- Election 2024 is here.

Are you ready to cast your vote for your local, state and national representatives?

Coming up on IGI, we provide an in-depth look into your candidates running for Kansas State Board of Education.

Stay with us.

(pensive music) (laser buzzing) (bright music) Hello and welcome to IGI.

I'm your host LeTiffany Obozele.

This is a very exciting show for me as we are featuring candidates for the Kansas State Board of Education.

Each candidate from Districts 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 brings different perspectives and their plan moving forward in the mission to prepare Kansas students for lifelong success.

It's our responsibility to make educated decisions at the voting booth.

This is why we are here to help you with the research on the candidates for the Kansas State Board of Education.

For this show, each candidate will be asked the same questions and given the same amount of time for each response.

Coming up first is District 2, featuring democratic candidate Melanie Haas and Republican candidate Fred Postlewait.

We tried multiple times to reach out to Mr. Postlewait but unfortunately received no response and are unable to provide his viewpoints on this show.

District 2 covers parts of Wyandot and Johnson Counties of Kansas.

I would like to welcome our first candidate, Melanie Haas, who is the incumbent for District 2.

Melanie, thank you for joining us on IGI.

Let's start with our first question.

What are your top three policy issues and how would you plan to address them?

- Sure.

You know, I'm gonna jump in with the hot button one first.

It would be school vouchers.

So while it's a legislative issue, it's an imminent threat to our public school system.

And if I have the time to say just one thing about school choice, it's that private schools are the ones that actually get to do the choosing.

A student... And this is an issue that's kind of framed around failing public schools.

But the fact is that if there is a student who really is needing something different, they may not be achieving and have the grades to get into a private school, and that's just one of many ways that the private schools will be able to discriminate against them.

It's also really an issue of the separation between church and state because a lot of those private schools are going to be religious.

And Kansas may not know that a large portion of Kansas geographically don't have access to private schools in their communities.

And so if a law like that were to pass, it wouldn't benefit them.

Another one for me would be opportunities for graduates after graduation.

I'm a big believer in real world learning and project-based learning.

So instead of sit and get in a classroom, you know, like we used to do, sitting desks in rows, having a project where students are actually working with a client or working together with their community perhaps to collaborate and really build something that requires them to use all of their different skills across ELA, you know, English, and maybe some math or some science and then combine those for a project, they're going to have a much more transformative learning experience.

And then you port that into how are those skills transferable after high school.

And I can probably talk a little bit more about IPS later, individual plans of study.

And then my last thing is keeping our teachers.

We really have a crisis with teachers leaving the profession.

We need to do everything we can to support them.

- Okay.

And for our second question, why are you seeking public office and what do you believe you bring to the table that's different from your opponent?

- Well, I'm running for reelection, so I've already served almost four years.

And I think that what I bring is, really, it's a personal issue for me.

My kids are still in public schools, so I have a sophomore and a senior this year.

And I've been doing this work even before I joined the state board just in terms of supporting our schools and trying to work with districts, you know, work with my own district.

And so, for me, it's really about understanding as a board member what is happening in our schools.

And we've seen, you know, between school shootings, between the introduction of technology, there've been a lot of changes that shape what a school looks like when a student walks in every day.

And as a family, a parent has noticed if they have students in schools right now, maybe not 20 years ago, that you can't just walk in the front door anymore.

So you're no longer carrying books as a student and you can't just walk in and have a conversation with a teacher as a parent.

I think if a board member doesn't have that kind of recency of experience, they don't really understand what our schools are like in these modern times.

And so I really want to bring that perspective as a parent and kind of help update what the board is working on from that perspective.

- Okay.

So for our third question, what proposals would you advance to prepare Kansas students for career success?

- Well, individual plans of study is something that I'm very passionate about.

'Cause like I said, my own girls are in high school right now and we're looking at options for, do I go to college, do I maybe do something different?

College isn't necessarily the right fit for every student, but starting in seventh grade, the State Board of Education currently requires, from before the time that I joined the board, they require that each student in Kansas have what's called an individual plan of study or an IPS.

And that plan kicks off in middle school where students start looking at things that, skill sets that match their interests.

So it's about learning as a student, what am I good at, but also, what field do I feel like I want to go into?

Just because I'm good at something doesn't maybe match what I love and what my interests are.

And then there's also kind of a piece around, what do I want my life to be like?

Do I wanna work a nine to five job or I do maybe wanna do something a little bit different?

Maybe I love the night shift, you know?

So when kids have the opportunities to explore a lot of different topics, they can weed out the things that they don't like, as well as figuring out what they do like.

And so I really wanna see schools continue to improve on that IPS component.

And we've seen some really fantastic things coming out of school districts like Piper, and I wanna see the rest of the districts across the state adopting that model.

