The citizens’ petition recently filed for a special education audit specifies that the audit be independent. The only way such an audit can do what it’s supposed to do—clear up any real or perceived improprieties in special education spending—is for it to be independent. Independent means free from the influence, control, or determination of others. And when questions of public money and public confidence exist, those “others” cannot be the people who oversee the area being audited. No matter what assurances are made by individuals connected with the schools—regardless of how honest, truthful, or well intentioned they are—an audit conducted with their oversight, by definition, is not independent.