By Paul Monies, Oklahoma Watch
Both the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the Oklahoma Legislature could do a better job of communicating to school districts funding timelines and the processes involved in new programs like paid maternity leave, school security grants and asthma inhalers, a legislative watchdog concluded in a report presented Tuesday.
Republican State Superintendent Ryan Walters, meanwhile, called the report a waste of time and the result of a political vendetta by House leadership, especially outgoing Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore. Walters and about a dozen of the top leaders at the agency appeared for almost two hours before a committee to discuss the report by the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency.
“It’s really unfortunate we’re here today,” Walters said at the hearing. “This is a waste of time for the people of the state of Oklahoma. We have been transparent in everything that we do, both with the public, with the Legislature and with districts.”
The LOFT report looked at federal Title I funds, paid maternity leave, teacher raises for schools off the statewide funding formula, school security grants and the availability of funds for asthma inhalers to school districts. Some districts and lawmakers questioned the timing of providing funds to districts in each of those programs earlier this year.
The report did not address other issues that have drawn attention, like the agency’s recent procurement plan for Bibles in the classroom, agency travel expenses, spending on an outside public relations firm for Walters or legal expenses for multiple lawsuits against the agency.
LOFT’s interim director, Regina Birchum, said her staff made the report a priority after concerns from lawmakers about funding timelines at the Education Department that alarmed some superintendents. As part of its work, LOFT sent a survey to superintendents across the state, with 173 of the state’s 548 superintendents responding to the survey sent in September.
“During the course of this investigation, LOFT did not observe any activities that warranted referral to law enforcement entities or criminal prosecution,” Birchum said. “Additionally, all funds provided to SDE for these five areas that we reviewed are accounted for.”
Some of the confusion about the funding came because they were new programs mandated by the Legislature. But the report still concluded the Education Department wasn’t clear about communicating that to districts when they had questions.
Walters blamed districts for any confusion and said he couldn’t make local officials open their emails or attend online Zoom meetings for updates or explanations by his agency’s staff. He said in at least one case, agency staff caught a claim by a superintendent to get reimbursement for renovations to a building the superintendent owned. Walters didn’t provide specifics when asked to explain that situation.
“We will hold bad actors accountable,” Walters said. “We will hold individuals accountable who produce fraudulent claims on how they’re spending federal funds.”
Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, said she was glad in that instance that Education Department officials rejected that claim. She said most of the Title I federal funds go toward appropriate expenditures like reading specialists or materials.
“By and large, most school districts, I would opine, apply it appropriately, so I really would love to refrain from painting a target on the backs of superintendents or on the backs of schools,” Provenzano said.
In recent months, Walters has had public spats with some superintendents, calling one a clown and a liar after he raised questions about Walters’ management of the Education Department. Bixby Superintendent Rob Miller has since sued Walters for defamation in Tulsa County District Court.
Walters said some of the delays in funding stemmed from disagreements between the House and Senate on what the department could do. That was evident in the $250,000 appropriation for inhalers, which were being supplied by a single, private nonprofit group. It was finally resolved a few weeks ago by a letter from the attorney general, but Walters said at no time did districts that wanted inhalers not have access to inhalers.
“Inhalers were always available for districts on a reimbursement model,” Walters said. “We communicated that, as LOFT indicated, repeatedly to districts. The question was: Could we sole-source to a foundation? Our legal team saw some roadblocks, and so did OMES (Office of Management and Enterprise Services).”
It was the second time in six months that Walters and Education Department officials appeared before the LOFT committee. A pair of reports in June looked at federal funds, competitive grants and administrative rules. At that time, Walters also blamed others for the scrutiny of the agency.
McBride, after Tuesday’s hearing, said he disagreed with Walters’ characterization of the latest report as a waste of time. He said House lawmakers just wanted some answers about how the funds were being spent. McBride said the resulting scrutiny led to better communication with lawmakers and with district officials.
“Anytime the boss wants to call you into his office and have a conversation about how money is being spent, that’s not a waste of time,” McBride said. “He talks so much about transparency and wanting to protect taxpayer dollars, but doesn’t want to have a conversation about these kinds of things, the lack of communication, the delay on getting those funds out.”
Although some Democrats have called for Walters’ impeachment, McBride said he didn’t think incompetence at the agency rises to the level of impeachment. Still, at least one online petition has 6,500 signatures so far.
Rep. Meloyde Blancett, D-Tulsa, said she wanted the legislature to keep looking at spending at the Education Department. Blancett sent a letter to the LOFT oversight committee last week outlining her continued concerns about travel expenditures for political purposes and legal fees. She also wanted an investigation on the lack of transparency around the Parental Choice Tax Credit program for private schools.
Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.
