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Yost handed ECOT state accounting awards as it used tax dollars to pay off students for taking tests

July 11, 2018
Democratic Newsroom

By his own admission, Republican Auditor of State Dave Yost is now indicating he gave the now-defunct online charter school ECOT taxpayer funded awards for outstanding financial records while the same records show ECOT was writing taxpayer-funded checks to students to take standardized state tests and attend commencement ceremonies.

“If Auditor Dave Yost was doing his job and really looking at ECOT’s financial records during the last seven years, why would he let ECOT use taxpayer dollars to pay students to take tests and attend graduation,” state Rep. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) questioned. “The crooked irony is that Auditor Yost was taking thousands in campaign donations from ECOT and giving them clean audit awards while they were paying off students with your tax dollars.”

In 2016, Auditor Yost gave ECOT his office’s highest award for clean and accurate financial records while the e-school was writing taxpayer-funded checks to students for basic classroom requirements, like test-taking. The awards from Auditor Yost are funded by taxpayers and usually involve some sort of commemorative plaque or engraving.

It’s unknown how much the official Auditor awards cost taxpayers.