Other Bloggers On Faith In Teaching

Lindsay Beyerstein and Matthew Lawrence have questions about the nonprofit Faith In Teaching. Florida Sen. Ronda Storms sponsored an amendment to create the I Believe licence plate. A sample plate would feature an image of Jesus. Lindsay and I have researched FIT have questions if it is a legitimate nonprofit.

Lawrence:

Money from the other plate would go to Faith In Teaching, which purports to support faith-based education but which actually may not even be real, since their website is down and their official mailing address is the office of a workers’ comp lawyer.

Lindsay has concerns about the lack of oversight on how organization's, such as FIT, are awarded plates.

I'm less concerned about the religious imagery than I am about the fact that the state is creating revenue streams with minimal oversight for obscure non-profits. It's not inherently evil, but it's troubling. Basically, what seems to have happened in this case is that a clique of politically well-connected Republicans managed to get their state senator to introduce legislation adding their ad hoc non-profit to the program. The group, FIT, seems to exist only as a clearinghouse for the money. FIT says it will divide the money among faith-based groups, but it hasn't offered any details on which ones, or what kind of programs.

There's nothing inherently illegal or immoral about creating a non-profit to take advantage of the program as long as the money actually goes to legitimate charities. Still it is a golden opportunity for political patronage and a back door way of subsidizing religious activities. In this case the state is acting as a pass-through and the non-profit covers the costs of developing and marketing the plates, so public money isn't going to religious education--but they are getting a valuable assist. What qualifies these people to divvy up the money to other charities?

Carla A. Mallen and Catherine L. Wellen are the president and vice-president of FIT. Their husbands are David Mallen and Robert Wellen. All have given campaign contributions to Vern Buchanan. David Mallen has worked as a lobbyist.

Faith In Teaching is A Paper Nonprofit

What a future Florida licence plate may look like.

Post by Lindsay Beyerstein and Michael Hussey

Faith in Teaching (FIT) is a nonprofit paper company. The FIT web site www.faithinteaching.org is down. The web site can still be seen on Google cache. The frontpage had a message urging readers to support the I Believe licence plate.

When faith based schools close, good jobs are lost, teachers leave the state, and more tax dollars are required for public schools to absorb the children. The Miami Herald reported that for Catholic schools alone almost 1,300 schools have closed, and almost 400,000 children displaced due to decreased funding. When all Christian and Hebrew schools are included the numbers are even more staggering. The I Believe plate provides immediate impact to keeps jobs, teachers and lower school and property taxes in Florida. Our funding is 100% private donations, at no cost to taxpayers. Funds are distributed only within the state of Florida.

The amendment for the I Believe plates past 22 to 13 in the Florida Senate. There is no longer a need for the FIT web site. Beyond putting up $60,000 and doing some preliminary research to prove demand, it doesn't appear that FIT has to do any work for this money, in terms of manufacturing or distributing a product.

No current address can be found for FIT on Google Maps. The nonprofit was known to exist at 120 EAST ROBINSON STREET, ORLANDO FL. The defunct nonprofit Christian Offering Plate was at the same address. The nonprofits officers were David Mallen and Robert Wellen. Their wives Carla A. Mallen and Catherine L. Wellen are the president and vice-president of Faith in Teaching.

None of FIT players are education professionals. The Wellens work for TaxChex.

Robert J. Wellen, Jr. C.P.A.- An Accounting firm that provides personal and corporate tax preparations, as well as, Set-Up Corporations and Limited Liability Companies. The Wellen office is located on the corner of Parsons and Martin Luther King Blvd in Brandon. Quarterly Tax filings are now available.The Wellen Family are members of the Nativity Catholic Parish in Brandon. The telephone number for Robert J. Wellen, Jr.

David Mallen lost a race for the for the 9 Circuit Court judgeship in 2006. He works as a lawyer and a lobbyist. Carla Mallen is a homemaker.

The Mallens live in Orlando. The Wellens reside in Seffner. The Mallens have contribution $5,000 to Vern Buchanan in the last two election cycles. The Wellens have contributed $9,200 to Buchanan.

The Mallens and Wellens got Ronda Storms to sponsor the I Believe plate. Passage failed in 2008. Storms pushed too hard and alienated fellow Republicans.

The Mallens and Wellens were able to raise the $60,000 application fee. The money is to study if enough people would buy the $25.00 plates. FIT did not submit a professional survey last year. That didn't stop Storms from backing the I Believe plate. FIT would collect money from the sold plates and distribute tax dollars without oversight. The Wellens and Mallens are not education professionals and do not run an actual Christian education company. FIT exists only on paper. The amendment for the licence plate was put in late in the session because FIT could not withstand scrutiny.

Side note: this post could not have been written without the help of Lindsay Beyerstein.