Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

State Representative Sean Roberts, a Republican from Hominy, commented on Governor Kevin Stitt’s request for an audit of the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

This would be the first-ever audit of OSDE, and would focus on the state agency's financial oversight of public schools.

In a statement, Rep. Roberts said:

“OSDE now receives more than $3.1 Billion in taxpayer funding each year, and any government agency being allocated this much funding should be audited on a regular basis. This is just common sense.”

According to Governor Stitt’s office, the request demands identification of all revenue sources flowing into OSDE through federal funds, state appropriations, taxes and fees, and to determine whether OSDE and Oklahoma school districts are complying with financial transaction reporting requirements.

“I would like to congratulate the Governor and my 22 colleagues for requesting that the State Auditor conduct an audit of OSDE,” Roberts said. “This has been needed for some time now. In fact, I have been requesting this audit take place since the second special session of 2017. During this special session I filed HB1043 which would have enforced an audit of OSDE by the State Auditor.”

Rep. Chad Caldwell, a Republican from Enid, commented on the matter as well.

In a statement, Rep. Caldwell said:

“I appreciate Governor Stitt calling for an audit of the State Department of Education. Following on the heels of the report from the state auditor last year that identified serious shortcomings in the department’s compliance efforts, 22 legislators asked the governor to further investigate these claims. With today’s announcement, Governor Stitt has followed through on the promise he made to Oklahoma taxpayers.

Caldwell continued, “With a historic $3.1 billion investment in public education by the legislature, in addition to over $2 billion in new federal aid, it is more important now than ever that Oklahoma taxpayers know our education dollars are going toward the classroom where they belong. I was disappointed to hear Superintendent Hofmeister call financial accountability and transparency an attack on public education, especially after the concerns raised publicly by Oklahoma’s auditor.”