Topeka ? A Legislative Post Audit report released Friday said a handful of teachers in Kansas may be earning retirement benefits for work they do as officers in their state or local unions, something that auditors say is technically not allowed.

That news quickly sparked controversy among Kansas lawmakers, with some calling it an example of “fraud” in the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, while others said it’s merely a technical error caused by vague instructions.

The report, titled “KPERS: Evaluating Controls to Detect and Prevent Fraud and Abuse,” was delivered Friday to the joint Legislative Post Audit Committee.

The report said auditors selected 34 teachers in a “targeted sample,” plus 21 other state employees selected at random. Of those, the audit found seven teachers who were incorrectly awarded KPERS service credits while working for teachers unions.

The report said auditors focused on teachers, in part because “legislators had expressed specific concerns regarding techers working for education associations and earning years of KPERS service credit.”

Service credits are used to determine when an employee is eligible for retirement. But the report said work done for teachers unions should not count as work done for the district.

“Public school district employees are KPERS-covered members,” it said. “On the other hand, (the Kansas National Education Association) and its local affiliates are advocacy organizations for educators and are not KPERS-covered employers. However, because these teachers continued to be reported as school district employees, KPERS continued to award them service credits.”

“The report indicated that KPERS was going to address this, to stop this fraud,” said Rep. Virgil Peck, R-Tyro, who serves on the Post Audit Committee.

In an official response to the audit, KPERS executive director Alan Conroy noted that the seven cases identified were a tiny portion of the 154,000 active members of the pension system, including 85,000 school district employees.

As a result, he wrote, “comprehensive audits to verify that members are in fact working at the employer’s place of business would not be cost effective.” But he indicated KPERS would take steps to communicate with school districts and clarify the rules governing eligible service.

In many of the state’s larger districts, including Lawrence, teachers who also serve as union officers may be given a leave of absence, or may work only part-time in their teaching position, but are still paid by the school district on a full-time basis.

David Reber, president of the Lawrence Education Association, said that under that union’s negotiated contract with the district, the union president is a half-time teacher but is paid on a full-time basis.

“The district and LEA make matching cash contributions, minimum of $2,500, towards the cost for the half-time release from teaching duties,” Reber said. “The remainder is paid by teachers in the form of donated leave days for the president to draw from.”

David Cunnningham, the district’s human resources and legal services director, said the district counts the position as one full-time position and reports it to KPERS that way.

“Our understanding is, that’s not a KPERS violation,” Cunningham said. “If they change the rules, we’ll look at it.”