My comments are in boldface.
Doug Phillips, TEA's director of investigations and fingerprinting, said his office believed the district had stopped the practice because there was no evidence that it continued. He said Thursday that he didn't know which laws forbid issuing fake Social Security numbers. "Didn't know which laws forbid issuing fake Social Security numbers?!?" Are we kidding? Only ONE agency has the authority to issue Social Security numbers. It's called the Social Security Administration, a department of the United States Federal Government.
"We just knew it looked bad and smelled bad," Mr. Phillips said. "That was the first time we'd ever heard of that one." Mr. Phillips, apparently this issue has been happening for at least three years and maybe longer.
Mr. Phillips said it created "a mess" in a state database. He said teacher applicants who don't have a Social Security number can receive a temporary identification number, which begins with a "P," from TEA until they get one from the federal government. Part of the purpose of a Social Security number is to identify the person's Federal account that receives Federal (and State) tax witholdings, as required by both Federal and State laws. How in the heck did you people expect to adhere to these regulations?
The DISD-issued Social Security numbers began with "200" – a prefix assigned to people in Pennsylvania, and Mr. Phillips' office noted that many ended with sequential numbers. Nice. I wonder how many people in Pennsylvania are having inflated income reported, which could push them into a higher tax bracket.
The investigative report also found that the district hasn't been turning in "new hire" forms to the Texas attorney general's office, which uses the information to find parents who haven't paid child support. Failure to provide the forms to the attorney general can result in a $25 fine for each employee. The district doesn't know yet whether it will have to pay any fines. This speaks for itself. The DISD is clearly and intentionally violating the law here.
Ms. Olson said new processes have been put in place to address problems noted in the report, including making crosschecks with the Social Security Administration. Yeah, sure. And my grandmother was a test pilot.
"You can't just arbitrarily issue Social Security numbers," she said. "Even if your intention is good, it's not legal." Well, something I can agree on.
As long as employers in the U.S. think they can continue to flaunt the immigration and payroll laws this problem will persist. Those who perpetuated these policies should be severely punished.
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