While parents come to grips with major investment losses in a college savings program, public records show that Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias' office spent Bright Start proceeds to buy a $26,000 SUV he uses as his state car.Giannoulias wants to run for US Senate next year. This may put a dent in those plans!
The purchase is surfacing as the politically ambitious Giannoulias continues to face criticism for his oversight of the Bright Start investment program, which lost $85 million last year.
It's the first time since the program was launched nearly a decade ago that money from it was used to buy a state vehicle, the treasurer's office acknowledged.
Giannoulias refused to comment for this story, but his spokesman defended using Bright Start funds to buy the black 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. Scott Burnham said the SUV is not exclusively driven by Giannoulias but is part of a pool of a dozen cars used by workers to travel the state promoting treasurer's office programs, including Bright Start.
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In recent months, Giannoulias has come under fire for his stewardship of the $2 billion Bright Start program, a college savings plan that is supposed to allow parents to put away money and earn interest on the cash for their children's education.
The fund lost more than $85 million last year in large part, Giannoulias has said, because of the management of OppenheimerFunds. A big reason for the drastic drop, he has said, is because Oppenheimer pursued a "reckless strategy" that involved buying mortgage-backed securities and credit-default swaps.
Dispatches from Chicago's south side.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Illinois' Bright Start college fund loses $85 million, buys hybrid for treasurer
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Disclaimer: i work for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. We sell the College Illinois! 529 pre-paid tuition program, which is doing well financially. That program, your tuition is locked in at today's prices, and will pay for tuition at a state school (community college, a state 4 year or U of I - Urbana, depending on your plan). So no matter what the tuition rises to, you'll have paid cheaper prices than when your child actually attends. (It's in state law).
ReplyDeleteWe *do* note that Bright Start can pay for OTHER college expenses, such as room and board, so having both, in the long run, is a definite benefit.
So don't give up on these plans...just find out more details.