Oklahoma State Department Of Education Asks Some Teachers To Repay Bonuses, Upwards Of $50,000

A teacher in Grove who received a bonus but has not been asked to pay it back said the state should hold itself accountable for its mistakes.

Julia Howard has been in education for 20 years, and now she's a first-grade teacher at Grove Lower Elementary School.

"You know, I just, I love kids and I feel like that's my gift to share with people is my ability to teach," she said.

She moved to Oklahoma from Arkansas after her aunt told her about sign-on bonuses for teachers in Oklahoma.

"It was an incentive you know, to know that I might qualify for this bonus if I came to Oklahoma," Howard said.

That was the State Department of Education's goal. OSDE allocated $16 million in sign-on bonuses for new and returning teachers who taught pre-k through 3rd grade or special education. Howard applied for the bonus and got $50,000 before taxes.

"The process was not easy. Like going through all the paperwork that you had to send in, the communication with whoever was in charge of this part of Oklahoma Department of Education I don't feel like was very organized," said Howard.

Hundreds of teachers like her received thousands of dollars in bonuses, but shortly after receiving the funds, some teachers were asked to pay back every cent.

"I don't even know how they can even do that. I'm just like, what in the world how can they even ask that," Howard said in shock.

After vetting mistakes made by the state Department of Education, the Oklahoma Watch and State Impact Oklahoma found five teachers who weren't qualified received funds, and four more were overpaid.

While Mrs. Howard was not one of those teachers, she said if notified, she would try to keep the money.

"If that were me that was asked to give it back, I would not. I would not give it back," she said.

Julia says she plans to use the bonus funds to make memories by taking her husband, youngest son and his girlfriend on a family trip to Greece.

State Superintendent Ryan Walters is looking to expand the program next year using money from the state.