Today a hearing officer for the Pennsylvania Department of Education recommended that the education secretary dismiss the Penn Hills School District's request for a refund of money that it spent for Rick Santorum's children to attend the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School.

Did the hearing officer find that Rick is, in fact, a resident of Penn Hills? No, the officer recommended the dismissal because the school district didn't file its objections quickly enough. So even though Rick has withdrawn his children from the cyber charter school because of questions about his residency, the school district may not be able to recoup the money it spent on his children because of a technicality.

Of course, Rick sees the dismissal recommendation based on a technicality as a vindication. Today he called the allegations that he owes the school district money "baseless and politically motivated."

Baseless??? Rick, your family did not live in the Penn Hills School District. But you took taxpayer funds from that district to pay for your children to go to a cyber charter school. When challenged by the district to prove your childrens' residency you simply chose to withdraw them from the school because it was clear that they were not residents. If they were not residents at the time that the money was spent on their schooling, then you had no right to take the money and you should be responsible for repaying the money to the school district.

Rick may get away with this based on a technicality, but that in no way vindicates him or proves that he doesn't owe that money to the taxpayers of the Penn Hills School District.