(NewsNation) — Some Oklahoma educators are being forced to repay bonuses awarded under a state program that is intended to help recruit new teachers from the most difficult jobs to fill, including early elementary and special education.
The errant payments, first reported by Oklahoma Watch, and 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.
Oklahoma Watch reported that at least nine teachers were asked to return bonuses ranging from $15,000 to $50,000. A total of $185,000 went to teachers who didn’t qualify for the program at all, and $105,000 was overpaid to teachers who qualified for a lesser amount.
Average teacher pay in Oklahoma is about $54,800, which ranks 38th in the country, according to the National Education Association.
Kristina Stadelman, who has four young children and a fifth on the way, said she’s crushed to learn she’s being forced to repay $50,000, much of which she already spent on home improvements and a down payment for a new car.
“I don’t obviously have the money to pay it back by the end of February,” Stadelman told the Associated Press. “I came home the day I found out and just cried for two days straight.”
In the wake of the mishap, Oklahoma legislators are looking to overhaul the program to prevent paying the bonuses in a lump sum and implement a more rigorous screening process.
Oklahoma 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.
“The press has jumped the gun on their reporting, excluding vital details on the contracts and our auditing system,” Walters wrote in the memo, obtained by The Associated Press. “The fact of the matter is that over 500 teachers were recruited to Oklahoma classrooms through this program.”
Still, lawmakers from both parties have leveled fierce criticism at Walters and the agency.
“As a former teacher, I cannot imagine the anxiety something like this would induce — to be deemed eligible and to receive a large bonus in my bank account, only to be told months later I must return it,” said state Rep. Rhonda Baker, a Yukon Republican and chair of the House Common Education Committee. “It was up to the State Department of Education to provide proper oversight in the vetting and approval of the bonus recipients.”
Stadelman’s bonus came to about $29,000 after taxes, the Associated Press reports. She said her blood pressure spiked after she got the letter, which said she was ineligible because she had previously been employed as a full-time special education teacher in another district last year, even though she said she indicated that on her application.
It’s not the first time that Walters has come under fire for alleged misspending of public funds.
A state audit of federal COVID funds for the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief fund, or GEER, when Walters served as the governor’s education secretary, found more than $1.7 million was spent on non-educational items such as kitchen appliances, power tools, furniture and entertainment.
Walters also faced criticism after the news outlet The Frontier reported this month that he expensed more than $4,000 on travel for out-of-state speaking engagements, media appearances and a horror movie premiere, despite the governor’s executive order banning public spending for most travel outside of Oklahoma.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.