A U.S. Department of Education charter schools official has questioned the Florida education department’s management of federal grant money for Florida schools.
In an e-mail to the state education agency, Dean Kern, the director of the federal department’s charter school program, raised concerns over how the grant money was being used, confirmed Christy Noe, the executive director of the Florida Charter School Resource Center, located at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Ms. Noe, who helped state education officials respond to the e-mail, said Mr. Kern wanted clarification on how the money was used and had concerns about high turnover among top officials in Florida’s school choice office.
Susan Aspey, a spokeswoman for the federal Department of Education said Mr. Kern’s e-mail was “an inquiry, and nothing more, nothing less” and said Florida officials had been “very cooperative.” Florida, with 304 charter schools, received $24 million in federal charter school grant money last year.
