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Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance squandering tax dollars (2011) 1 wtsp.com 12/16/18, 2:07 PM 201$: Tampa jobs chief under fire for fudging numbers and big_pay. Except not only were there no jobs for half the class, the "students" complained the expensive training was a waste of time, teaching them menial tasks like how to write a cover letter. Yet Knowledge Quest still collected $1,995 for each of the 15 students in the week-long April session. This email will be delivered to your inbox once a day in the morning. ENTER E&MIL HERE "I feel hurt, I feel deceived, and I feel cheated; said Opal Raglin, who says she was promised a job if she attended the training. "I started telling people in the class, 'something is just not right with this thing"' "What angers me," said unemployed veteran Mike Flanagan, 58, "is taking advantage of not only a veteran who served our nation but also other individuals that participated in my class." Knowledge Quest raked in nearly $30,000 for the class and because the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance had just added the company to its approved vendors list, the entire training was paid for by WIA funds, which Workforce oversees. However, after speaking to more than a half-dozen people in the class and nearly 50 public records requests, the 10 News Investigators found Knowledge Quest's application to Workforce contained numerous falsehoods. And Workforce never bothered to verify them. Among the misrepresentations: • Knowledge Quest claimed accreditation through FLDOE's Commission for Independent Education • Knowledge Quest promised to report data to through the state's FETPIP system, which it was not registered with • Knowledge Quest's April training would last 72 hours, yet a course syllabus included less than 40 hours of training Tampa Bay Workforce CEO Ed Peachey, who took over the helm of the agency after the 2010 scandal over employee seen ing on of food &beverage, told 10 News that Workforce may not have fully vetted Knowledge Quest's qualifications earlier this year before recommending approval to the board in March. However, after 10 News started asking questions and Peachey spoke to Knowledge Quest, he said in August he was content with the company's explanation for why it wasn't accredited: it was teaching accredited classes. But the 10 News Investigators learned Knowledge Quest simply provided Peachey with old — and sometimes unfunded — contracts with USF, Pensacola Jr. College, and Florida Keys Community College, All three institutions told 10 News that the classes were non-credit, non -accredited classes — something Workforce could have found out with a simple phone call or email. Knowledge Quest has since removed claims of being "college -accredited" from its website, although archives of the claim from 2010 still exist. The archive also saved Knowledge Quest's boast of "15 Years of sound executive leadership experience entrenched within our current staff along with an additional 17 years of technical and telecommunications experience" Yet now, two years later, those numbers have jumped to 25 and 27 years, respectively. https:I/www.wtsp.com/article/news/invest'gations/tampa-bay-workforce-alliance-squandering-tax-dol€ars-2011/67-511241398 Page 2 of 6