Oklahoma teacher sues state education department over demand to repay $50K bonus

Ryan Walters, Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction, speaks during a school board meeting at the Oklahoma Capitol in Oklahoma City, on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024.

OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma teacher has filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Education and the superintendent of public schools after the department demanded she and other teachers repay a bonus it said they received in error.

Kay Bojorquez, a special education teacher for Epic Charter Schools, received a $50,000 bonus in November from the department after applying for Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ new Teacher Signing Bonus program, believing she qualified. But in January, Bojorquez and at least eight other teachers received letters demanding bonus money be paid back by the end of February.

The department said $185,000 was awarded to teachers who did not qualify at all for the program, and $105,000 was overpaid to teachers the department said were qualified for lower bonus amounts than what they received, Oklahoma Watch and StateImpact reported. The program required that teachers have not taught in an Oklahoma school district during the previous school year.

Bojorquez filed a lawsuit in Oklahoma County District Court on Monday accusing Walters of defamation, alleging that he has accused her of lying on her application. The lawsuit seeks an amount exceeding $75,000 in damages from Walters, and a ruling that she not be liable for repayment of the bonus.

This is one of at least seven lawsuits Walters is facing in federal or state court from Oklahoma teachers, schools, and former department employees.

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Teacher says she shouldn’t be responsible for education department’s mistake

Bojorquez also accuses the Oklahoma Department of Education of being in breach of contract by attempting to take back the bonus it paid “when the contract does not provide for such action based on the (department’s) own, claimed error,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also claims that the department’s attempt to take back the money is in “bad faith” and is punishing Bojorquez for the department’s “own alleged negligence or malfeasance” in awarding the bonus money she didn’t qualify for in the first place.

Oklahoma Watch and StateImpact reported the overpayments occurred because the department did not verify teachers’ information before disbursement.

Department spokesperson Dan Isett told the nonprofit news organizations those errors should not diminish the overall success of the program, which the department is now auditing. Asked why the department went ahead with bonus payments to teachers whose information it had yet to verify, Isett said verification is ongoing.

“Your questions have emerged in the middle of our ongoing process of rolling out, administering and ensuring accountability in this program,” Isett wrote in an email. “When we are completed with this project, there will be a final report highlighting all the applicable data and results from the program — including the steps taken to protect taxpayers.”

Oklahoma teacher said paying bonus back would ruin her financially

Bojorquez was encouraged to apply for the bonus program by a supervisor, and neither realized she should have been ineligible because she taught in an Oklahoma school district last year. She reported on her application that she was employed as a teacher at Epic Charter Schools last year, she told Oklahoma Watch and StateImpact.

“As far as I understood, I met all the criteria,” she said. “That’s why my name got put in the hat in the first place. I thought I had to be a teacher last year.”

When she received the maximum bonus of $50,000, Bojorquez made some small home improvements and paid off debts after years of strained finances from caregiving for her parents and now paying for her son’s college tuition. Having to pay the money back, especially in such a short amount of time, would financially ruin her, she said.

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State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters faces criticism from lawmakers

This is one of at least seven lawsuits Walters is facing in federal or state court from Oklahoma teachers, schools, and former department employees.

Last week, Walters defended his decision to “claw back” the bonuses. And in a memo sent to state legislative leaders on Monday, Walters accused the media of “incomplete,” “inaccurate” and “premature” reporting on issues within the program.

He also suggested that the errors occurred because “several teachers misrepresented their experience and qualifications.”

But legislators from both parties have intensely criticized Walters and the state education department. State Sen. Adam Pugh; Reps. Mark McBride; Mickey Dollens; and Rhonda Baker, all issued statements last week saying they were against forcing teachers to repay the bonuses.

McBride, who serves as the Oklahoma House’s Appropriations Sub-Committee Chair for Education, had called Walters’ decision a problem and expressed concern over the bonus program.

“Once you give something away, you give it away,” he previously told The Oklahoman, part of the USA TODAY Network.

On Tuesday, legislators further pressed the issue and called on Walters to “stop blaming everyone else” for the bonus error and instead focus on other education issues in the state.

Contributing: M. Scott Carter, Jordan Gerard, and Murray Evans, The Oklahoman; Beth Wallis, StateImpact; Jennifer Palmer, Oklahoma Watch

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma teacher sues state education department over demand to repay $50K bonus