- Okay.

Now, what are your views on issues over who should make decisions in education?

Should it be the legislature, state boards of education, or the local school boards?

- Well, all three of those are elected.

So, obviously, I'm running, our legislature is all on the ballot this year, and local boards are typically on the even numbered years typically.

And it's important to recognize the difference between what we do at the state board and what local boards do because local boards are responsible for local control.

The Kansas Constitution provides for the Kansas State Board of Education.

And so it's important that the state board is responsible for the general oversight of public education.

We have four things that are really in our wheelhouse, and that is state standards.

So we tell schools what they need to be teaching local boards decide how they want to teach it and what curriculum they want to adopt.

Graduation requirements are also specific to the state board, and that's something that does go into statute.

We don't write a lot of laws per se, but that is a statute that we affect.

And then...

Sorry, where was I?

Oh, teacher licensure is one of them.

And then school accreditation.

And so we always wanna see that our schools are improving.

When the legislature steps in and tries to write laws that step into the space of the state board of ed, that's where we've seen some conflicts in the past.

And so we will just continue as a board to do that work and, you know, defend the territory that we see as ours and submit testimony when the legislature, you know, brings up a bill that we feel like is in our space.

- Okay.

Now, what do you believe to be the biggest challenges currently facing the Kansas State Board of Education?

- Well, this election is a big one.

Tenure on the board is something that I'm actually kind of concerned about.

We've had a lot of turnover and redistricting just happened a couple of years ago.

And so this is the first election that this board has been through since the legislature changed our maps.

And they were very upfront and public about the fact that they were doing that specifically to change the makeup of the state board.

So that was a direct attack on the board and an effort to make the board more conservative, in their words.

So what will happen after November is when the new board takes office in January, you're going to have just a few people who have a long amount of experience on that board.

I think that there will be three of us who will really be somewhat senior.

Of the five seats that are up right now, I'm an incumbent, there's one other incumbent, and then there are three open seats.

Of the board members that will be continuing, they have all been in office, three of them have been in office for only two years.

So that tenure is gonna be an important thing.

It takes a lot of...

There's a lot of ramping up.

There's a lot that you have to learn as a member on this board.

And if you don't come from an education background, it can be an even steeper learning curve.

I think we've kind of seen that with some of our newer board members.

And so I think that, you know, that experience is going to be important, and it'll be, I mean, to use a sports analogy, kind of a rebuilding year.

- Okay, okay.

Well, I wanna give you 30 seconds to tell us why voters should choose you for their candidate.

- Like I said, it's personal.

When I ran four years ago, it was because, I mean, it's because my kids are in public schools and I have that direct experience as a parent.

I also bring a corporate background and some leadership experience.

And so I am currently serving as chair of the board.

I have really enjoyed that time.

And I think that that leadership is important when you're trying to bring others along.

And so I just talked about how challenging it's going to be for a new board.

I think that bringing that leadership and being able to continue the work is important.

- Well, Melanie, thank you so much for joining us on IGI.

As mentioned earlier, we unfortunately cannot provide Fred Postlewait viewpoints as we receive no response after multiple invites to be on the show.

We now move on to District 4, featuring Republican candidate, Connie O'Brien, and Democratic candidate, Kris Meyer.

District 4 covers school districts in Coffee, Douglas Franklin, Jefferson, Johnson, Leavenworth, Lyon, Osage, Shawnee, and Wabaunsee County.

I'm here with District 4 Republican candidate Connie O'Brien.

Connie, welcome to IGI, and let's start with our first question.

What are your top three policy issues and how would you plan to address them?

- My three top issues are vo-tech education, support for teachers, and get more parental involvement.

I think one way we can fix the vo-tech issue is make it more available to the students in school.

And that's one way I would do that, is make it more available.

And there's lots of vo-tech schools out there that kids can look at and go to.

Parents need to be more involved in what's going on in education, and especially their child's education.

And second, support for teachers.

Teachers are very important.

They're the bedrock of our education system and they're the ones to spend the most time with our kids.

So teachers, parents, and vo-tech education are my three most important issues right now.

- Okay.

So why are you seeking public office and what do you believe that you bring to the table that's different from your opponent?

- Well, I served in the Kansas legislature, so I know how the legislative side works.

And I taught in public education, so I know how the education system works.

What I wanna do is bring more involvement with the state board in education.

That's their job setting standards, priorities for education.

So I'm hoping that people look at me and say, "Yes, I think Connie would do a good job."

And I will, because I believe in the kids, I believe in education, and I believe that Kansas can have the best education system in the United States.

- Okay.

What proposals would you advance to prepare Kansas students for success?

- I like a program called Succeed for Success, which involves kids that are in school but would like an early out.

