OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A Republican state lawmaker has formally requested the U.S. Department of Education investigate the Oklahoma State Department of Education for its handling of federal funds.
News 4 obtained a letter State Rep. Mark McBride (R-Moore) sent U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on Aug. 23.
In the letter, McBride asked Cardona to have the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) open an investigation into the Oklahoma State Department of Education's handling of federal funds.
Specifically, McBride said he was concerned about OSDE’s management of billions of dollars in federal funds for Title I and Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) programs.
Additionally in the letter, McBride requested the U.S. Dept. of Education assist Oklahoma's Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT) in their ongoing investigation of OSDE's finances.
It wasn’t a decision the Republican took easily, but it’s one McBride says rises above partisan politics.
“I hated to reach out to somebody from the other party,” McBride said. “I was really left kind of no choices because we're not getting answers really to anything.”
‘No answers,’ he says, on issues with how OSDE handles federal funds.
News 4 has reported about the issues—like how OSDE told school districts incorrect amounts for their Title I allocations, having to go back and recalculate them at the very last minute.
The issues also include a July report published by USDE, which found “significant compliance and quality concerns” in how OSDE handled federal funds across the board.
“We still have districts, taxpayers, former employees that that are throwing questions out there that are unanswered,” McBride said. “There's just so much uncertainty in all of it. And I believe even today there is money that's not gone out.”
At the core of the issue, McBride believes the biggest problem comes from the dozens of longtime OSDE staff members who have resigned or retired since State Superintendent Ryan Walters took office.
Walters once falsely claimed the mass staff departures were a result of him firing people. But McBride said he has obtained copies of their resignation letters—proving they were not fired.
“I know of 130,” McBride said. “And who's been replaced? And what kind of quality of people have been have replaced them? I mean, people that have left that had been there years handled handling federal funds. And now we've got a lot of people in… it's obvious that they don’t really know what they were talking about and it's concerning. And it should be concerning to everybody.”
It’s why McBride says he ultimately made the decision to send that letter to Cardona.
As for the political optics, McBride says he’s not too worried.
“There's nothing more Republican than looking into waste, fraud and abuse,” he said. "This is about your state tax dollars or your federal tax dollars coming back to Oklahoma, about your kids, about your grandkids. And if the job's not getting done, you know, there's a problem. And we need to find out if the job's getting done.”
But McBride also said, even if USDE investigates OSDE along with the ongoing LOFT investigation—state lawmakers still need to investigate deeper.
“I don't think we're getting the true answers,” McBride said. “I'm all in for the LOFT investigation. You know, I'm not upset, but I still think there needs to be a complete investigation of the Department of Ed…. we need to get down and figure out what's going on, because 18 months of this, it's the same complaints from districts.”
McBride said Sec. Cardona has not responded to his letter as of Wednesday afternoon.
News 4 reached out to OSDE for comment, did not get a response.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Tune in to News 4 Wednesday at 10 p.m. to hear Rep. McBride discuss the letter and why he sent it.
