DENVER -- In a time of severe budget cuts and state employee furloughs, the Colorado Department of Education spent tens of thousands of dollars for new furniture, pricey plasma televisions and expensive dinners, a CALL7 investigation found.

Records show many of the expenditures were at the end of the fiscal year and one memo says “the funds that are available this fiscal year will not be available in subsequent fiscal budget years” as a reason for spending the money.

DOE Commissioner Dwight Jones said the reason the furniture was replaced is that it was a danger and one piece had collapsed on an employee.

“I made a decision to say I think the safety of employees really makes sense," Jones said.

But the memo said the furniture is being replaced because it was "mismatched" and "not conducive to staff collaboration."

Jones insisted that the furniture was dangerous.

Then Ferrugia showed Jones an email that said the old furniture -- that the new $12,000 office suite replaced -- was in “excellent condition.” The memo said it is available to anyone who wants it.

“I had not seen that before now,” Jones said.

"You've never seen this?" CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia asked.

"No," Jones said.

State Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, the spending was unacceptable especially in this tight budget year.

“It's an outrage," Mitchell said after CALL7 Investigators showed him the documents that detailed the spending. "It's a slap in the face of Colorado taxpayers and hard working families. In a downturn people are supposed to economize and tighten their belts -- not go on a spending spree.”

The department also spent more than $7,300 on a 65 inch plasma television and an additional $6,300 on three other 46 inch plasma televisions, records show.

Jones said the televisions were necessary for teleconferencing and will save the department travel money in the future.

Jones also took various school officials out to fancy meals at places like Elways at the Ritz-Carleton hotel and Strings restaurant. Taxpayers often paid as much as $70 or $80 a person for the meals that totaled hundreds of dollars. There was liquor on the tabs, but Jones paid for the booze and some of the meals -- like his wife's dinner at Elways -- out of his own pocket.

Mitchell said: “I see classic irresponsible government behavior. This downturn, instead of making someone economize, it's causing a spending spree. Let's hurry and spend our money before it's gone because we're not going to have it next year."

Jones conceded that the spending on the meals was probably not appropriate and promised to look at all the department’s spending in the future.

“Seventy dollars a plate is not something we would want to do,” he said. "I do want to take a look at it."