Incompetent School Boards Wasting Critical Education Funds

Back in 1897, Mark Twain wrote, “In the first place, God made idiots. This was for practice. Then He made School Boards.”

It seems not much has changed since Twain penned these infamous words, as public contempt for the elected bodies that oversee our government-run school systems is stronger than ever before—and with stories about embezzlement schemes and phishing scams in the headlines seemingly every day, who can blame them? 

For example, a recent audit conducted by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor revealed the Calcasieu Parish School Board lost more than $1.6 million in an internet phishing scam last year.

According to the audit report, cyber criminals hacked the email accounts of several contractors who were doing hurricane recovery work for the district. Then they sent deceptive emails that appeared legitimate, requesting school board employees to change bank account details where they would receive payments.

Shockingly, the school board employees never picked up the phone to verify that the request was legitimate or conducted any other form of due diligence. 

As a result, the school board wired seven payments totaling $1,607,620 to a bank account created by cyber criminals over a six-month period before the scam was discovered. More than a year later, nearly half of those funds are still missing, and no one has been arrested. 

While this story of incredible incompetence is notable, it is not unique. Unfortunately, reckless spending practices and faulty accounting procedures in school districts are far more common than they should be. Here are a few other notable headlines from around the state this year:

• Audit reveals major problems with Lafayette Parish School System’s handling of federal funds, salaries, and records

• Ouachita Parish school employee embezzled more than $67K

• Millions paid to fake bank accounts by Livingston Parish School Board

• EBR principal resigns after audit shows $3K of money misspent

How is this possible? What procedures need to be put in place to prevent misspending by education bureaucrats? Why aren’t we arresting the fraudsters on the other end of these scams? Where is the outrage?

Every dollar that is misspent, wasted, or embezzled by the education swamp leaders is one less dollar that makes it into the classroom to help educate our kids. Simply put, we cannot afford to continue down the path of corruption and incompetence.

According to data from the Nation’s Report Card in 2022, less than 30% of Louisiana students scored at or above proficient in Reading by the 4th grade, and less than 20% scored at or above proficient in Math by the 8th grade. 

Our kids deserve far better from their educational system. Some are already getting it outside of the traditional public school system. Here’s hoping that Louisiana will continue to expand school choice opportunities that are a far better investment of taxpayer resources. 

Now more than ever, parents want options—not incompetent, ineffective, and sometimes corrupt public school bureaucracies.