So I would work in that area if kids don't wanna be there anymore and they're sitting, taking up space because they don't wanna be in education.

We need to find ways to educate those kids, get 'em out of school.

Get 'em into the workforce if that's what they wanna do.

Give 'em opportunities to further their vo-tech, you know, requirements and things like that.

'Cause we do need, you know, plumbers, people to fix the air condition when it goes bad in the summer.

And, you know, HVAC... And there's lots of opportunities.

'cause I remember when I was in public education, we had training for CNAs in our public high school.

So there's programs out there that we can put into education, especially in our high school.

And that's, you know, my focus, is getting kids educated where they wanna be and succeed for success.

- Okay.

So I wanna talk with you about what your views on the issues over who makes decisions in education?

Should it be the legislature, state boards of education, or should it be local school boards?

- Well, the legislative part is mainly how the financials work.

The money part.

The state board of education provides standards like in science and things like that.

The local school board does the curriculum and decides how it will be taught in that school.

But they all three need to work together.

And that's what I can do.

I can work with the legislature and the state board of education by being on the board and bring those two together, and then we can work together to get it down to the local school board because that's where it belongs.

Local decision at local school boards, because they're gonna be the ones that know the students in their areas and what needs to be done in education.

- Okay, what do you think the biggest challenges right now are for the Kansas State Board of Education?

What are the biggest challenges they're facing?

- Probably the biggest is setting standards, like, for science, English, math, and all those things.

And the state board has to work on those and provide those to the local schools so they know what needs to be taught in their school district.

So, you know, the standards, working with the Department of Education to get those on down, make sure that everything's on board, and that everybody understands what they have to do to get a good education to these kids.

So, you know, the standards, they look at other issues and how they work in public education from the feds and what comes down from them and implementing those programs.

- Okay.

So now you have 30 seconds, and I want you to tell the voters why they should choose you for their District 4 candidate.

- Because I think I'm the best because I, like I said, had served in legislature.

And if I'm on the state board, I can bring those two together.

Instead of being opponents in education.

they need to work together to make a better education for the Kansas kids.

Making education great again, - Connie, thank you so much for joining us on IGI.

- Thank you for having me.

- Now let's welcome Democratic candidate, Kris Meyer.

Kris, thank you for being with us and let's start this with the first question.

What are your top three policy issues and how would you plan to address them?

- All right.

Well, Tiffany, thank you for having me today.

My top three policy issues are equitable access for quality education for every child, and ensuring that we are fully funding our public schools in Kansas, especially in special education, and ensuring that we are attracting and retaining quality teachers.

In order to do this, we must first ensure that we are addressing disparities and barriers.

That includes education in early childhood and increasing exposure to early childhood education and reducing those barriers and providing access to our communities that are underserved.

That goes to ensuring that our legislature is fully funding the education that they are constitutionally obligated to fund in Kansas Public schools.

Ensuring that they are funding the nearly 92% of excess costs in special education that they pledge to fund.

And then also attracting world class teachers is... We listen to our teachers, we have them serve on our boards at the state level, we are present in schools and we are advocating for policies that ensure that our teachers are receiving equal pay, increased pay, and smaller class sizes.

- Okay.

Now, tell us why you're seeking public office and what do you believe you bring to the table that's different from your opponent?

- All right.

I am seeking public office in the state board of education because I have nearly years of experience serving Kansas public schools.

From my time as a principal and a teacher, I spent a majority of my career in Title I or economically disadvantaged schools.

So I know firsthand the challenges that these schools face.

I will ensure that I am working to the needs of our classrooms.

That they are overcrowded, these programs are underfunded, and we need to make sure that in order to attract and retain teachers, we are addressing these issues, specifically in the areas of special education and mental health.

I am a lifelong educator.

I am not a career politician.

I believe in inclusive philosophies.

I care deeply about kids and teachers, and I want to ensure that all kids have access to a quality education, your kids and mine.

What differs between myself and my opponent is that... Again, I am not a career politician.

My opponent has run locally for the school board in her community, and voters in her community have ensured that twice now she has not been able to serve on their board.

Whereas in my community, I have the trust of my constituents and they were actually the ones who asked me to run for the position.

So I will also ensure that we are vehemently opposing vouchers in our Kansas public schools.

- Okay.

What proposals would you advance to prepare students for career success?

- I would advance proposals that are in the areas of expanding STEM education and advanced technical training, apprenticeships, and ensuring that we are really leveraging those partnerships between our industries and our students so that they are getting hands-on exposure to high in demand career fields such as technology and healthcare and engineering, and making sure that we have programs that are robust where students are receiving within their curriculum things such as financial literacy and career readiness, so that they're not only learning the academics, but they're also learning the practical skills that are necessary for them to thrive in the workforce.

