Auditor targets education tax-credit program

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The auditor general, Eugene DePasquale, raised the idea in response to concerns about incidents at a private school in Pittsburgh involving alleged inappropriate contact with minors. 

“These incidents raise questions about how this school protects children and handles such serious allegations,” DePasquale said, noting that because the school, Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, is private, his office is precluded from conducting an audit. “It is time for a serious review of the lack of any accountability for schools that receive these funds.”

DePasquale said he would be further discussing the issue with Dennis Davin, secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development, which administers the tax-credit program, known as the Educational Improvement Tax Credit, or EITC, program.

“We believe that the schools that participate [in the EITC program] are following proper procedures, but something clearly fell through the cracks,” Susan Woods, press secretary for the auditor general, said.

The board of Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh said it had no suspicion of misconduct by the employee since he began working there or at any time since he became an adult.

These suspicions follow another incident last year involving a teacher and child at the same school.

In response to those concerns, the Pennsylvania Auditor General announced he would be looking into what he described as a “lack of accountability and transparency” in how the tax credits are used. 

Businesses use the EITC program to earn credits that offset their state tax burden. To receive credits, companies must donate scholarship money to qualified education institutions. The program was created under former Gov. Tom Ridge.

According to Michael Gerber, press secretary for the DCED, the agency is permitted by legislative statute to gather a range of financial information, including dollar value of contributions from businesses earning tax credits and the amount awarded in scholarships. The auditor general has access to the same information. The annual total for the EITC program, Gerber said, is $135 million.

While groups like the Diocese of Harrisburg said that they have nothing to hide, Father Edward Quinlan, diocesan secretary for education, said he wasn’t quite sure there was a connection between the EITC program and the allegations in Pittsburgh.


“None of this makes sense with regard to the EITC,” Quinlan said, adding that the law authorizing the EITC program contains numerous safeguards. 

Currently, Quinlan said scholarship organizations are required to submit detailed reports that must be kept on file for three years. For this current year, he said out of the 10,542 students attending schools in the Diocese of Harrisburg, more than 3,700 are on some form of scholarship.

Gene Barr, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, also failed to see a connection between the Pittsburgh incidents and the EITC program. Barr said the chamber supports the program, as do many of its members.

“The EITC offers an important option for educational choice in Pennsylvania,” he said.