Wednesday, January 11 2012 00:00
The Senate unanimously passed legislation yesterday aimed at preventing fraud and financial mismanagement at education collaboratives, months after reports of abuses at a Merrimack Valley educational collaborative raised the ire of state lawmakers and taxpayers.
The bill, which now moves to the House, will impose new accountability standards on educational collaboratives, which provide regional services and special education programs to school districts around the state. Last summer, media reports and a review by Inspector General Greg Sullivan uncovered financial malfeasance and salary double-dipping at the Merrimack Special Education Collaborative.
The inspector general accused former director John Barranco of using his control of the agency and the related non-profit Merrimack Education Center to divert $11.5 million in public funding to the center to boost his pay and that of a handful of top executives with inflated salaries and bonuses, as well as using the center's credit card to charge more than $50,000 in personal expenses. Read the full article at eagletribune.com
