Oklahoma pays out $22.5k to Texas-based company for state promotional videos
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Back in May, just weeks after State Superintendent Ryan Walters called teachers unions “terrorist organizations,” the Oklahoma Department of Education released a “Public Awareness Campaign” video railing against the National Education Association and Oklahoma Education Association.
Within a day of the video’s publication, KFOR’s Kaylee Olivas filed an Open Records Request to find out how much it cost state tax payers.
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Now, 107 days after the formal request, News 4 has received the quote for services, the purchase order and the requisition – showing the state has paid out $22,500 to a Houston-based company for 30 minutes of produced video.
According to the requisition, OSDE used state funds to hire Precision Outreach LLC, who registered as an Oklahoma City business less than two weeks before the teachers union video was published online, to create promotional video for the department through May 21, 2024.
“This vendor was selected due to the expedited time constraints needed for production of the video.”
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According to Precision Outreach LLC’s quote issued May 24, one day before the first video was published, each minute of produced video costs the state $750 – meaning the teachers union video, coming in at just over five minutes, cost about $3,750.
It is unclear how many of the OSDE’s videos already published on its YouTube page are made by Precision Outreach.
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