Discrepancies found in OK teacher signing bonus information provided by OSDE

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — State Superintendent Ryan Walters provided Republican lawmakers with copies of teacher applications after being subpoenaed, but two of the numbers provided are now raising questions.

Representative Mark McBride (R-Moore) initially requested documents after a local Oklahoma City news station interviewed Supt. Walters for half an hour.

Supt. Walters reportedly claimed to have received 950 job applications from out-of-state teachers. He also said it’s the largest teacher recruitment in the history of Oklahoma and the U.S., according to a subpoena.

In a previous request from McBride, he asked:

• Provide a copy of the application.
• How many teachers have been hired from out of state?
• Additional information to be added including what state the individual is coming from, if the teacher was certified or not in the original state, if the individual is a new or veteran teacher, what Oklahoma school district was the individual hired in, and what subject that individual is teaching.

The request for answers was supposed to be fulfilled by November 27.

He sent a follow-up request on December 6 and extended the deadline to December 15.

However, Rep. McBride said he had yet to receive any of the requested documentation as of Dec. 20.

Rep. McBride, along with Representative Rhonda Baker (R-Yukon) and Speaker of the House Charles McCall (R-Atoka), signed off on a subpoena on behalf of the Oklahoma House of Representatives to Supt. Walters.

Part of the subpoena requested a copy of 950 out-of-state teacher applications.

"He claimed his deal on teacher recruitment's better than sliced bread. It's the greatest thing in the nation, you know, and we just want to see proof. We want to see the numbers," Rep. McBride told KFOR on December 20. "If we've recruited 950 teachers from out of state, that's almost like two teachers per district and I don't have knowledge of that from the superintendents I've talked to."

Documents reveal there were 950 teacher applications submitted to the State Department of Education. Of that, 578 reportedly received signing bonuses totaling $17,320,000.

Only 117 applicants were from out-of-state, according to records. Most of those educators will come from Kansas, Arkansas, California and Texas. Those bonuses given to out-of-state applicants total $4,900,000.

Those teachers will fill several vacancies across the state.

According to Supt. Walters' response to the subpoena, Epic Charter School is set to receive the highest number of teachers from this incentive program during the 2024-2025 school year.

News 4 emailed the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) Director of Communications, Dan Isett the following questions:

1. How many applications in total have you all received from out-of state teachers since announcing the sign on bonus incentive?
2. There appears to be 950+ teacher applications received by OSDE, but not 950+ out-of-state teacher applications like Supt. Walters has previously stated. Why the discrepancy?
3. I understand all current funding for the teacher sign on bonus has been exhausted. Does Supt. Walters plan to request more funding from the Legislature for this incentive this year?

In a statement, Supt. Walters said, "Innovative solutions like the teacher bonus program are the key to getting Oklahoma schools back on the right track. Any fake controversy Democrats and Republicans controlled by the teachers unions try to drum up will not dim the overwhelming success of this program. Previous small-scale programs have not worked, so we had to disrupt the market clearly and decisively to invest in our high-need areas. We will continue to disrupt the status quo, introduce free market principles in our education system, and unleash to power of innovation to reward our best teachers and help our students achieve great things."

In OSDE's press release, it's stated 523 teachers were awarded bonuses through the incentive program. However, lawmakers were told that number was 578.

News 4 has inquired about both discrepancies. The discrepancy in the total number of awarded bonuses hasn't been acknowledged as of Thursday evening.

Isett told KFOR, "[Supt. Walters] did not claim this in the interview you cite or anywhere else, thus there is no discrepancy."

However, in an NBC News Meet the Press interview from Dec. 16, 2023, Supt. Walters stated, "We've had the largest teacher recruitment program in state history this year. We've recruited over 900 teachers to our state." The time stamp where Supt. Walters makes the comment is 8:17.

News 4 has forwarded a link to the interview to Isett and asked if there is any further comment he'd like to make. So far, we've received no response to this.

A revised press release sent to other media outlets and not KFOR states a total of 578 teachers were eligible for the incentive program, but only 523 received a bonus.

However, in Supt. Walters' email to Speaker of the House Charles McCall (R-Atoka) it states, "Of the 950 that applied for the Teacher Signing Bonus, 578 received the bonus, of which 117 were 'Out of State Teachers.'"

In the press release sent to KFOR, it also states, "Applicants committed to teaching for five years to be eligible for the program. As protection for taxpayers' investment, districts are directed to claw back a prorated amount from teachers who fail to fulfill that commitment."

In the revised copy, it reads, "Applicants committed to teaching for five years to be eligible for the program. As protection for taxpayers' investment, OSDE will claw back a prorated amount from teachers who fail to fulfill that commitment."

Another difference between the initial press release and the revised version is a change to the number of out-of-state teachers who received bonuses.

The first press release states there are "67 who moved across the country to teach Oklahoma students and take part in the program." The second release states there are a total of "117 teachers who held out-of-state licenses and chose to teach in Oklahoma."

News 4 has reached out to Isett once again to clarify the discrepancy in the total number of bonuses given out.