TULSA, Okla. — Some Oklahoma teachers are expected to repay their sign-on bonuses to the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
Kay Bojorquez, a teacher at Epic Charter Schools, filed a lawsuit against OSDE and State Superintendent Ryan Walters.
In the petition, she alleges Supt. Ryan Walters publicly accused her of lying in her application. She is seeking at least $75,000 in damages to her reputation and emotional state. She also seeks to keep all of her bonus payment.
Walters said demanding repayment is his department's "accountability system."
"This is exactly why we put in place clawback measures," said Supt. Walters. "If any individual lied throughout the process... we will clawback those dollars."
On January 31st Kristina Stadelman joined the lawsuit. She's a special education teacher, said she received a $50,000 sign-on bonus from the OSDE in November. Now, she's been ordered to repay it by the end of February, or face collections. She said the state deposited $30,000 and withheld $20,000 for taxes. However, she owes the full $50,000.
"It's a crazy amount of money. That's actually more money than I make in a year," said Stadelman. "We're literally, like, scared, you know, trying to figure out, like, what's going to happen," said Stadelman's husband.
Stadelman said she agreed to not reveal which district she's employed by.
Representative John Waldron, D-Tulsa, said this is not the way to treat educators.
"We've done a lot to scare, demean, belittle, and drive out teachers here in Oklahoma. Showing respect for teachers costs us nothing," Waldron said. "That should be job number one."
Walters held a news conference Jan. 31, to talk about misinformation allegations aimed at journalist. 2 News was there and has more on that conference here.
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