More local governments mean more chances for public corruption and less State and Federal investigators per local government.

The final result is that the States with the most local governments have the most corruption. And Pennsylvania is one of the states with the most local governments.

I believe that the same is true of school districts. Complex budgets make stealing easier to hide. The more separate local school districts in a state the fewer forensic accountants per school district and the more potential for a clever thief to believe he or she will never be caught.

A portion of corruption is also discovered by investigative reporting. Investigative reporting of fraud takes a lot of skill, time, and access. It is usually but not necessarily done by larger news organizations.

Diligent, courageous school employees with high ethical standards frequently seem to be the people who discover fraud. The bottom line is more school districts equals more fraud. This should be considered in Governor Rendell’s effort to consolidate and reduce the number of school districts in Pennsylvania.

See Dr. G. Terry Madonna’s excellent “Politically Uncorrected Column-Corruption: No Longer an Iffy Proposition in Pennsylvania”
http://www.fandm.edu/x22228

Also see “Police, Politics, Corruption: The Mixture Dangerous to Freedom and Justice” by Col. Frank McKetta former Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner
Mcclain Printing Co (June 2000)
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Also see “The Report to Congress of the Activities and Operations of the Public Integrity Section of the United States Department of Justice”:
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/pin/docs/arpt-2007.pdf