Stan Geiger

BA/Air Assurance

Last week, a draft of the state auditor's findings concerning Broken Arrow Public Schools and heating and air conditioning company Air Assurance was leaked to the press. The leak seems to have miffed the auditor. He made it clear that the leaked document was a draft and a draft only.

But I think there was enough information in the draft to call it a done deal: BA Public Schools has been involved in some funky stuff.

Subsequent reports say the matter has been handed over to the attorney general's office for criminal investigation. That makes sense. I mean I think we are all aware enough to know that millions of dollars in public money doesn't get routed to a favored vendor unless someone on the inside is getting paid.

Add this one to the list.

Skiatook Public Schools was recently found to have been involved in some funky stuff. It overpaid by half a million bucks for janitorial supplies that could have been purchased at a local hardware store rather cheaply. Instead, the super dealt with a favored vendor in OKC. The super has been fired and now faces criminal charges.

It was a year or two back that the super of Marble City Public Schools was busted for embezzling a million dollars from the district.

At some point in that same time frame, a newly-hired superintendent of the Oklahoma City Public Schools was run off for using his job like an ATM: He was charging everything in his life---up to and including booze purchases and cab rides---to the district.

So, we've got four documented instances of theft in four public school districts. There are nearly 540 districts in Oklahoma.

Educators say they can't afford anything---anything. They are pushing SQ 744---a constitutional mandate that would push another $850 million in state money into public schools. And that's just for starters.

How stupid are you? Are you stupid enough to bite this hook?

---