Ann Mah, a member of the Kansas State Board of Education, criticized as misguided a Kansas House bill creating a path for stripping public school districts of accreditation. The bill would allow out-of-state special interest groups to challenge accreditation in Kansas. (Kansas Reflector screen capture of Legislature’s YouTube channel)
TOPEKA — Andover school superintendent Brett White said a Kansas House bill laying the groundwork for damaging assaults on accreditation of Kansas public schools was based on the false assumption districts intentionally operated in violation of state rules, regulations or laws.
White said the bill introduced at request of Kansas Policy Institute, a conservative Wichita think tank founded by an executive at Koch Industries, ignored an elephant in the room — that the Kansas Legislature violated state law for a decade by not fully funding special education programs in public schools.
“The old cliche that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones is fitting as it relates to this legislation,” White said. “I would also submit that constituents are tired of the politicians’ attacks on educators and public education. I observed this frustration and disgust at a legislative coffee last spring in Augusta. Many people there were appalled and fed up with the way that politicians conduct business in Topeka.”