Clark Backs Education Collaborative Reforms

The following is an announcement from State Senator Katherine Clark:

The Senate on Tuesday took decisive action to end mismanagement and financial abuses at the Commonwealth’s education collaboratives, that help teach children with special needs, Senator Clark announced. With a unanimous vote, the Senate passed legislation that establishes strict oversight and accountability of the state’s 30 institutions.

“This legislation is an important step as we work to increase oversight and accountability after an appalling abuse of power affecting our most vulnerable children,” said Senator Clark. “I am proud that the Senate was able to act quickly to pass these significant reforms.”

State officials and the public called for immediate action after investigations last year by the state auditor and inspector general uncovered a serious misuse of funding at the Merrimack Special Education Collaborative and other collaboratives around the state.

The legislation will improve the governance and fiscal accountability of the Commonwealth’s network of educational collaboratives by increasing transparency and setting clear standards to ensure that funding for the collaboratives will be used specifically for direct services to students.

The bill addresses the conflicts of interest surrounding collaboratives and their related nonprofit organizations, through which many of the abuses took place, creating clear requirements for board members and staff. It prohibits board members from receiving a salary and from serving in any official capacity at a related nonprofit organization.

Further establishing financial oversight and accountability, the bill requires the board of directors to appoint a treasurer who is not a member of the board or an employee of the collaborative. The bill also requires collaboratives to maintain a financial accounting system and authorizes the state education department, auditor and department of revenue to periodically audit or review the records of every education collaborative.

The boards of each education collaborative will also be required to prepare an annual financial report and conduct an independent audit, which will be made publicly available online. Each board must file its annual report and audit with the state education commissioner, auditor, and each member school committee and charter school board.

Related nonprofits must also submit annual audited financial statements to the Attorney General or the state education department. And, the bill makes explicit that collaboratives are subject to the same competitive bidding requirements that school districts must follow when contracting for goods and services.

The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for further action.