Tag Archives: Audits

Opinion: Oregon’s generational failure of underfunding schools must end

Earlier this month, Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson released an audit of Portland Public Schools. Any audit of a large, complex organization like Portland Public Schools will have findings and recommendations. This audit was no exception and the district has much work to do to meet its goals of educational excellence and equity. Source: […]
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Portland schools plan spending reform, days after state audit lays out shortcomings

A week after the Oregon Secretary of State released a highly critical report of Portland Public Schools, the school board’s audit committee laid out some of the district’s next steps, including plans to swiftly fix what state officials said are bloated expense practices. Source: Portland schools plan spending reform, days after state audit lays out shortcomings […]
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Sources: PPS audit inspires unusual alliance

Plus, Merkley struggles for recognition and I-5 tolling is tied to the controversial Rose Quarter project. Even before the Secretary of State’s Office released its recent audit criticizing Portland Public Schools, some elected officials were suggesting it was “political.” By that they meant the audit, done under the supervision of Republican Secretary of State Dennis […]
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Editorial: Audit’s timing on target

On Jan. 8 the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office released an audit of Portland Public Schools and the state Department of Education that was unflattering, at best. Since then auditors have been accused of playing politics, among other things, by those whose problems the audit made public. That’s to be expected, in part because the […]
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Oregon Education Audit | News Roundtable | Kid Governors – OPB’s Think Out Loud

The state released an audit of Oregon’s education department and its largest school district Wednesday, recommending that legislators take a hard look at how administrators spend existing money as they consider significant new educational investments sought by Gov. Kate Brown. We talk with the incoming and outgoing Kid Governors. Fifth-grader Erikka Baldwin took office this week, and Dom Peters has spend […]
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E-Procurement Could Save Oregon More than $1B, Audit Finds

While a handful of Oregon state agencies are already piloting e-procurement, an audit shows that a statewide system could have saved more than $1 billion over the last two years, enough to close the 2019-21 budget gap. A recent audit by the Oregon Secretary of State’s office shows that adoption of a statewide e-procurement system […]
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Our view | State needs to fix faulty buying practices

Oregon state government has been stunningly inefficient when buying computers and other technology. In fact, agencies’ buying habits are so bad that the state unnecessarily spent an extra $400 million to $1.5 billion during the 2015-17 budget period, according to a recent report from the state Audits Division. The problem is ironic: antiquated systems of […]
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Editorial: State must change buying practices

The most recent audit from Oregon’s secretary of state was released Wednesday. In case you missed it, auditors believe that if the state had fully updated its purchasing systems, it could have saved between $400 million and $1.6 billion in the 2015-17 biennium. Savings of that magnitude going forward could fill or nearly fill the […]
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Lack of auditors costs state money

It probably comes as no surprise that Oregon government has for 13 years ignored its own requirement that large state agencies should have internal auditors keeping track of spending and rooting out waste and inefficiency. But now that this lack of oversight has been pointed out — in an audit — that appears to be […]
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Oregon agencies could have saved $1.6 billion through smarter shopping, audit finds

Auditors said old technology and outdated practices largely prevent the state from digging into whether it is spending each dollar of taxpayer money wisely. State officials could have saved up to $1.6 billion over a two-year period by being smarter shoppers, according to a state audit released Wednesday, Dec. 19. But, auditors said, old technology […]
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