Oklahoma demands teachers return bonuses of up to $50,000 paid in error

Errant payments and instruction to return them has drawn bipartisan ire in state in which average teacher pay is $54,800

With four young children and a fifth on the way, Kristina Stadelman was ecstatic after qualifying for a $50,000 bonus for taking a hard-to-fill job as a special education teacher in Oklahoma. She used the money to finish home improvements and buy a new car for her growing family.

Then a letter arrived from the Oklahoma state department of education: it told her she received the money in error and must repay it, quickly.