Sizeable credit card bills are raising red flags.
Joel Kurth of Detroit News reports that credit card bills run up by John Convington, chancellor of the state's Education Achievement Authority, is raising concerns. The agency was created to turn around the academic performance of students in the state’s lowest achieving schools. The EAA operates 15 schools in Detroit, a district in which teachers have had problems getting the most basic of supplies.
Kurth reports that nearly $240,000 in travel, gas and IKEA furniture was charged on two credit cards of John Covington.
Kurth writes:
As teachers complained about funding problems so severe they bought supplies with their own money, Chancellor John Covington and his staff charged $178,000 on hotel and airfare traveling to 36 cities from April 2012 to February, according to his credit statements.
Also charged: nearly $10,000 in gas for Covington’s chauffered car, $25,000 at IKEA and $8,000 combined at Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Meijer, Home Depot and Lowe’s. In October and November alone, the EAA charged $38,000 to send Covington, staffers and teachers to conferences and seminars in Baltimore, Dallas, New York, Las Vegas, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Raleigh, N.C., and Allentown, Pa.
The News reports that Terry Abbott, an EAA spokesman who spoke for Covington says that internal procurement policies were followed, travel was paid for to train new teachers, and in some cases trips were paid for and required by grants.
The News also wrote:
He said other expenses, such as charges to Home Depot and Amazon, paid for repairs, supplies or books, while the IKEA charge in August bought furniture for Marion Law Academy near Outer Drive and Van Dyke. Gas was used to fill up a vehicle used to drive Covington, Abbott said.
Critics say the money could have been better spent on children and that travel is an area that is often trimmed in austere time. -- Allan Lengel
