Several Republican lawmakers are speaking out on how the Oklahoma Department of Education has been negligent in monitoring money spent by that massive department.

A recent report from State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd on the investigative audit of EPIC Charter Schools, performed at the request of Gov. Kevin Stitt, called for further action as a result of the findings.

“As lawmakers who have advocated for increased accountability, we take the allegations against EPIC Charter Schools (EPIC) very seriously,”  22 GOP legislators wrote in a press release. “If the allegations against EPIC are proven to be accurate, they should be held accountable. While there may be disagreements as to the facts of this case, there can be no debate as to the seriousness of the issues raised by the state auditor.

“One of the most serious issues contained in the auditor’s report, however, does not deal with EPIC specifically. Throughout the report, the auditor notes the failure of the State Department of Education (SDE) to properly monitor the Oklahoma Cost Accounting System (OCAS) for compliance. Specifically, the state auditor states that SDE has ‘no process in place to evaluate actual compliance with the written policies and procedures, or with applicable laws, statutes, or Administrative Rules.’ The auditor goes on to state that ‘there is virtually no follow-up or on-site review conducted by SDE as it relates to the actual records underlying the data reported.’ “

At risk are hundreds of millions of state taxpayer dollars.

“If the state auditor is correct in her assessment that the State Department of Education repeatedly neglected its responsibility to ensure compliance with OCAS and other required reports, one must ask if this dereliction of duty was confined solely to EPIC Charter Schools or if it permeates throughout our public education system,” the statement reads. “ If SDE did in fact routinely fail to perform its regulatory duties, this could result in the discovery of hundreds of millions of dollars of misused funds.

“It is the duty of the Legislature to protect taxpayer dollars, and as such we are respectfully requesting that Governor Stitt task the State Auditor and Inspector’s office to conduct an investigative audit of the State Department of Education to determine the full extent and impact of its potential failure to ensure compliance.”

Legislators issuing the statement include: Rep. Jeff Boatman, R-Tulsa; Rep. Sheila Dills, R-Tulsa; Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola; Rep. Mark Lepak, R-Claremore; Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow; Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville; Sen. Joe Newhouse, R-Broken Arrow; Sen. Marty Quinn, R-Claremore; Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa and others.

Jonathan Small, president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, also criticized the Oklahoma State Department of Education for the “apparently illegal” decision to bar Christian schools from participating in the Lindsey Nicole Henry (LNH) Scholarships for Students with Disabilities program.

“By unilaterally rewriting state law, the Oklahoma State Department of Education is restricting educational opportunity for some of Oklahoma’s most vulnerable children, including students with special needs and foster children, while also engaging in anti-Christian discrimination that is likely to prompt successful lawsuits,” Small said. “Rather than double-down on illegal and unconstitutional discrimination, OSDE and the State Board of Education should immediately repeal their illegal and discriminatory rule that harms children, and approve the applications of Altus Christian Academy and Christian Heritage Academy, as they have approved the applications of numerous other private Christian schools over the last decade. That will not only avoid embarrassment for the state, but also ensure Oklahoma students and schools are treated with the respect they deserve.”

The Lindsey Nicole Henry (LNH) Scholarships for Students with Disabilities program provides state scholarships for certain students – those with special needs like autism, or foster children – to attend private schools. Since 2010, participating private schools have been required to comply with the antidiscrimination provisions of a section of federal law that bars discrimination “on the ground of race, color, or national origin.”

Under State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister, the OSDE has since drafted new program regulations that added “religion” and “sexual orientation” to that list, effectively rewriting state law without legislative approval, Small said.

“The unauthorized revisions to the program have since been used as a pretext to bar private Christian schools from serving LNH students – specifically Altus Christian Academy and Christian Heritage Academy,” Small said.

At a recent meeting, Oklahoma State Board of Education member Kurt Bollenbach declared that one school’s requirement for staff to be “mature Christian teachers” was “discriminating against other religions or nonreligions.” Bollenbach and Brad Clark, who serves as Hofmeister’s top attorney, also noted the two schools’ policies did not address sexual orientation, an indication the schools adhere to traditional Christian teaching, and urged that the schools not be allowed to participate in the LNH program as a result.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld the LNH program in 2016, saying, “When the parents and not the government are the ones determining which private school offers the best learning environment for their child, the circuit between government and religion is broken.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has also upheld school-choice programs that allow students to attend private religious schools with policies similar to those at Altus Christian Academy and Christian Heritage Academy.