Walters Responds To StateImpact, Oklahoma Watch Investigation
Superintendent Ryan Walters is firing back after an investigation by StateImpact Oklahoma and Oklahoma Watch revealed the Department of Education overpaid at least $290,000 in teacher bonuses and is working to claw the money back.
Nine teachers have been ordered by the department to repay signing bonuses ranging from $15,000-50,000, and five more are under review. Asked about the issue after Thursday’s State Board of Education meeting, Walters says the teachers are to blame.
"This is exactly why we put in place clawback measures," Walters said. "Because if any individual lied throughout the process, did not agree to follow the stipulations in the contract that they signed, we have been very clear from upfront that we will claw back those dollars."
But, four of the five teachers who shouldn’t have qualified truthfully listed the information on their applications that would later disqualify them. Other teachers involved also reported complicating factors. They have until the end of February to pay the money back.
Water Outages Across The State
Water problems are springing up around the state after last week’s freezing temperatures.
Cameron University in Lawton canceled classes and closed its food courts Thursday as the campus went without water. Line breaks and issues at a local treatment plant affected much of Lawton.
Meanwhile, in Central Oklahoma, Konawa residents have had little or no water for more than a week. The city has been distributing bottled water and inviting residents to shower at a school fieldhouse.
Almost 100 miles north, the City of Perry has been having water issues of its own. Students returned to school yesterday after classes were canceled all week for icy weather and lack of water.
According to a Facebook post from Perry Mayor Lawrence Wortham, the city’s water stores are slowly recovering from leaks that appeared during last week’s frigid weather. He credits the community’s conservation efforts and the water department’s speedy response.
Most Rural Oklahoma Hospitals Lack Maternity Care
A new report shows over two-thirds of Oklahoma’s rural hospitals are not providing maternity care.
It takes a pregnant, rural Oklahoman an average of 39 minutes to drive to a hospital for a checkup. That’s according to a study from the Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform.
It’s the result of the vast majority of the state’s rural hospitals not offering maternal health care. Long drive times and the lack of care mean there’s a higher risk of complications and death.
Suggestions from the center to improve expectant mothers’ health care include creating a stronger rural maternity care workforce and requiring higher payments from insurance companies and Medicaid. Solutions must also address the overall problems facing Oklahoma health care.
In recent years, ten rural hospitals have closed, and 33 more are at risk.
OU Receives Grant For Wildfire Research
The University of Oklahoma’s weather research institute is receiving over a million dollars to find solutions to wildfires across the country. The grant is part of an initiative by NOAA to understand wildfire behavior and integrate that into weather forecasting.
The Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations at the University of Oklahoma will conduct two studies over the next five years as part of the $1.4 million grant from NOAA.
One study will identify the relationship between fire weather outlooks issued by the Storm Prediction Center and fire spread rate, as well as the cost of fire suppression.
Another study could help researchers improve predictions of the downstream impacts of plume and wind-driven wildfires in the U.S., characterize land surface conditions and understand how flash-floods respond after a wildfire.
The funding could help wildfire preparedness and response as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.
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