OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is requesting an audit for the State Department of Education, his office announced Thursday.
Stitt submitted the request to the Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector’s Office in response to the evidence found in the audit of Epic Charter Schools.
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“I promised Oklahomans that as governor I would clean up state government to make it more transparent and accountable and I am keeping that promise,” Stitt said in a statement.
“As we make record investments in our public education system, students and parents deserve to know that their schools are spending our tax dollars appropriately and in accordance with the law.”
The state is currently investing more money -- more than $3 billion -- in OSDE than it has in any previous fiscal year.
State Superintendent of Public of Instruction Joy Hofmeister called the audit request an "attack" by the governor.
“The Governor’s call for an audit is yet another attack on Oklahoma’s public education system. As the Governor should already know, the State Department of Education has undergone more than 20 financial, compliance and programmatic review audits by the state auditor’s office in the last 6-1/2 years. Additionally, the Governor’s hand-picked Secretary of Education approves every agency expenditure over $25,000 on a weekly basis. Every single spending request has been personally approved by Secretary Ryan Walters. At a time during which there are serious audits we have requested which potentially involve criminal activity, and while 541 school districts are struggling to find normalcy during a pandemic, the Governor’s attack on public education couldn’t be worse timing for students, families, teachers and taxpayers.”
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