A special education teacher in Oklahoma sued the state Department of Education and the superintendent of public schools after she and multiple other educators were ordered to pay back tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses that the state claims were sent out by mistake.
The plaintiff, Kay Bojorquez, an employee with Epic Charter Schools, was one of at least nine teachers who received direct deposits of up to $50,000 in bonuses in November.
The payments were part of a new state teacher rewards program implemented by Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters to spur recruitment.
Earlier this month, however, the department sent letters to the recipients demanding the money back before March 1, Oklahoma Watch reported.
Last Monday, Walters issued a memo that stated some teachers had “misrepresented their experience and qualifications,” while he also hailed the overall success of the program as it had led to the hiring of more than 500 new teachers in the state.
The civil case filed two days later in Oklahoma County District Court claims Walters defamed Bojorquez by suggesting she lied on her application.
The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $75,000 from Walters, as well as a ruling that absolves Bojorquez from having to repay the bonus.
Walters, a conservative Republican known for culture-war stances, also faces allegations of misspending as well as seven lawsuits in federal and state courts involving a panoply of Oklahoma teachers, schools, and former department employees.
An audit revealed over $1.7 million in non-educational expenses from COVID-19 relief funds. And recent reports also questioned his spending on out-of-state travel and entertainment, violating an executive order restricting such expenses.
Walters held a news conference Wednesday to address the program, claiming the media spread a “deliberate lie” to cast the state in a bad light and maintained that only four teachers were affected.
Meanwhile, the state education department has neither provided information on the total number of bonuses that were paid erroneously nor how it planned to seize back the funds from teachers who felt they received the money in earnest.
At least nine teachers were sent letters to return the bonuses that ranged from $15,000 to $50,000 after a total of $185,000 was distributed to teachers who did not qualify for the program, while $105,000 was overpaid to the teachers who were actually eligible, although for less money.
Meanwhile, the state’s demand for teachers to repay the cash sparked a firestorm of criticism directed at Oklahoma’s top education agency.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers weighed into the controversy in recent days, with some saying the teachers should be allowed to keep the money as the average teacher salary in Oklahoma stands at $54,800, placing it 38th in the nation, according to the National Education Association.
Following the bonus debacle, Oklahoma lawmakers discussed reforms to the state’s teacher recruitment program, which is designed to attract teachers to challenging roles in early education and special education. Changes will likely include measures to avoid lump-sum payments to awardees, as well as a more thorough selection process.
“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.”
At least one poignant narrative emerged from those impacted by the mix-up.
Kristina Stadelman, a pregnant teacher with four young children, received $29,000 in bonus money last year and wasted no time using it to make home improvements and buy a new car to accommodate the expanding family.
She said she was crestfallen when the letter arrived from the Oklahoma State Department of Education informing her she had to pay it all back.
“I don’t obviously have the money to pay it back by the end of February,” Stadelman said, according to The Associated Press. “I came home the day I found out and just cried for two days straight.”
To qualify for the funds, teachers were required to have not taught in an Oklahoma school district during the previous school year.
Stadelman said she was deemed ineligible after the fact due to her prior full-time employment as a special education teacher in another district last year, despite her assertion that she clarified this on her application.