Because I fully believe that at as children, as students leave our schools, they should have the skills in creative thinking, problem solving, and creativity to ensure that they are competitive in the workforce.

- Okay.

Now, I wanna talk with you about what your views are on the issue of who makes decisions in education.

Should it be the legislature, the state boards of education, or local school boards?

- Good question.

Ideally, it is great when all entities are working together and collaborating.

But I believe that it is the direct responsibility of the local school board to ensure that they are meeting the needs and listening to their local constituents.

They are more connected to the communities they serve, the teachers, the students, the families.

But as a state board of education, it is our responsibility to set clear educational standards and make sure that we are providing the oversight and the guidance to ensuring equitable access and quality education for every student.

And then it is the legislature's essential role to ensure that they are funding, as they're constitutionally obligated to do, our Kansas public schools.

And I will just ensure that that balance of power is maintained because it is important for the sustainability and the integrity of our public education systems.

- Okay.

What do you think the biggest challenges are that are currently facing the Kansas State Board of Education?

- Great.

The biggest challenges right now are fully funding our schools, and special education in particular, and teacher attrition.

And those things kind of go hand in hand.

So our special education budget, for the first time this year, Kansas schools districts alone, public school districts, will divert nearly $150 million from their general education budgets to cover the special education shortfalls.

This is also the direct correlation to our teacher attrition problem.

Kansas is currently second in the nation in teacher attrition, and that is unacceptable.

Teachers are leaving because of higher class sizes and higher classes sizes are happening because we are using our general education budgets to fund special education, which is mandated by law and what is written into a student's IEPs that those services are provided.

So that then takes from our general funds and we are not able to fund our teachers and bring more into the classroom so that we lower our class sizes.

And then additionally, we need more support for mental health.

We need more resources for teachers and staff and students in our schools for mental health.

And that's ensuring things like the Screen Time Task Force are put into place where we're balancing the need for technology in the classroom with what's appropriate to become digital natives.

And then also with making sure that they're developing, you know, appropriately.

- You have 30 seconds, and I want you to tell us why voters should choose you as their candidate for the district.

- All right, thanks.

I have worked for 20 years in Kansas Public Schools.

I have worked at every level of the organization, from my time serving as a janitor while I was going to college and becoming a first generation graduate in my family, to becoming a paraprofessional, a substitute teacher, a teacher, a principal.

All of these things led me to have the skills to where I can best advocate for fully funding our public schools, for supporting our teachers, and for ensuring that our students are having policies made for them that are best to succeed in their future.

Above all, I will put Kansas kids first.

- Okay.

Kris, thank you so much for joining us today on IGI.

Coming up next, we feature our District 6 candidates.

Democratic candidate, Beryl New, and Republican candidate, Bruce Schultz.

District 6 covers school districts in Chase, Coffee, Dickinson, Douglas, Gary, Greenwood, Jefferson, Lyon, Marion Morris, Potawatomi, Riley Shawnee, and Wabaunsee Counties.

I'm here with the Democratic candidate for District 6, Beryl New.

Beryl, thank you for being here with us today.

Let's start with question number one.

- All right.

- What are your top three policy issues and how would you plan to address them?

- Three areas really stand out as priorities for me, and those are, of course, appropriate school funding, and then support for curricular areas within our school systems, and then supporting our teachers.

I know that there are those who want to explore privatization for public schools, but I firmly believe that all federal public school dollars should go to serve students who maybe not have to but choose to access public school options.

I also believe that we have to continue to support a strong college prep and definitely vocational prep curriculum for our students.

And then finally, for our professionals who work with our children every day, we have to ensure that we are providing them appropriate professional development opportunities, opportunities for professional growth, as well as a salary that is comparable to any other profession.

- Okay, so Beryl, I want you to tell us why you're seeking public office and what do you believe that you bring to the table that's different from your opponent?

- Well, I taught public school for 12 years.

I was an administrator for the rest of the time that I was in public school.

Part of that was being a high school assistant associate and building level principal, and then working in human resources with Topeka Public School.

So I think that gives me a varied background that also helps me relate to school professionals at every level, as well as parents.

And so I think that bringing that perspective or that scope of perspectives into this position is really helpful.

I can understand how teachers feel when maybe they think they're not being heard.

I can understand how parents feel when they're frustrated with some levels of decision.

And certainly I can understand the frustration of trying to find teachers when there's a current shortage of professionals.

So I think that I can add that to the other points of view that are represented on the State Board of Education.

- Okay.

What proposals would you advance to prepare Kansas Students for career success?

- I think that we are making good strides toward ensuring that every single student has options for either school to work or school to higher education.

I am concerned about some of our smaller districts where resources may not be available to them within a close proximity of where many of the students live.

