Schrenko shocker

A state audit early last year clearly showed that Linda Schrenko's management of education funds during her 1994-2002 tenure as Georgia school superintendent was a disaster - particularly during her second term when she lost a GOP gubernatorial primary bid to Sonny Perdue

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The audit turned up all kinds of dismaying evidence, not only of terrible management of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but possibly something worse - unlawful use of funds.

Especially suspicious were more than $580,000 in Department of Education checks she OK'd for state contracts without asking for bids - each for $49,000, the maximum allowed without requiring approval from the state school board that oversees the superintendent's office.

Auditors urged the state attorney general's office and the U.S. Department of Education to investigate and seek restitution of more than $600,000 in questionable contracts - and to look into what laws may have been broken.

The results of that investigation were announced Wednesday, and it couldn't have been worse news for Schrenko - a well-known and popular figure in our area because of her Columbia County residency. She, along with Merle Temple Jr. of Evans - her deputy when she was in office and manager of her gubernatorial campaign - and A. Stephen Botes, an Atlanta computer consultant, were indicted by a federal grand jury for stealing $614,000 in education funds. The money allegedly was used to finance her campaign for governor, cosmetic surgery and personal investments.

We know that Schrenko has been through tough times since her political career crashed. She's had some serious health problems, got a divorce and filed for bankruptcy - but there can be no excuse if these charges are true. To be sure, she says through her attorney they are not true and, of course, she - and her two cronies - are innocent until proved guilty.

But there's no gainsaying the fact that her years as state school superintendent were marred by more than just the usual political controversies. At best, her management of the office was disgracefully incompetent. At worst, she's in a world of criminal trouble.

The charges against her are not only serious, they're despicable - a category 5 hurricane, if you will. Is there anything more contemptible than an elected education official stealing money from the classrooms to spend on partisan politics and a face lift?

It's bad enough that Georgia ranks near the bottom in student performance. Now the U.S. Attorney's Office has indicted a former state school superintendent for siphoning off taxpayer money the schools badly need to advance her own personal and political agendas. If true, that's as low as a public official can sink.

--From the Friday, November 12, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle

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