Teachers from New York City came to Nashville last year and spent nearly $3,000 of their own local taxpayer money without documenting how it got spent, according to a new report on Patch.com
The teachers spent this money at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Resort, according to the story.
The story did not specify why the teachers came to Nashville or for what event.
This was among only part of $15,000 the New York City teachers spent without supporting documentation, according to the website.
According to the Patch.com story, quoting an audit, New York City school officials often disregarded rules and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lavish hotels, out-of-town trips and other travel costs last year, an audit released Wednesday shows.
“City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office reviewed about $1 million of the Department of Education’s more than $20 million in travel expenses from the 2017 fiscal year. About nine in every 10 payments — 93 percent — violated an internal policy, a directive from the comptroller’s office, or both, the audit shows,” the website reported.
The DOE blew more than $233,000 to host meetings and other events at outside venues without bothering to see if any schools or other facilities could be used for free or on the cheap, according to Patch.
The DOE also lost more than $60,000 in advance payments when the chancellor cancelled a student trip to Cuba because of political turmoil, the website went on to say, quoting the audit.
“Stringer’s office made 16 recommendations to the DOE, including that it get proper justification for employees’ out-of-town travel before approving payments and plan trips far enough ahead to avoid excess costs,” the website reported.
“In a written response to the audit, the DOE said it at least partially agreed with all the recommendations and said it would make sure policies are followed by holding additional training.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