So I think that there are some things perhaps we could explore in order to find ways to be able to make sure that every single Kansas graduate has the opportunity to move into a career straight from high school, receive a job readiness level of curriculum while they are students in high school, and also be well prepared if they choose to, to move into one of our local or even, you know, any other institute of higher learning and be confident in their capabilities to be successful.

- Okay.

What are your views on the issues over, who makes decisions in education?

Should it be the legislature, should it be state boards of education or should it be local school boards?

- And I think the perfect package is that they all work together.

We know that the constitution which determines what should happ en in free and public, free and appropriate public education.

We know that the state legislature develops statutes, laws, that they say must be carried out once they've been enacted on that level.

But then the State Board of Education, they had that responsibility to ensure that is occurring to make sure funds are dispersed appropriately as they come down from the state.

And also to select leaders that can help follow up with that.

And then at the local school board level, of course, they select a superintendent who ensures that the curriculum is appropriate for students and the funding goes where it needs to go to be effective.

So again, I don't think it would ever be a perfect scenario where any of them worked independently.

I think the ideal is that they all work together.

- Okay.

Now, what do you believe the biggest challenges are that are currently facing the Kansas State Board of Education?

- We're hearing a lot about privatization.

There are individuals who believe that families should receive vouchers or some type of award that would allow them to make their own choices about their children's education.

We understand the complexities of serving every single student, but we also understand that funds that come from taxpayers for public education should go to public education.

And I think that is an issue that may continue to be in the forefront, but yet I think I take a firm stand on my belief that public education dollars should go to public education students.

There are other issues that we know are coming down the pipe.

Graduation rates are always going to be an issue.

Kansas, proud to say we have a very high graduation level.

However, I'm always concerned about that 11% who's not represented.

I think a hundred percent, and not just in a couple of school districts in Kansas, but you know, that should be the hope for all school districts, so... - Okay.

Now, you have 30 seconds, and I want you to tell us why voters should choose you as their candidate.

- Well, I've always had a passion for serving children.

I believe that they are not just our future, they are our present.

And I often say present has a couple of definitions, but I choose the one that we all appreciate on our birthdays and Christmas where we're given a special gift.

And so I think our children are our special gifts.

We have to handle them as such, we have to nurture them, we have to prepare them for success in the world.

And that is where my heart is, so that is the place from which I will serve.

- Okay.

Beryl, thank you so much for joining us on IGI and providing your viewpoints today.

- Thank you for the opportunity.

I appreciate it.

- Now we present Republican candidate Bruce Schultz.

Bruce, thank you for joining us.

Let's start with the first question.

What are your top three policy issues and how would you plan to address them?

- Well, actually, if you go to my website at BruceSchultzForSchools.com, I have five of 'em listed, but I'll try and distill 'em down to three for this conversation.

The three top issues for me are safety in the school, academics, and community engagement.

When I talk about safety, I'm talking about everything from bullying and the classroom to throughout the entire facility.

And bullying can be actual confrontation or it can be exclusion.

We have to address that as an issue.

But the other place that we can have a big impact is with cyber issues.

So reducing screen time, reducing connectivity so that students will work as teams and will work together.

I think that academics are particularly important.

Two thirds of students in Kansas are designated as not performing at grade level, and we need to change that.

And so we need to prioritize academic performance.

We need need to make that a key performance indicator for our schools and we need to reward success and we need to be certain that we have plans to address it.

Finally, we need parents engaged, families engaged, and community engagement.

If the parents and the family and the community make school a priority, it'll be a priority for the students, it'll make life easier for the teachers, you'll have better follow through, and everyone will be much more successful.

- Okay.

Now, why are you seeking public office and what do you believe that you bring to the table that's different from your opponent?

- I think we need to have good leadership on the board of education.

And I've been actively engaged in educational leadership for at least 40 years.

In the classroom as a teacher, in administrative offices at the university, both in shared governance and in actual administration within the department and the college.

And finally, I've been on school boards for more than 30 years.

Everything from small local school boards to the board of regents for a university that draws students nationally, one of the biggest graduate programs in the state of Illinois.

I believe that my background in research on education is unlike any of the other school board candidates.

I've actually been an advisor for graduate student doing research in education.

I've overseen, as a board member, a school of education that has a tremendous graduate program looking at research, or looking at teaching and teaching methods.

Finally, I've been invited by the National Academy of Science on five occasions to be on the Ford Foundation Fellowship Review panel.

And that's a program that is set up to enable and equip persons from underrepresented minorities to be effective in the classroom, and ultimately to be professors and leaders in the schools in North America.

I've been one of six non-white people... Or excuse me, I've been one of six white people on a panel of 40 people.

I've been a minority there and I've been invited back over and over again.

I think they appreciate my credibility.

- Thank you.

