State Audit Finds NYSED Commissioner King And Regents Chancellor Tisch Conduct Almost No Oversight Of For-Profit Career Schools

Looks like the accountability-meisters at the NYSED and the Regents don't care all that much about accountability for the for-profit career school sector:

A host of private career schools have been operating without state licenses because of “alarmingly little oversight” by state education officials, state Controller Thomas DiNapoli says in a new audit.

The audit, obtained by the Daily News, also found that 59% of the 491 schools that are licensed have ignored state rules that require them to file data on graduation and job-placement rates.

The lack of such information makes it difficult to determine if the schools are operating effectively, the audit says.

“There is alarmingly little oversight of private career schools in New York, leaving too many young adults vulnerable to false promises,” DiNapoli said.

Some 46,000 people in 2012 attended the career schools, which don’t grant degrees but provide training and job placement in such areas as computer programming, cosmetology and plumbing.

Auditors found 18 schools out of 100 sampled appeared to be operating without a state license.

And nearly 45% of applications for new schools were not acted upon within the required one-year period while 54% of the 1,328 investigations into unlicensed schools were open for over a decade, the audit found.

The findings were referred to the Attorney General’s Office.

Deputy Education Commissioner Kevin Smith acknowledged there is a backlog of investigations and applications, citing a lack of staff. But the department said it has begun to tackle the problems.

DiNapoli acknowledged some progress, but he said many of the problems found were first raised 15 years ago in a separate audit.

DiNapoli’s audit warns that as result of the delays, “there is increased risk that certain schools that would not be approved for a license are actually operating programs, and that viable owners may have refrained from operating programs.”

Smith insisted that Education Commissioner John King and the Board of Regents that oversees the state’s vast educational system have prioritized getting the career schools under control.

A new law enacted in late 2012 upped the registration fee for private career schools to $5,000, from $250. That has resulted in less “frivolous” applications for new schools, Smith said.

The bureau overseeing the schools, which had just 21 staffers to review applications and curriculum, has added six more.

One problem, Smith said, is that a licensed school can be fined, have its license revoked, or have its application for a license renewal rejected, but the Education Department can take no such action against non-licensed schools.

“We’re not law enforcement, we’re education,” Smith said.

But DiNapoli says aside from sending a form letter to unlicensed schools, the state education department has done little else to try and have them come into compliance or shut down.

59% of the schools licensed by the state have not provided the necessary information about graduation rates and job placement statistics, two crucial pieces of information prospective students should have before making a decision about a school, and yet the NYSED and the Regents do nothing about this.

In addition, many schools are operating without licenses, yet again the NYSED and the Regents are not cracking down on the problem.

The next time you hear NYSED Commissioner John King or Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch talk about how much they care about the kids, think about the lack of accountability they are granting the for-profit career school sector and ask yourself how many kids have signed up and paid thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars to go to an unlicensed school or one with bogus graduation rates and job placement statistics.

It seems Ms. Tisch and Mr King need an accountability moment of their own.