• KNEA Legislative Agenda
• Legislative Issues
• Legislative Week in Review
• School Funding Central
• State Board News
• Take Action Now (LAC)
• Under the Dome Today

New State Board Takes Office

With 2 new and 3 re-elected members, the 2007-2008 State Board of Education met this week in Topeka.  Sally Cauble, Liberal, is the new district 5 member and Jana Shaver, Independence, is the new district 9 member.  Returning to the board are John Bacon, Olathe, district 3, Janet Waugh, Turner, district 1, and Ken Willard, Hutchinson, district 7.

Bill Wagnon, Topeka, district 4, was elected chairman of the board and Carol Rupe, Wichita, district 8, was elected vice chair.  Sue Gamble, Shawnee Mission, district 2, is the new legislative liaison, with Jana Shaver the assistant legislative liaison.

The only contested election was for legislative liaison.  Gamble was challenged by Ken Willard, winning 6-4, with votes from Cauble, Gamble, Rupe, Shaver, Wagnon and Waugh.  Willard’s supporters were Steve Abrams, Bacon, Kathy Martin and Willard.

Elected to the Policy Committee were Waugh, Shaver and Bacon, with Waugh appointed as chair.

Information on Board members can be found at http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=60

Search for New Commissioner Begins

The State Board hopes to have a new Commissioner of Education hired by the end of March, 2007.  They approved a process and timeline submitted by NASBE, the National Association of State Boards of Education, who will assist with the search. [see pp. 293-302 of the January Board materials for details http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=427

Stakeholder interviews will be conducted the 3rd week of January, the board will finalize the job description later that week, and the job will be posted through the end of February.  Candidate screening will occur in early March and the Board hopes to interview finalists and make a decision in mid-March.

Science, Again

Science standards are expected to be an agenda item at the February State Board meeting.  The Board voted 8-2 (Bacon and Gamble dissenting) to authorize Interim Commissioner Dale Dennis to have staff prepare a document that compares the standards approved in 2006 with standards prepared by the Science Standards Writing Committee.

Board members tussled over the propriety of the discussion, noting that the standards are not scheduled for review this year, and the political nature of the debate, with reminders that science standards were issues in several of the 2006 elections.

During the Open Forum on Tuesday, several conferees presented the Board with petitions urging the Board to keep the current standards.  Another conferee reminded the Board that in science, theories are not determined by public vote.

Department staff expect the comparison document to be available on the KSDE website in about two weeks.

Legislative Agenda Finalized

The Board revised and approved a Legislative Agenda for the 2007 session.  The Board materials, pp. 311 and 312, were amended to add support for a 5-year phase in of full funding for districts who offer full day kindergarten programs and to delete references to the items relating to unlicensed teachers, employee access and site-based reporting (local board issues, not State Board or legislative) and English immersion pilot program (since 107 USDs already have these programs).

Most votes were 6-3, with Cauble, Gamble, Rupe, Shaver, Wagnon and Waugh supporting and Bacon, Martin and Willard opposing.  The exception was the all day kindergarten, which Martin supported.  [Steve Abrams was unable to attend the Wednesday meeting.]

Board Calendar Set for 2007

Meetings of the State Board will continue to be held on the second Tuesday and Wednesday of each month in 2007.  In March, on Wednesday, the State Board will visit the School for the Deaf and the School for the Blind, in the Kansas City area.  In April, the Board will meet in district 6, primarily in the Junction City area.  In October, the Board will meet in district 3.  (pp. 25-29)

Board agendas and materials are available on the KSDE website and are usually available Monday of the week prior to the Board meeting.  They can be found at http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=427  
In addition, Board meetings are broadcast over the internet, with a link on the hyperlink above.

In other action, the State Board:

• Heard presentations from the elementary, middle, and secondary principals of the year (p. 51)
• Received the annual report from the Special Education Advisory Council (pp. 53-82)
• Met with the Career and Technical Student Organizations officers (p. 289)
• Received proposed amendments to Licensure regulations and standards (p. 115-139)
• Discussed Restricted Licenses, out of state applicants and recruitment issues (p. 141-154)
• Approved recommendations for reauthorization of ESEA/NCLB (p. 155-159)
• Approved recommendations from the Professional Practices Commission to revoke 3 licenses, deny 2 applications and suspend 1 license (pp. 161-195)
• Approved recommendations from the Waiver Review Committee for 32 licenses/endorsements (pp. 205-207)
• Approved recommendations from the Licensure Review Committee to approve 12 requests and deny 5 requests (pp. 209-211)
• Approve recommendations from the Evaluation Review Committee to approve the Early Childhood Unified program from KU (pp. 213-222)
• Received information on the Visiting Teacher from China  program (pp. 223-228)
• Approved model standards for driver education (pp. 231-282)
• Set the Interim Commissioner’s salary at $150,000, annually, retroactive to November 22, 2006

KNEA Legislative Contacts

Blake West, President
Peg Dunlap, Director, Instructional Advocacy
Mark Desetti, Director, Legislative and Political Advocacy
Terry Forsyth, Director, Political Action

The KNEA Lobby Team consists of elected leaders and staff. The Lobby Team welcomes member feedback on issues before the Legislature and on this site.