OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson ordered an audit of the State Department of Education.
In a release sent out the day after Ryan Walters resigned, Drummond cited concerns raised by current and former OSDE staff regarding spending practices under Walters' tumultuous leadership.
You are well aware that the former Superintendent has a documented history of mismanaging tax dollars, as it was your office that exposed Mr. Walters for granting ‘blanket approval’ for families to purchase non-educational items... Given the former Superintendent's well-established history of mishandling tax dollars, combined with new and ongoing allegations of misspending, I am now ordering an investigative audit of the Oklahoma State Department of Education.
The Attorney General has statutory authority to order the audit covering the period from January 9, 2023, through September 30, 2025, and indicated he expects "prompt and thorough attention to this matter.
Last week, 2 News Oklahoma examined some of the ongoing issues at OSDE following Walters' resignation.
2 News asked the AG's office about why the audit waited until after Walters left, and the spokesperson said, “We won't get into particulars, but there are allegations being made by a growing number of current and former OSDE employees.”
We also reached out to the State Auditor's office about the audit, which said it hasn't received a formal request from the governor.
“As of Wednesday evening, the State Auditor & Inspector‘s office has not received any formal request for an audit of SDE.
We learned about this from the AG’s press release – which is very peculiar.
I don’t think we’ve ever seen anyone announce their request for an investigative audit without actually doing so.”
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