Oklahoma Wants Teachers To Return Their Bonuses

The Associated Press reports:

The repayment demands have Oklahoma’s education agency drawing fierce criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, some of whom say teachers shouldn’t be forced to give the money back. Average teacher pay in Oklahoma is about $54,800, which ranks 38th in the country, according to the National Education Association.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, who implemented the program, suggested in a memo sent Monday to legislative leaders that some of the errant bonuses were because teachers had “misrepresented their experience and qualifications.” He blamed the media for much of the fallout.

Still, lawmakers from both parties have leveled fierce criticism at Walters and the agency. It’s not the first time that Walters, a conservative Republican who leads the department and who has embraced culture-war issues like book banning and targeting transgender students, has come under fire for alleged misspending of public funds.

Read the full article. As you’ll see at the link, some of the teachers have already spent the money and say they have no way to pay it back.

Walters last appeared here when he hired LibsOfTikTok to help oversee public school libraries.

Walters also appeared here last month when he joined the Trump campaign to “stop the cancer of teachers unions.”

In August, Walters approved far-right PragerU’s climate change-denying, anti-LGBTQ, racist videos for use in Oklahoma public schools.

The FBI is currently investigating Walters’ department for misspending $1.7M in education funds on items such as “kitchen appliances, power tools, furniture, and entertainment.”

In June 2023, 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.”

Oklahoma asks teachers to return up to $50,000 in bonuses the state says were paid in error https://t.co/6Ak8WgNVHu

— The Associated Press (@AP) January 31, 2024