The chairman of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System board thinks trustees deserve some of the blame for the much-criticized travel expenses of former executive director Paul Doane.

Doane resigned in October amid legislative criticism over an audit that showed he spent nearly half of his time on the job and more than $34,000 on travel out of state.

“There are certain laws and policies in Arkansas that someone from Massachusetts didn’t understand,” said Richard Abernathy, the board’s recently named chairman, in an interview with the Arkansas News Bureau. “And he went from the private sector to the public sector, and those are two different entities within themselves. We could have done better job as a board orienting him to that.”

The board’s previous chairman, Robin Nichols of Jonesboro, also resigned that position in October after defending Doane’s travels and her own expenses. She remains on the system board.

Tags: Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, Paul Doane, Richard Abernathy, Robin Nichols

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