AP Exclusive: State voucher violations leave details unknown

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Some Tennessee parents were accused of misspending thousands of dollars in school voucher funds while using state-issued debit cards over the past school year, a review by The Associated Press has found, and state officials say they do not know what many of those purchases were for.

The Tennessee voucher program is currently modest in scale but is set to expand under Republican leadership over the next year. The state gives families of children with certain disabilities the option of removing their students from public school and then provides a state-issued debit card loaded with tax dollars to help cover their children's private school needs.

When it's expanded, families won't be given a state-issued debit card, but will instead use a website to purchase items largely due to attempts to prevent misspending.

Ahead of the expansion, the AP reviewed letters sent by Tennessee's Department of Education alerting families of improper purchases paid with the state-issued cards between May 2018 and September 2019. The program lets families spend roughly $6,000 each year on approved private educational services.

The department does not keep a database or list of families that violate the program. The AP relied on the letters to compile and analyze the violations over the past school year.

Of the 51 letters sent out by the state, 20 simply listed “unknown” as the reason for the improper purchases because parents had failed to include receipts.

In total, the AP found that Tennessee flagged nearly $30,000 in misspent voucher funds during the 2018-2019 school year. A portion of that amount was overturned through the appeals process.

Just 36 students enrolled in the voucher program when the program launched in January 2017. That number has jumped to...