Unlawful Spending

Recently, two separate federal courts ruled against the US Education Department’s efforts to redirect CARES Act money to private schools. The courts said the CARES Act language was very explicit in how the money was to be spent and Secretary Devos’ “scheme” was completely unlawful. After the second court ruling, Secretary Devos changed course.

It’s time for Oklahoma to do the same. That’s why my colleagues and I requested a formal Attorney General’s opinion regarding our Governor’s allocation to private schools of $10 million dollars of the nearly $40 million dollars authorized by the CARES Act for the Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund.

The federal courts ruled the money may be allocated to private schools to pay for "equitable services" such as tutoring or transportation, though only for those schools' low-income students. With 1/4th of the total money allocated to serve just 1,500 students, it’s clear there is nothing remotely equitable in the Governor’s plan. It’s merely a means to divert federal dollars to private schools.

The specific language on page 288 of the CARES Act says:

ASSISTANCE TO NON-PUBLIC SCHOOLS

SEC. 18005. (a) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency receiving funds under sections 18002 or 18003 of this title shall provide equitable services in the same manner as provided under section 1117 of the ESEA of 1965 to students and teachers in non-public schools, as determined in consultation with representatives of non-public schools. 

For those who don’t know, section 1117 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is more commonly referred to as Title 1. So this explicitly directs private school funds to be allocated based on the Title 1 funding formula.

My colleagues and I requested an expedited opinion because Oklahoma runs the risk of having to repay any misspent dollars.

Here’s a link to our request