BY RAEGAN NEUFELD
At least three newcomers — and a potential fourth — will be elected to the Kansas State Board of Education following Tuesday’s midterm elections. Two of those new members defeated incumbents in the primary and are running unopposed in the general election.
Cathy Hopkins, a Hays resident who will represent District 5, ran for the local Hays USD 489 Board of Education and lost narrowly before defeating Republican incumbent Jean Clifford in August for the statewide position. Even after Hopkins won by a margin of 9.2 percent, a small group of Clifford’s supporters have started a write-in campaign.
With no prior experience in education, Hopkins said her motivation to run for the local board came from wanting to be involved in the community.
“I just got such a feeling that parents didn’t feel like they had a voice on the boards that were present,” she said. “Come to find out, I really wanted to be a voice.”
Her decision to run for the state board followed much of the same thought.
“The more I had learned in the whole process, the more I realized there was a lot coming from the state level,” she said. “And, I had people around me that asked me to consider it. Even though I lost the local race, because it was such a close race, I felt like at least there were obviously people interested in what I had to say.”
Similar to the race in District 5, the District 7 primary resulted in the defeat of incumbent Ben Jones by Dennis Hershberger, who is now running unopposed on Tuesday. Like Hopkins, Hershberger has no prior experience in education. However, he has been an active member of the Republican Party in Reno County and said his decision to run was like a “spiritual calling.”
“I really sensed that God had opened a door for me,” he said. “I grew up in the Hesston/Newton area and Harvey County is in my district. My daughter, who has our only three grandchildren, lives in Valley Center, which is just barely in the district. So I have some vested interest in what’s going on.”
Not only are their election situations similar, but Hopkins and Hershberger’s platforms focus on the same three issues: local control, parental input and social/emotional data collection. Hopkins discussed these focal points and more in a previous interview with Tiger Media Network.
These three issues were also the focus of Luke Aichele, a candidate in the District 9 Republican primary before he was defeated by incumbent Jim Porter. According to Hopkins, the three candidates met at a Kansans for Health Freedom meeting prior to the primary election.
“(We) saw more and more that we had the same approach, the same ideas and the same values,” she said.
Both Hopkins and Hershberger said they are looking forward to working on the state board.
“It is my hope that there is conversation that can happen, that we can really, truly work together to see what our constituents want, what the people are saying and what direction they want to go for their kids,” Hopkins said. “To me, at the end of the day, that’s what’s important.”
Hershberger discussed the work he has already done with schools in his district.
“I’m already meeting with superintendents,” he said. “I’ve met with two here in Reno County. I’m going up to Lyons and I’ve been out to Lewis, Kan. I’ve met the (superintendent) in Great Bend. So, I’m reaching out, and as they contact me, I try to make an appointment with them because I think that’s the best door.”
Perspective from current education officials
Like Hopkins and Hershberger, Porter faces no Democratic opposition in the District 9 general election. Currently on his second term as a state board member, Porter also serves as the board chair.
“Right now, the Board of Education works together very well,” he said. “We’re pretty well split. We have four Democrats and six Republicans. Generally, we’re able to come up with common solutions and work through issues and solve problems. It is certainly my hope that we’ll be able to continue to do that.”
The board’s main duties include setting the standards for curriculum, teacher licensure and school accreditation. The addition of at least three new faces raises the question: What impact will they have?
According to Porter, that answer is still unknown. The Kansas Association of School Boards Executive Director Brian Jordan also had that conclusion.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that there is some concern that’s been raised, based on some of the things that were mentioned in campaign messaging,” he said. “Because some of the information that’s been pushed out there maybe isn’t an agreement with what the current focus of the state Board of Education is.”
Jordan also discussed the focus on local control that Hopkins and Hershberger have.
“I think there’s some perception out there that some of the things that are happening on a national level are starting to creep into some local politics or local boards,” he said. “I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen that really happen in Kansas. . . . I still believe we have a strong spirit of local control in Kansas.”
The upcoming personnel changes to the board are happening after lines on the district map were recently changed. According to Porter, this caused two current members to be gerrymandered out of their district. One of those members is Janet Waugh, the current board vice chair and longest serving member.
“The new (map) puts her out of her district,” Porter said. “She was not planning on running again anyway, but had she wanted to, she would not be able to run.”
Deena Horst, who represents District 6, will be in a similar situation in two years when she is up for re-election. Horst is from Salina, but the new map moves Saline County to District 7.
“The president of the (state) Senate (Ty Masterson) had actually stated whenever this was changed that we were too monolithic, which means that we worked together too well, that we all thought the same,” Porter said. “Well, actually, we don’t all think the same. We just come up with solutions we can all accept.”
While Porter said the state board is more about what is best for the students and not party loyalty, Hopkins had thoughts that contradict that sentiment.
“Even though we have a six to four Republican to Democrat board, we have nine to one votes happening all the time,” she said. “So the Republicans that are sitting there are not conservative in their stances and in how they’re viewing the education process right now.”
According to Hopkins, a want for more conservative candidates is coming from across the state. In fact, Masterson was reported as saying such when the board map was redistricted.
With the elections in Districts 5, 7 and 9 already decided, the races in Districts 1 and 3 will be the only ones to feature two candidates. District 1 — Waugh’s current district — will provide the third newcomer to the board, either Democrat Jeffery Howards or Republican Danny Zeck. The race in District 3 features incumbent Republican Michelle Dombrosky and Democratic challenger Sheila Albers.