What proposals would you advance to prepare Kansas students for career success?

- We have to focus on education.

A state board of education.

And I think more than anything, we need to focus on academics.

And in doing that, we need to make that a performance indicator.

We need to measure it and we need to reward success.

We need to make certain that the foundation that is built is broad enough that every student that graduates has a platform from which they can launch themselves into a career.

So as part of the Board of Education, what we need to do is develop policies that will allow us to measure the success in academics and to promote that success.

I think that we should have tests that are nationally normed so that we can test whether or not students performing as their peers are from other institutions.

Things like ACT, ITSB, ASVAB, so forth.

These are all good tests, and we can use them effectively.

Engagement in the community is really, really important.

We should make that part of accreditation processes.

Every school should be engaging their community.

And if they are doing that effectively, the community will be supporting the school much more wholeheartedly, and the students in the school will know that they are appreciated and they will work harder for the education that they are trying to achieve.

- Okay.

Now, I wanna talk with you about what your views on the issues are over who makes decisions in education?

Should it be the legislature, state boards of educations or local school boards?

- It's not really an or question from my perspective, it's an and question, because each one of those institutions has distinctly different responsibilities.

If you look at the local school board, they have the the responsibility for selecting the curriculum, for implementing the curriculum.

And we always hear that personnel is policy.

It's their job to put the people in the front of the classroom, and therefore it is the local policy that's being implemented.

Not only that, they have control of the local budget.

Once the money gets there, they're the ones that need to decide how it's spent.

The Board of Education, on the other hand, Kansas Board of Education sets policy.

We develop policy that determines what are the key performance indicators for schools across the state, guidelines for what our highest priorities are, and then assesses whether those priorities are being addressed.

The Kansas Department of Education assists in that and interfaces both with the state board of education and with the legislature.

The legislature is responsible for funding.

They have the purse strings, and therefore it is important that the Board of Education and the Department of Education interface with the legislature effectively to let them know what the needs are, and then the board of education setting priorities for how those monies are used.

- Okay.

What are the biggest challenges currently facing the State Board of Education?

- Right now, one of the big things that's in front of them is trying to get their mind wrapped around screen time and how that's affecting education.

Personally, I think we need to reduce screen time and the use of connective devices tremendously in the classroom because the use of those devices is reducing creativity, it's reducing the connectivity between students, it's reducing teamwork.

I think if we did that, we would decrease bullying and increased safety in the classroom.

I think that we would be able to have students who have a much better grasp on all of the different directions they can go with their education.

And so a big one for me.

Another thing that we really need to do is encourage community engagement, especially family engagement.

If we can engage the family, the school day is lengthened.

Learning becomes important, and there are many ways that parents can follow through at home, family can follow through at home to make the lessons really hit home and have a a long-term memory built there with those lessons.

And so those are a couple of the big things.

Teamwork, get rid of the screens, and engage the community and the family.

- Okay.

You have 30 seconds.

Tell us why voters should choose you as their district candidate.

- I've been on school boards for 30 years, everything from small to large.

And in every case, I can look back at how the students perform, how the education affected them.

And I can say that we've been very, very successful.

We've had success when we've had really awkward situations, hard times, and we've had success when we've had really tight budgets.

I think that that Kansas can.

That's the slogan for the Kansas Board of Education.

I think Kansas can, but we need to work together to get that done.

- Well, Bruce, thank you so much for joining us on IGI today.

- Thank you.

- Coming up next, we feature our District 8 candidates, which include Republican candidate, Jason Carmichael, and Democratic candidate and incumbent, Betty Arnold.

We tried multiple times to reach Mr. Carmichael, but unfortunately received no response and are unable to provide his viewpoints on the show.

District 8 covers school districts in Butler and Sedgwick Counties.

Now we present the Democratic candidate and incumbent Betty Arnold.

Betty, it's an honor to be here with you.

Let's get started with the first question.

- Okay.

- What are your top three policy issues and how would you plan to address them?

- Actually, it's very simple.

Funding, funding, funding.

And I say that for the simple reason that there are three different areas that I'd like to highlight.

First of all, funding is so complicated, that the average person does not understand how schools are funded.

So we need to look at a simplified approach where a layperson would know how it's funded.

The second area would be to fund schools adequately, sufficiently, properly.

In the constitution, that's set up, and we need to be clear on how school funding should take place.

The third area would be our special education, which has never really been properly funded.

So that's why I answered you funding, funding, funding.

- Thank you so much.

So why are you seeking public office and what do you believe that you bring to the table that's different from your opponent?

- Well, since I don't know my opponent, I'm just gonna focus on me.

I bring experience.

I served on the boards of education for a total, almost, of 14 years.

So I do have the experience.

But in addition to the experience, I have the commitment, I have the passion.

