School & District Management

Audit Alleges Education Leaders Council Misused Federal Grant, Urges Repayment

By Jessica L. Tonn — February 03, 2006 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The U.S. Department of Education has released an audit of the Education Leaders Council, charging that the Washington-based organization misused federal grant money for its Following the Leaders project.

Between July 1, 2002, and Dec. 31, 2004, the ELC received more than $23 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Education. The federal aid was for the ELC’s Following the Leaders school improvement program. Congress appropriated an additional $9.7 million for the project in the 2005 fiscal year, prompting critics to question the group’s spending habits and effectiveness.

The ELC was started in 1995 as a conservative-leaning national voice for school improvement.

The audit, released Jan. 31, also found that the organization “drew down and expended federal funds it was not entitled to.” In fiscal year 2003, ELC overdrew its grant by $495,326, which the report blames on inadequate controls within the organization.

In addition, more than 28 percent of the grant costs reviewed in the audit were either questioned or unsupported, the report said. Among the $232,000 in questionable costs were expenditures for meals, entertainment, and travel that did not appear to be related to the Follow the Leaders project. Also noted by the report were expenses that federal grants cannot be used for, such as alcoholic beverages, advertising, and fundraising.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Inspector General’s Office, which conducted the audit, recommended that the department require ELC to reimburse the nearly $500,000 in grant money that it overdrew, and either refund or provide adequate documentation for the spending that was questioned in the report. The office also asked that ELC maintain evidence that all of its employees have reviewed the policies and procedures for using the federal grant money.

In Dec. 2005, ELC submitted a response to the first draft of the audit, claiming that the group had “long since corrected many of the accounting entries, a fact which is given minimal attention in this report.”

Though officials representing ELC could not be reached for comment on the final audit report, they have 30 days to reply to the department.

Related Tags:

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management The Eclipse Is Great for Learning. But It's Tough on School Logistics
A total solar eclipse will cross a large swath of the country on April 8, sparking tough management choices for leaders of the districts in its path.
5 min read
A woman and stands outside with her arm on the back of a boy as they look up at the sky while wearing special paper glasses made for viewing a solar eclipse.
Jackie Johnson and her son Bradley Johnson, 9, watch a partial solar eclipse at the Frost Science Museum on Oct. 14, 2023, in downtown Miami. In 2024, some districts are planning to delay or cancel school on the day of a total eclipse, out of safety concerns.
Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP
School & District Management Opinion A Good Principal Knows When It's Time to Leave
I didn’t leave my job because of burnout; I stepped away from being a school leader because it was in everybody’s best interest.
Matthew Ebert
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of someone handing off a baton to someone else over a completed puzzle.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management Principals Tell Politicians on Capitol Hill: We’re Burning Out
Students' mental health top principals' growing list of concerns.
6 min read
People walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington, June 9, 2022.
Visitors walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington on June 9, 2022.
Patrick Semansky/AP
School & District Management Women Superintendents Experience Bias on the Climb to Leadership
Interpersonal slights and inequities make it hard for women to land the job and stay in it.
3 min read
Woman stands in front of a staircase in different colors. She is about to walk up the stairs. Concept of standing in front of a challenge and finding the right solution and courage to move on.
mikkelwilliam/E+