WASHINGTON (AP) - An Education Department official placed on leave over a potential conflict of interest in his management of the government's student loan program filed disclosure forms that raise questions about the department's oversight of its own employees.

The forms, released by the department late Thursday, show the official, Matteo Fontana, listed ownership in 2002 of stock in two companies that manage student loans: Direct III Marketing Inc. and Education Lending Group. In fact, the companies are the same; Direct III Marketing changed its name to Education Lending Group at about that time...

Michael Dannenberg, director of education policy at the New America Foundation, a think tank that disclosed Fontana's SEC filing last week, said the financial disclosure forms released Thursday reveal lax oversight by the department.

'It appears that the Department of Education's financial disclosure requirements are general and that there's not a careful watch for potential conflicts of interest,' he said...

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