Arkansas spent nearly $1800 on education chief’s trip to speak at Philly Moms for

Ever-intrepid blogger Matt Campbell of Blue Hog Report has shaken loose a document from the Arkansas Department of Education showing state taxpayers footed the bill for Secretary Jacob Oliva’s trip to Philadelphia this summer to speak at a “summit” hosted by the right-wing group Moms for Liberty in late June:

The out-of-state travel authorization form shows ADE paid a total of $1,778 for Oliva’s one-night trip to Philly, including lodging, meals and commercial airfare. See below:

Moms for Liberty is on the vanguard of efforts to strip LGBTQ-themed books from school libraries and whitewash discussions of racism in history curricula. Though it’s only a couple years old, the conservative activist group has caught fire on the American right: Its “Joyful Warriors” summit in Philadelphia attracted GOP presidential candidates from Donald Trump to Ron DeSantis and our own Asa Hutchinson.

It also featured a panel with several red-state state schools chiefs, including Oliva and his former boss, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. For a sense of what was discussed, read Arkansas Advocate editor Sonny Albarado’s column on the event from last month, which gives credit to Oliva for refraining from culture war bomb-throwing at the event.

Oliva stood out for keeping his remarks focused on education, Albarado wrote, in contrast to South Carolina Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver and Oklahoma Education Superintendent Ryan Walters. Walters hyped up the crowd with talk of “the forces that you all are fighting,” who he said “want to destroy our society, they want to destroy your family, and they want to destroy America as we know it.” (Unlike in Arkansas, the superintendent positions in South Carolina and Oklahoma are elected.)

A spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Education did not respond to a question about whether it is typical for the agency to pay for the travel expenses of staffers attending political events.

Update, Aug. 15: Education department spokeswoman Kim Mundell said the department covers the cost of all conferences Oliva attends in his official capacity as secretary. Here’s her full statement:

The department covered the cost of the secretary’s travel, as it does for all conferences he attends in his official capacity as secretary. While at the conference, the secretary discussed education initiatives in Arkansas, as well as informed parents about how they can be involved in their child’s learning. Video of the panel discussion is available at https://www.momsforliberty.org/news/summit23-education-panel/.