Today, the Kansas State Board of Education (SBOE) voted 5-5 to block Gov. Laura Kelly’s Executive Order delaying the start of public school three weeks, to just after the Labor Day weekend. The breakdown of the vote is below.
The Mainstream Coalition stands in opposition to this decision.
Kansas is in the middle of the highest incidence of COVID-19 infection since the pandemic began. Three more weeks would have meant more time for schools to prepare for what will be a unique and challenging school year. Only three more weeks would have given our communities a fighting chance to lessen the impact of the disease, and schools would have opened with less risk to children, families, teachers, and staff.
Five members of the SBOE voted no with “the best interests of our children at heart”, but with whispers of extremist conservatives and the Kansas Chamber in their ears. It has always been the case that extremists under the sway of corporate interests have treated human lives as acceptable losses. Today, those are the lives of our children and their teachers.
The decision now falls to individual school districts to make decisions about when to start school.
These five SBOE members voted to block the delay (party affiliation is important, as these are partisan elected positions):
Steve Roberts - R (District 2)
Michelle Dombrosky - R (3)
Jean Clifford - R (5)
Deena Horst - R (6)
Ben Jones - R (7)
These five SBOE members voted to uphold the Governor’s order to delay school openings:
Janet Waugh - D (1)
Ann Mah - D (4)
Kathy Busch - R (8)
Jim Porter - R (9)
Jim McNiece - R (10)
Here is information on Board Members from the SBOE.
Vote!
See if any of them are on your ballot in 2020 at ksballot.org, then get out there and vote.
Thank you for your continuing support of Mainstream and the work we do.
