Bob Schaffer: “In the current education model, the bureaucratic model here that is represented in this poster, accountability is really…”

“In the current education model, the bureaucratic model here that is represented in this poster, accountability is really achieved on a sampling basis. The Treasury Department tries to make sure the Department of Education is spending its money the way it is supposed to, so it does audits and it samples certain programs and follows certain dollars. It cannot follow every single one of the $40 billion that are spent here. The U.S. Department of Education has to try to make sure the States are spending money right. They do not really audit every single State. They choose a sample of them, and they sample a certain handful of programs. The States sample programs through the State departments and the schools. So what happens is only a portion of the funds spent are really held accountable, that we really make sure those dollars reach a student. And even though it is a sample, it is still a nightmare for people involved in a system, especially the lower down this food chain you go. The principals at these schools, my goodness, they have got auditors and people coming in all the time from all these different levels of government to try to make sure the money is spent right, but even that is just a sample. But with tax credits, the auditing is not a sample, it is not a fraction, it is not just a portion of the dollar spent. It is 100 percent when it comes to the dollars spent.”