OKLAHOMA CITY – Today, the House Democratic Caucus is calling for accountability of public funds spent on education. Last year, the legislature passed SB36x, calling on the State Department to perform its duty to apply for and administer federal grants for the purpose of public education. House Democrats say they have reason to believe OSDE has not complied with this law.
“House Democrats believe transparency should be coupled with accountability,” said House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City. “We need to hold OSDE accountable for the alleged mismanagement of federal grants for our public schools. Oklahomans have waited long enough for leadership at OSDE to be held accountable.”
Rep. John Waldron, D-Tulsa, says an audit is long overdue.
“A thorough audit of OSDE needs to happen in order to give Oklahomans an answer for where their tax dollars are going,” said Waldron. “This is long overdue, and Oklahomans need answers. Teachers and students in Oklahoma deserve answers.”
To cite one example, and according to The Frontier, the State Department allowed a federal grant program to lapse that would cover crisis response teams to address tragedies in Oklahoma schools.
In October 2023, schools were notified that if they wished to provide school counselors for crisis response, they would have to do so without support from the state.
In February 2024, a nonbinary Owasso student was attacked in a school bathroom. Their death soon after was an Oklahoma tragedy, yet OSDE could not provide crisis response support.
The absence of this federally-funded program was also felt last month, when tornadoes struck the town of Sulphur and disrupted its schools.
Federal dollars address critical needs in Oklahoma: special education, the education of students with disabilities, school improvement and physical security. Oklahoma schoolchildren are suffering measurable losses under the current leadership of the State Department of Education, but what is the measure of this loss? To answer this question, the House Democratic Caucus turns to the Office of the Attorney General. Gentner Drummond has the authority to request an audit of finances at OSDE from the State Auditor, Cindy Byrd.
Specifically, House Democrats call for an audit to answer the following questions:
1. Is OSDE in violation of SB36x for failing to file for federal grants, for allowing federal grants to expire, and/or for failing to oversee federal grants?
2. Has OSDE appropriately administered federal grants, including ESSER grants, since Ryan Walters took office?
3. Has OSDE spent federal set-aside dollars – funds not distributed to schools but kept at OSDE for administrative purposes – in accordance with federal program requirements?
House Democrats ask that their colleagues in both chambers, who voted on bipartisan lines to pass SB36x, to join in this call for accountability. House Democrats believe if action is not taken, lawmakers will have abandoned their responsibility and their obligation to 700,000 Oklahoma schoolchildren.
1 SECTION 20. The State Department of Education shall not decline, refuse participation in, or choose not to apply for any federal grant funding that had been received by the Department prior to FY 2023 without joint approval from the President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate and the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
Get Local News!
