Taxpayers of Oklahoma Pay for a PR Firm to Promote Its State Superintendant of Schools

Corruption in Oklahoma is probably no worse than corruption in other states, but it just seems like it is both more petty and more shameless.

There's the Epic schools scandal. This was the state's first virtual charter school, and its founders syphoned off millions of taxpayer dollars for their own private use.  Meanwhile, between 2014 and 2020, the principals donated $500,000 to the campaigns of individual Oklahoma politicians and $2 million to various political action committees. The fraud investigation began in 2014.  The principals were charged in 2022 with racketeering, embezzlement, obtaining money by false pretense, conspiracy to commit a felony, violation of the Computer Crimes Act, submitting false documents to the state, and unlawful proceeds.  Who knows if the public will ever disgorge their ill-gotten gains or if they will ever serve time for their crimes. 

Then there's the Swadley's Foggy Bottom Kitchen scandal, which we summarized here.  In short, the state gave a local restaurant chain an exclusive license to provide food service in Oklahoma's state parks. The restaurant won the opportunity through a process in which it was the only bidder and then it overcharged the state for management fees.

The latest is a chapter from the hijinks and shenanigans of the State Superintendent of Schools, Ryan Walters (right), some of which were recounted here and here.  Last week, Jennifer Palmer, writing for The Oklahoman reported that a Republican lawmaker is trying to introduce limits on the state's 2025 budget to prohibit funds from being used to pay for Mr. Walter's  national publicity contract with Washington, D.C.-based Vought Strategies.

The contract potentially pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to the PR firm.  Mr. Walters claims that the purpose of the contract is to help recruit teachers.  Critics contend that the purpose of the contract is really to promote Mr. Walters' career on a national level.  None of the advertising spots thus far produced relate to teacher recruitment.  Rather, according to The Oklahoman, "Vought Strategies pitched interviews about fentanyl and the southern border, drag queens in the classroom, teacher unions, library books and [Mr. Walters'] appointment of Chaya Raichik, the far-right social media influencer behind Libs of TikTok, to a library advisory committee."

Despite clear political ties between Mr. Walters and the agency, inappropriate communications with the agency during a nominally competitive bid process, and questions about the agency's qualifications for a government contract under Oklahoma law, the contract remains in force.  If the Epic scandal is any indication, investigations will be on-going, and indictments will be handed down somewhere around 2035.  Meanwhile, if Mr. Walters really wants to attract teachers to Oklahoma, maybe he should stop trying to revoke their licenses for giving students access to books.