I advocate for all students, not just those that are on track, but those that may not be on track.

So it's very easy for me to step in this role.

I'm passionate about it.

I'm willing to do my homework.

I'm willing to learn anything that I need to learn.

- Okay.

What proposals do you have that you believe would advance and prepare Kansas students for career success?

- Actually, we have something in place that's if done with fidelity and perhaps emphasized a little more, it would be great.

And that's our individual plan of study.

I think we've gotten away, Tiffany, of why they're in school students.

It's not a social club.

It's not a place to get to get a babysitter.

You are there to get career skills to prepare for your future.

We've gotten away from that.

Now, the individualized plan of study, we need to bring in the parents, we need to bring in the students, we need to get all of them on track in terms of where it is you want to go.

Individualized plan of study also offers career placements where you're really good.

So if we could bring in the families, get them with the teachers, we can get education back on track.

- So what is your view when you're looking at the issues over who should make decisions in education?

Should it be the legislature, should it be state boards of education or should it be the local school boards?

- Well, first of all, in the Constitution, it's defined that all three have a role to play.

I don't wanna take away from legislative roles because they control the finance.

State Board of Education controls the general direction.

Local boards deal specifically with the local issues.

There is a reason we have separation of power.

If everything was entrusted into either one, we'd run into problems.

I think the biggest thing we need to look at is, how do we stay in our lanes, and then how do we work together for the good of all students.

- Okay.

What do you think...

When you're thinking about challenges here in Kansas for the State Board of Education, what do you think the biggest challenges are that are currently facing (indistinct)?

- I think the biggest challenge right now is coming up with a way of how we report out the success of of schools.

As an example, we currently use state assessments.

That was not designed for that purpose.

State assessments were designed to give input to the educators where a student might be struggling, where they could perhaps use a little extra tutoring or help.

And it wasn't designed to just say, "okay, here's the report card."

We need to focus on a tool that's going to actually show, not only the legislator, the public, all that's involved, how we're doing.

The biggest complaint you hear is, that's a snapshot, it's of one day.

So we need to look at something that will provide this along the way so that you're actually getting in real time what's going on.

Because we hear, "Stop funding schools, they're not teaching our kids."

We just need a better way of reporting that out.

- Okay.

Well, so now you have 30 seconds, and I want you to tell us why the voters should choose you as their candidate.

- Well, first of all, I bring experience, and I think that's important.

There is a learning curve with any office.

You're gonna have to come prepared to do your homework.

There's a lot of reading.

When you look at possible solutions, you have to have the motivation in order to decide, "Is this going to work?"

"Will this work?"

"Will this work?"

And if you are not willing to put that time in, then you've wasted a vote.

I'm willing to put the time in.

I have history that shows that I've done that.

So I think I would be the best candidate to continue State Board of Education.

- Well, Betty, it was so great to have you with us today.

Thank you so much for being on the show.

- My pleasure.

- As mentioned earlier, we unfortunately cannot provide Jason Carmichael's viewpoints as we receive no response after multiple invites to be on the show.

Coming up next, we feature candidates for District 10, which include Jeff Jarman, who is the Democratic candidate, and Debby Potter, who is the Republican candidate.

We tried multiple times to reach Ms. Potter, but unfortunately received no response and are unable to provide her viewpoints on this show.

District 10 represents districts in South Central Kansas, including a portion of Wichita.

A big thank you to Bob Beatty for joining us to interview Jeff Jarman for this next segment.

- Hello.

Hi, I am Bob Beatty, political Science professor for Washburn University.

And it's my pleasure to introduce Democratic candidate for District 10, Jeff Jarman.

Jeff, thank you so much for being here, and let's get right to the questions.

What are your top three policy issues and how would you plan to address them?

- Yeah, thank you very much for having me.

First, I think it's important we focus on achievement.

And right now, the state board is doing a really good job of that.

The new changes for reading in particular really give us hope to raise reading achievement in the state.

Second, we have a terrible problem with staff shortages, teacher shortages in particular, but staff up and down throughout a district.

And this is where I think the state board of education makes a real difference.

We need to be strong advocates for high quality public schools that will at attract and retain candidates.

And really, the third and most important thing, I think, facing school districts right now is stable funding.

Schools are happy with the funding formula we have right now, and it's critical for schools that that continue.

My opponent in this particular race has a vision for public education that would gut hundreds of millions, perhaps even a billion dollars through vouchers.

What that would do to our schools would be devastating.

We'd have to close schools, we'd have to consider consolidation, we'd have to cut programs, eliminate staff.

It's the the kind of thing that would be just incredibly detrimental.

Local school boards might have to consider raising taxes to try to make up some of that lost funding if her vision were to come to fruition in this state.

- All right, thanks.

