Dive Brief:

• A NY rabbi and three other men associated with Island Child Development Center in Far Rockaway are accused of stealing $12.4 million in city and state education funds that were designated for preschool students with special needs.  
• The preschool claimed to provide special education services for 3-to-5-year-olds, but an audit by the state comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, turned up various forms of corrupt behavior.  
• All four men face 42 counts of grand larceny, including overcharging and falsifying records.

Dive Insight:

Among the more particular details: Rabbi Samuel Hiller, the school's assistant director, is accused in particular of diverting $8 million in public education dollars to religious camps and Orthodox schools.

Just as troubling as the mismanagement of funds is the fact that the money was used for programs with religious affiliations, which brings to mind complaints about voucher programs, which some believe violates the First Amendment and the separation of church and state when those funds are used for religious schooling. 

With amounts of public funding this massive able to slip through the cracks and go unnoticed for extended periods of time, it's not entirely unlikely that this might be just the tip of the iceberg for these situations.