'That's A Lot Of Money:' Oklahoma Teachers Told To Pay Back Bonuses

The State Department of Education is under fire after teachers who received sign-on bonuses were told they had to pay them back.

According to an investigation first reported by Oklahoma Watch and State Impact Oklahoma, at least 9 teachers received a letter from OSDE demanding bonus money be paid back.

Kristina Stadelman, one of those teachers says she thought she qualified for it. She also thought the department would verify that before sending her the money. “I really honestly haven’t taken time to process it,” Stadelman says of the letter she received this month.

Things were looking up. She has a new baby and an upcoming wedding. Then there was the nearly $30,000 her fiancé saw hit the bank account in November. “He opened it and was like oh my gosh. He like freaked out and I said what and he said the money is in there,” she recalls.

It was the $50,000 sign-on bonus minus the taxes. The bonuses were meant as an incentive for new and returning teachers willing to stay five years.

Stadelman herself taught special education for 6 years. She thought she was eligible. “The way I read it is that I thought if I was working in a new district I would qualify,” she explains. 

It turns out she didn’t qualify because she taught in an Oklahoma Public School last year.

She wonders now why the Department of Education didn’t realize it before she received the money. “I figured they would. That’s a lot of money,” she says.

Instead of her application being denied, she got a letter demanding she pay back $50,000 by the end of February. “Any type of money going out is going to the cause it’s supposed to and there are checks around that,” State Superintendent Ryan Walters said after a board meeting Thursday.

He says “clawbacks” have been in place from the beginning to ensure accountability. “If any individual lied throughout the process, did not follow the stipulations in the contract they signed, we have been very clear from upfront we will claw back those dollars,” Walters says.

The state is now clawing back the dollars that went to Kristina. She says it was an honest mistake and believed the department would vet her qualifications. “They wouldn’t approve me if I didn’t qualify and I gave the information,” Stadelman says. “It’s not like I falsified anything.”

Those dollars helped pay for baby supplies, a home expansion, and a minivan for the new family of seven. “I don’t have the money to give back,” Stadelman says. “They obviously didn’t do their job and they figured out they didn’t do their job and now they’re trying to retract it because they gave money to people they weren’t supposed to.” Leaving Kristina to wonder what she’s supposed to do next.