Teach for America, the nonprofit that places college graduates and professionals as teachers in needy schools, was recently slammed by the Department of Education's Inspector General for keeping lousy records.  

With its 5,000 teachers-in-training and a $75 million budget, Teach for America has become a major force in educational reform over its eighteen year history.  Each year, the group receives almost 20,000 applications from talented college graduates for 2,500 teaching spots.   But since one-third of its funding comes from the local (11 percent), state (9 percent), and federal government (13 percent) collectively,  it is subject to periodic auditing.

When the audit finally came from the Inspector General's Office, the organization was failed for mishandling their records.  Apparently,, Teach for America couldn't account for half the money audited.  From food bills to lodging expenses to training costs, Teach for America failed to provide adequate book keeping and receipts, leaving some wondering if there's something more than sloppy record keeping happening.

"Alarm bells start to go off usually when you start seeing a recipient of a grant or an earmark not being able to provide basic information," said Leslie Paige of government watchdog Citizens Against Government Waste.

Teach for America vice president Kevin Huffman says they just have poor organization and that most of the money does go to teachers.  "We're confident, we're confident that we spent the money on the training of new teachers," Huffman said.

Perhaps before the organization gets its infusion of $12 million from the federal government next year, the group should teach itself Accounting 101.

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