TALLAHASSEE - Florida's chief financial officer is auditing the state's three school voucher programs, including one that was criticized for paying for children to attend a school whose founders were linked to a terrorist organization.
CFO Tom Gallagher confirmed the audit Thursday. He said the goal is to show the Department of Education and the Legislature whether the programs have fiscal accountability. The audit started two weeks ago.
Included in the audit will be the $88-million corporate voucher program, which has been criticized for a lack of oversight, especially after one scholarship organization reportedly collected money without providing scholarships.
The program also gave tax credits to send poor children to a Tampa Muslim school whose founders were later determined to have links to terrorist organizations.
Education Commissioner Jim Horne does not oppose the audit - Horne had been in touch with Gallagher's office and wanted an auditor to work with the Education Department's inspector general as part of a plan to increase accountability in the program, said spokeswoman Frances Marine.
The Florida Association of Scholarship Funding Organizations, which represents some of the groups that provide the corporate scholarships, also approved.
"We are confident that the probe will vindicate the (corporate tax credit) and silence opponents' concerns," the group said in a statement.
