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Editorials & Backgrounders

KNEA President Christy Levings Reacts to Mr. Corkins

By Christy Levings
December 2005

A Chinese proverb says, “May you live in interesting times.” The debate as to whether this is a curse or a blessing is alive and well in Kansas today.

As I write this, American Education Week is beginning. It is a time to recognize the wonderful work of our pre-K through 16 education system and how strong that system makes our state and our nation, both as a people and as a democracy.

If you were writing in a state that had student achievement ranked in the top tier of the nation, you would be writing of celebration and support.

If you were the education commissioner or a member of the state board of education in such an excellent system you would be excited to support our schools on their way to being the very best in the nation.

After our interview with the new Department of Education commissioner and spending two days with the Kansas State Board of Education, I must admit that my mindset is less of celebration and more of concern, dismay, and determination.

During my interview with the commissioner I experienced a whole range of emotions. Mostly I felt the need to protect and defend our students and our educators.

As your president, I have come to know and understand the education system of this state and have spent a tremendous amount of time in your schools and on your campuses. It was not easy to listen unemotionally to someone who does not know or support our public schools – and prefers not to learn about them from the people who work there – as he outlined a radical agenda to reform and improve those schools.

It was also not easy to listen to Mr. Corkins make negative comments about the work of previous Kansas commissioners of education and imply that his own work is already an improvement.

We must recognize that Mr. Corkins was hired for one reason: to do the bidding of the six-member majority of the board, even if that means hurting or dismantling the system. Having no background information makes that easier to do. No need for facts or experiences to clutter up the tasks assigned, and you can always hide your lack of knowledge under the phrase “fresh perspective.”

Six state board members made it very clear that Mr. Corkins was hired to bring school choice (vouchers and tax credits) and empowerment (charter schools) to Kansas. During the discussion of the board’s legislative agenda, Board Chair Steve Abrams stated that the reason Mr. Corkins was hired was to bring “choice” to Kansas.

We can expect to see our own state board advocate issues that will dismantle the support for education in Kansas during Mr. Corkins’ term.

Bob Corkins made it very clear that his number one task is to do what he sees as the direction of the board as interpreted by these six members. These alternatives to a strong public education are his primary assignment. He must ask no questions as to whether any of this will be good for Kansas students and the education they are getting. His is to simply carry out the work that the board’s six member majority is outlining.

Some of us may be a bit confused to see our state board of education advocating vouchers, unlimited charter schools and tax credits because they have never been on the Board’s agenda before.

In the words of Bob Corkins, he is “providing both leadership and following the goals of the majority of the board.”

I found most interesting in his interview what he believes will help you do your work. If more charters and alternative schools exist, your professional lives will be better because you can move around more from job to job.

I did not hear any mention of better salaries, better health care, or even teaching resources. I do know that if we all move to the private world of charters and vouchers, we will not need contracts, licenses or certainly due process laws in our professional lives.

I am going to celebrate the success of Kansas schools, colleges and universities and the great work they are doing. I invite all of you to do the same. However, part of that celebration needs to be a determination to change the Kansas State Board of Education and the staff they choose to advocate this extreme anti-public school agenda.

KNEA members are the professionals who make our pre-K through 16 system work so extremely well. We must be the voice that speaks out to protect the future of our students and our state.

A strong America needs great public schools and we will continue to be the voice that demands that America’s future be protected from those who have an anti-public education agenda.

Christy Levings is the president of the Kansas National Education Association. An elementary teacher on leave from the Olathe School District, she lives in Osawatomie.

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