is part of a larger pattern of poor oversight at the state level.

10/16/2017

Thirty six states will use chronic absenteeism as an indicator under ESSA accountability plans. When a student misses 10 percent of school, approximately 18 days, he or she is considered to be chronically absent. However, some education researchers and field experts believe that a small number of schools will be incentivized to generate fraudulent attendance reports.

It’s unclear if most states have systems in place to accurately monitor absenteeism data at all.

10/10/2017

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its report on oversight in postsecondary schools, and provided recommendations to address gaps in oversight and communication in fiscal monitoring. GAO found that 450 of approximately 6,000 schools that participate in federal student aid programs did not receive a passing financial composite score. Additionally, a higher percentage of for-profit schools received non-passing scores than nonprofit schools despite the U.S. Department of Education increasing oversight of schools owned by publicly traded companies and private equity firms.

The Department of Education (Education) reviews the annual audits of postsecondary schools to assess compliance with financial responsibility standards for schools that participate in federal student aid programs and increases its oversight of schools that do not meet these standards. In school year...

10/09/2017

A $9.8 million conspiracy defrauding the Puerto Rican Department of Education (PR DOE) and Puerto Rican Public Housing Authority (PR PHA) encompassed five companies, a total of 50 charges, and seven individuals, including the Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Sports and Recreation. The accusations included inflated contracts, fraudulent contracts, kickbacks, and other forms of public corruption.

OIG Investigative Reports Press Release San Juan PR., 06/21/2017 -Ex Secretary Of Puerto Rico Department Of Sports And Recreation Indicted For Receiving Kickbacks, Fraud, And Money Laundering

10/06/2017

The President of the Los Angeles Board of Education stepped down after being found guilty of money laundering involving campaign donations. President Rodriguez was the first charter school operator to join the board of education and received more than $2 million from California Charter Schools Assn. Advocates (CCSA Advocates) during the election. He was backed by supporters that wanted to convert the public schools in Los Angeles County to a charter system.

Pro-charter school advocates could lose their grip on the L.A. school board, as its president faces felony charges for laundering his own money into his 2015 campaign.

10/05/2017

In its report to Congressional Committees, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) detailed its assessment of tiered evidence grants. Tiered evidence grants are a new policy tool used by federal agencies to incorporate the effectiveness of evidence in grant making. Read the GAO’s full report on the effectiveness of this new tool below.

10/04/2017

Workplace Computer Searches:

When building an integrity program, it is important to communicate to employees that computers, phones, and other communication devices owned by your organization can legally be searched without notice. Generally, the courts have held that employees have no “reasonable expectation of privacy” in searches of employer-owned devices, particularly when written policies and other notifications clearly communicate that the employer may access or search the computer or other device. It is critical to publish this statement before conducting internal investigations in the workplace—it can make the difference between obtaining convincing evidence of misconduct or not. Like any policy, employees should sign a statement acknowledging that they received the policy at the beginning of their employment or when the policy is adopted, whichever comes first.