Conservatives looking to make gains through Kansas Board of Education races, including two in Lawrence

TOPEKA – Turnover in the Kansas Board of Education following the November election could tip the board’s balance of power in favor of conservative members.

Half of the board’s ten seats are up for election. Republicans currently outnumber Democrats by seven to three, but some moderate board members are not running for re-election, positioning the board for a potential ideological shakeup. All five races are contested, with the 12 candidates standing out ahead of Nov. 5 on central issues such as parental rights, public school funding and school safety.

The board is charged with overseeing the Kansas Department of Education and overseeing public schools, but has little control over funding, a responsibility of the Legislature.

Two incumbents are running for re-election, and a pair of three-party races could split the conservative vote. Many of the Republican candidates for this election align themselves with the current administration’s conservative faction on issues such as religion in schools, arming teachers, and parental involvement in educational and functional decisions.

At an Oct. 6 forum in Lawrence, Kris Meyer, a candidate for the northeast 4th District, criticized the four conservative members of the current board, who she said are “trying to sow distrust in the state of Kansas in our public schools.”

These four board members – Danny Zeck, Michelle Dombrosky, Cathy Hopkins and Dennis Hershberger – are not up for re-election until 2026.

In the 2nd District, which represents school districts in Johnson and Wyandotte counties, incumbent Melanie Haas, a Democrat and director of technology, is trying to keep her seat in a three-way race. She is running against Republican challenger Fred Postlewait and an independent, Kiel Corkran. Haas was first elected in 2020 and is the current chairman of the board. She was endorsed by the Kansas National Education Association, the state’s teachers union, and she defends fully funding public schools.

Postlewait, a retired computer systems administrator, was inspired to run for the board to address declining ACT scores, which have been on a downward trend since 2014 but saw a sharp decline in 2020.

“The train has derailed,” he wrote on his campaign website.

Corkran does not have a campaign website and did not respond to Kansas Reflector’s requests for an interview.

In the 4th District in northeastern Kansas — including Baldwin City, Eudora and large parts of rural Douglas County — Democrat Ann Mah is leaving her seat on the board after eight years. Republican Connie O’Brien, a former teacher and state representative, and Democrat Meyer, a longtime teacher and public school principal, are vying for the position.

O’Brien defeated two other Republican candidates in the August primary after Attorney General Kris Kobach voiced his support for her and urged conservatives to vote for her.

She said in a video on YouTube that she will focus on changes in career and technical education, supporting parental rights and supporting teachers.

O’Brien, who did not respond to Kansas Reflector’s requests for comment, said at the Lawrence Public Library’s Oct. 6 candidate forum that she does not support vouchers, adding that private and homeschool parents “don’t want government in their lives want”. sight.”

“But you have to wonder why parents march to the capitol every year and ask for those things,” she said.

Meyer told Kansas Reflector she will focus on fully funding public education, especially special education, addressing teacher shortages and retention issues and strengthening student mental health services.

“I want to ensure that the state board continues to set clear standards and advocate for policies and funding that ensure all students receive a quality education,” she said. “This includes reducing the overreach of legislation that could hinder the constitutional duty of the state administration.”

In the 6th District – which includes large parts of Lawrence city limits – Republican Deena Horst is not running for re-election. Democrat Beryl Ann New, a retired director of workforce and equity at Topeka Public Schools, and Republican Bruce Schultz, a retired professor of anatomy and physiology at Kansas State University, are running to represent school districts in North Central and Northeast Kansas , including the cities of Lawrence and Topeka.

If elected, New told Kansas Reflector, her goal is to address poor student performance and safety in schools in her first year.

“I will work with board members to ensure resources are provided to schools whose students are below proficiency in reading comprehension, I will provide funding to ensure Kansas schools remain safe, and the full strongly support funding for all schools in Kansas with 100 schools. % of funds go exclusively to public schools,” New said.

She also said she supports vetted alternative education programs to address teacher retention and shortages. At the Oct. 6 forum in Lawrence, New said the main reason she has seen teachers leave the profession was inadequate compensation.

Schultz, who did not respond to Kansas Reflector’s questions, said at the forum that he doesn’t think raising teacher salaries is the right answer to teacher retention problems and shortages. Instead, he favors an approach that promotes persistence in teaching, he said.

“We need to reform the system to enable and promote greater community involvement,” he said.

Schultz has campaigned on prioritizing parental involvement in school decisions, focusing education on math, science, language arts and financial literacy and budget efficiency, according to his campaign website.

In Wichita’s 8th District, Democratic incumbent Betty Arnold, a former Wichita school board member, is seeking to retain the position she has held since 2021. She wants to reevaluate performance measures and outcomes, increase teacher compensation and prioritize student safety.

“I believe in public education and I will continue to support it,” Arnold said in an email. “As the focus shifts from supporting public education, it is critical to have an advocate who understands that public education is a must if we want to ensure that all children have access to education.”

Arnold’s opponent, Republican Jason Carmichael, did not respond to Kansas Reflector’s requests for comment. He lost a bid for a seat on the board of Unified School District 259 in Wichita in 2023. During that election, he took the position that “parents’ rights are the cornerstone” of society, KMUW reported. Carmichael believes in eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, supports teachers being authorized to carry guns to combat an active shooter and opposes mandatory vaccination requirements, according to a questionnaire he completed for iVoterGuide, which is affiliated with the Christian political nonprofit AFA Action.

The 10th District in south-central Kansas is contested in a three-way race. Jeffrey Jarman, a Democrat, Debby Potter, a Republican, and Kent Rowe, an independent, are vying for the position being vacated by moderate Republican Jim McNiece.

Jarman, a communications professor at Wichita State University and a member of the Maize public school board, said in an email that he will advocate for stable funding and against school vouchers if elected.

“While the Legislature appropriates the funds, there is an important role for the administration in advocating for stable funding,” he said. “The current funding formula finally meets the minimum required by the state Constitution, but is set to expire in 2027. I strongly support expanding the formula to provide stability for school districts.”

Jarman said he hopes to support local districts by improving educational performance and reallocating existing funds to programs that help the “most vulnerable students,” he said.

“But,” he added, “the board is divided and decisions about how to best support our students have unfortunately been politicized.”

Potter, who did not respond to Kansas Reflector’s requests for comment, homeschooled her own children, and she said she was inspired to run when she thought about her grandchildren.

“I don’t want them to be indoctrinated away from their faith and away from their parents, and I feel like there’s a lot of undermining of the families going on,” she said at a candidate forum hosted by Republican Women United of Sedgwick County. the August primaries.

She defeated another Republican hopeful in the primaries. God is her campaign manager, she said at the forum.

Potter considers herself “very conservative,” she wrote in responses to an iVoterGuide questionnaire. She supports arming qualified teachers, eliminating the federal Department of Education and is a strong supporter of parental involvement in schools.

“While I believe that private education produces a better outcome for less money, the general public has determined that public education is in the public’s best interest,” she wrote. “To this end, I hope to engage parents and teachers to gain greater control (as would be the case with private education) by informing them and encouraging their greater participation in their local school boards.”

Rowe, who did not respond to Kansas Reflector’s questions, is a member of the Kansas Green Party, according to his campaign website. His priorities include preserving funding for rural public schools, preventing book bans in high schools and addressing student mental health issues. He is a retired professor of aeronautical sciences in the U.S. Air Force and former mayor of Longton, Elk County.

• Anna Kaminski is a reporter at the Topeka-based News Service Kansas reflector.