Why are you seeking public office?

What do you believe you bring to the table that is different from your opponent?

- Yeah, I didn't seek this out.

I ended my term on the local board in Mays and didn't know that I'd get back in.

But I was contacted all throughout the spring by Democrats, Republicans, and, and independents who reached out to me because they were worried about the direction of the State Board of Education.

I took a look at the race and realized that we needed a voice to be an advocate for our public schools, our students, our teachers, and our communities.

I found wide support among the people I visited with, reaching out to superintendents, school board members, teachers, families in the community, they want and need strong public education.

Proud of the endorsements that I've received so far and that I know I will pick up over the rest of the campaign.

- All right, thanks.

What proposals would you advance to prepare Kansas students to career success?

- Yeah, this is important.

You know, the reason I think the state board put in place some of the new policies around the science of reading is to make sure that by the third grade, students can read at grade level.

Once that happens, and we'll see some improvements over the next several years.

Once that happens, it means the things that we're doing in our high schools to prepare students for college and for career can really make a difference.

This is a place where local control more than the state board matters.

Local school districts are doing phenomenal work to get kids ready for whatever career they wanna pursue.

I was at the Circle School District a couple weeks ago, learned about a really innovative program they have in internships.

They have 74% of their students right now graduating, had an internship.

Their goal is a hundred percent by the time they graduate.

That gives a kid a leg up to understand what it's like.

You know, I'm from Maize.

I spent eight years on the board there.

We have career and technical ed programs, culinary programs.

My daughter got her CNA license and worked as a CNA in high school.

And in first year of college, our shop class built airplanes.

I mean, what our local districts are doing right now to get students career ready is really impressive.

And we need to support that.

- What are your views on the issues over who makes decisions in education?

Should it be the legislature, state board's education, local school boards?

- Yeah, this is really important.

We all have a role to play.

The Legislature's primary job is to fund our schools.

And we have a funding formula right now that is providing real important aid to our schools.

So that's the legislature's job.

The state board is to advocate for all of the schools, provide general oversight.

You know, they help with things like accrediting schools, graduation requirements, licensing requirements for teachers.

That's really important.

And they advocate with the legislature to make sure that the local boards can do the specific policies.

I spent eight years in Maize, four years as the president, and I understand the importance of genuine local control, where we can pick curriculum, where we can determine how to spend money.

I was in other school districts, learning Clearwater has an innovative program for professional development.

Goddard used some of their resources to spend to help get teachers ready for the science of reading.

I was in Haysville learning about how they have to devote some of their resources to provide, you know, breakfast and lunch to their students.

And those are the decisions that are best done at the local level.

We need state board candidates who will fight for their local control and support them, especially with the legislature to get them the funding they need.

- What are the biggest challenges currently facing the Kansas State Board of Education?

- You know, right now they're working on a new accreditation process, and that'll be important to try to make it easier for schools to show the hard work that they're doing beyond just state assessment scores.

Those are important, but they're really only one metric of many to show the hard work that they're doing.

We've mentioned that they did the science of reading work.

That's important.

But right now, I think the biggest problem facing the school board is really the... How they're politicizing a bunch of the issues there.

And one really good indicator of that are how many no votes there are on consent agenda items.

We have current school board members at the state level who are voting against funding for homeless programs, for kids who are homeless, voting against funding for at-risk programs, voting against funding for school food programs.

And those decisions really undermine the effectiveness of our public schools.

need a state board who is working for our schools to help them do the hard work they need to do to get kids to the buildings fed, ready to learn.

Because if we can do that, then our teachers will work hard for us to educate all of our kids.

- Yeah, thank you.

So this last question, just 30 seconds.

Te tell us why voters should choose you as their candidate.

- Yeah, thank you.

The state school board is an important race that could determine the future of public education in our state.

Unfortunately, education, which should not be political, is increasingly political.

And the education of students in Kansas is more important than politics.

And I'm the only candidate in this race who will do what is best for students, families, and communities.

When our schools thrive, our communities will thrive.

And that's the vision for Kansas education that we need.

- Jeff, thanks so much for joining us on IGI.

- Thank you, Bob.

As mentioned earlier, we unfortunately cannot provide Debby Potter's viewpoints as we receive no response after multiple invites to be on the show.

Thank you very much to all of the candidates who participated in this important show.

Our mission is to provide as many viewpoints as possible for the Kansas State Board of Education candidates that will be on the ballot this election season.

We are glad you all joined us to learn about their plans for providing quality education to all Kansas students.

If you have any comments or suggestions for future topics, send us an email at issues@ktwu.org.

If you would like to view this program again or any previous episodes of IGI, visit us online at Watch.KTWU.org.

For IGI, I'm LeTiffany Obozele.

Thank you for watching.