OTC ousts Walters’ vendor, shifts to in-house staff
Oops, they did it again.
First, Ryan Walters outsourced GEER grant management to a Florida-based Class Wallet, which followed Walters’ open-checkbook instructions, resulting in money meant for education support being spent on video game consoles, Christmas trees and barbecue grills.
Then Walters offered huge bonuses for teachers to come to Oklahoma, only to find the Dept. of Education trying to get the money back from teachers the department paid incorrectly.
Now the Tulsa World reports that ...
Oops, they did it again.
First, Ryan Walters outsourced GEER grant management to a Florida-based Class Wallet, which followed Walters’ open-checkbook instructions, resulting in money meant for education support being spent on video game consoles, Christmas trees and barbecue grills.
Then Walters offered huge bonuses for teachers to come to Oklahoma, only to find the Dept. of Education trying to get the money back from teachers the department paid incorrectly.
Now the Tulsa World reports that the Oklahoma Tax Commission is trying to recover $5 million from 1,855 Oklahoma families because the California-based vendor paid Parental Choice Tax Credit money in error, handing it out for students who did not attend a qualified private school for the full term required.
OTC ditched the $3.95 million-per-year vendor and hired staff at a cost of $1.1 million per year to do the job in-house.
The governor would like to expand the program.
