FBI Investigates Misspending Of OK Education Funds

August 12, 2023 Christianists, Republicans

The Oklahoman reports:

The FBI is investigating the misspending of federal funds meant to help Oklahoma children learn at home during the pandemic, law enforcement sources confirmed Thursday. A scathing state audit in June blamed Ryan Walters, now state schools superintendent, for failures that resulted in the misspending of Bridge the Gap funds.

Those funds were part of a $39.9 million Governor’s Emergency Education Relief, or GEER, grant. “We found that $1.7 million was spent on various non-educational items such as kitchen appliances, power tools, furniture and entertainment,” the state auditor, Cindy Byrd, said in June.

The audit identified the executive director of a nonprofit, Every Kid Counts Oklahoma, as the individual who “directly participated” in the administration of the Bridge the Gap program. Before taking office in January, Walters was executive director of that nonprofit. He also was Gov. Kevin Stitt’s secretary of education.

Read the full article.

Last week Walters posted a ranting video in which he baselessly claimed that China is secretly funding Tulsa’s public schools. His claim was immediately denounced by Tulsa officials.

In June, Walters appeared here when he announced that Oklahoma’s public schools will soon have a mandatory daily prayer, the mandatory posting of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, and a mandatory high school course in “Western civilization.”

Last month Walters declared that Oklahoma public school students will be taught that the infamous 1921 Tulsa Massacre was not inspired by racism.



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