On Wednesday, Oklahoma Secretary of Education Ryan Walters and Shawnee Public Schools Superintendent April Grace faced-off in a debate at Fox 25's studio as they work to secure the Republican nomination for state superintendent. They two are in a primary runoff. Voters will decide which one wins the nomination on Aug. 23.
Walters accused Grace of lying during her comments regarding a U.S. Department of Education audit into the state's administration of the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund Grant.
The superintendent argued that, "The fleecing of taxpayer dollars that happened under Ryan's watch cannot happen when we're talking about... one of the largest appropriations in the state."
The education secretary fired back, saying, "I'm disappointed that... you would come on here and lie to voters, and you know the way that happened, you know that I wasn't even in my position when that contract went out."
Walters was correct in stating that the contract was decided before he became state secretary of education. However, the audit did argue that he could have done more to make sure the funds went where they were supposed to go.
The audit found that about $650,000 from the GEER fund went to "unallowable purchases," and noted some families spent thousands of those dollars on televisions, ring doorbells, and furniture — among other items — instead of educational supplies.
ClassWallet was the contractor involved in overseeing those purchases. The state is now suing the company over breach of contract.
In addition to sparring over the GEER fund issue, Both Walters and Grace made their cases to voters as to why they should get the nomination.
According to Walters, "Oklahoma voters should pick me because they know that I'm going to push left-wing indoctrination out of the classroom. I'm going to give Oklahoma parents more say in their kids education through school choice and transparency."
"I think it comes down to experience. I have the qualifications and experience. I've been a classroom teacher, a building administrator, a superintendent," shared Grace.
Regarding education policy and resource disbursement, Walters argued that school funding is going to administrator salaries instead of teachers far too often.
He further added that, "I'm not going to let Oklahoma schools go woke. I'm going to continue to fight education bureaucrats that are more concerned with pushing left-wing ideology instead of academics."
Grace asserted that she's against indoctrination too, but is the one with a better plan for education in the state.
She noted that, "We've got to keep moving forward... and I'm the person that can help us do that. Somebody that understands and has a plan for teacher recruitment and the other things that are facing us."
Who won the debate? Fox 25 asked its viewers over Twitter who they thought performed best. As of the publishing of this article, Grace was in the lead.
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