Voucher schools in the District of Columbia inflated their tuition to snatch federal dollars, hired unqualified teachers at vast public expense and may be in violation of city safety laws, a federal audit found.

The schools are paid under D.C.’s one-of-a-kind voucher system, which gives up to $7,500 per year in scholarships so that poor children can attend private schools. In a scathing audit, the Government Accountability Office found utter chaos in the $13 million program and concluded that funds are at risk “from error, abuse and fraud.”

The GAO also found that students may be shipped out to “facilities that did not meet basic health and safety requirements.” The GAO reached its conclusions in a draft report obtained by The Examiner.

The federal review has prompted city officials to open their own investigation, sources told The Examiner. Authorities want to know whether some school operators have lined their own pockets with the public’s money, the sources said.

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The voucher program is the child of Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who hoped to use D.C. as a laboratory. The program is up for renewal next year and will not have as many friends now that the Democrats control Congress.

Brownback’s staff did not respond to a request for comment.

The “opportunity scholarships” were supposed to be directed at children in failing public schools, but the GAO found that, at its peak in the 2005-06 school year, only 38 percent of the voucher students came from failing schools.

Authorities found three schools had puffed up their tuition figures to capture federal funds. The schools claimed they regularly charged tuition of $10,000 to $15,000, when in fact they only charged non-voucher students about $25 per month, the GAO wrote.

There are also concerns about the educational standards in the school. In at least three schools, less than half of the staff had bachelor’s degrees, the GAO found. In six other schools, up to 20 percent of the staff lacked a degree.

Gregory M. Cork, president and CEO of the Washington Scholarship Fund, which oversees the voucher program, said he was “very confident that most kids” in the program “are getting a quality education.”

“What’s important to remember about this program is that it’s afforded very, very low-income kids and their families opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have had,” Cork told The Examiner.

Voucher Program

» $12.9 million per year­

» 2,845 offered scholarships in three years

» 54 private schools paid

Got a tip on the voucher schools? Call Bill Myers at 202-459-4956 or e-mail bmyers@dcexaminer.com.