Kansas State Department of Education

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Kansas State Department of Education
KSDEducation logo.png
Leadership and Support Through Student Learning
State education agency overview
FormedJanuary 14, 1969 (1969-01-14)
Preceding State education agency
  • Kansas Superintendent of Public Instruction
Jurisdiction State of Kansas
Headquarters900 SW Jackson St, Topeka, KS 66612
Topeka, Kansas
39°02′46″N95°40′29″W / 39.046012°N 95.674697°W / 39.046012; -95.674697
State education agency executive
  • Dr. Randy Watson, Commissioner of Education
Parent department State of Kansas
Website KSDE Website

The Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) is a state agency responsible for administration of the state's K-12 education system. It is governed by a ten-member board, the State Board of Education, which appoints the Commissioner of Education. [1] The Board helps determine educational policy for the state's primary and secondary schools. [2]

Contents

Kansas State Board of Education

Under the original Kansas Constitution adopted in 1859, the Superintendent of Public Instruction was established as a partisan elected office, with responsibility for overseeing the state's public school system. [3] In 1966, Kansas voters ratified a constitutional amendment that eliminated the elected Superintendent, replacing the position with a ten-member elected Board of Education with responsibility for appointing the Commissioner. The ten districts are drawn every ten years by combining four adjoining State Senate districts. [4]

Kansas State Board of Education Members [5]
MemberDistrictPartyFirst electedNext election
Danny ZeckDistrict 1Republican20222026
Melanie HaasDistrict 2Democratic20202028
Michelle DombroskyDistrict 3Republican20182026
Connie O'BrienDistrict 4Republican20242028
Cathy HopkinsDistrict 5Republican20222026
Beryl A. NewDistrict 6Democratic20242028
Dennis HershbergerDistrict 7Republican20222026
Betty ArnoldDistrict 8Democratic20202028
Jim PorterDistrict 9Republican20142026
Debby PotterDistrict 10Republican20242028

Intelligent design controversies

In 1999, the Board voted to eliminate most references to evolution, the age of the Earth, and the origin of the universe from the state's science standards and to remove these topics from the state's standardized tests. The Board relied heavily on material from the Creation Science Association of Mid America in constructing science standards that minimized the teaching of evolution. [6] The Board was awarded the Ig Noble Prize for the new rules. [7] However, after the 2000 elections altered the composition of the Board, it reversed its 1999 decision, instead requiring instruction on all those topics and restoring them to standardized tests. [8]

A shift after the 2004 election restored a conservative majority on the Board, which voted to adopt new science standards, effective in 2007, that mandated equal time for the theories of evolution and "intelligent design." The decision was condemned by Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius, who argued, "If we're going to bring high-tech jobs to Kansas and move our state forward, we need to strengthen science standards, not weaken them." [9] Finally, following yet another shift at the 2006 election, which elected a moderate majority, the Board reversed the decision and restored the state's original science-based standards. [10]

References

  1. ↑ "Article VI, Section 3". Constitution of Kansas. Kansas Secretary of State . 1859. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  2. ↑ "About Us". Kansas State Department of Education. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  3. ↑ Heller, Francis H. (2011). The Kansas State Constitution. Oxford University Press. p. 95. ISBN   978-0-19-977899-7 . Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  4. ↑ Yeargain, Quinn (2023). "Shadow Districts" (PDF). Cardozo Law Review. 45 (2): 424, 448–49. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  5. ↑ "Kansas State Board of Education". Kansas Department of Education. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  6. ↑ Green, John C.; Rozell, Mark J.; Wilcox, Clyde, eds. (2003). The Christian Right in American Politics: Marching to the Millennium. Georgetown University Press. p. 157. ISBN   978-0878403929.
  7. ↑ "Ig Nobel Prize Winners". Improbable Research. Archived from the original on 2019-09-06. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  8. ↑ Cavanagh, Sean (2005-05-10). "Kansas Hears from Critics of Evolution". Education Week. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  9. ↑ Wilgoren, Jodi (2005-11-09). "Kansas Board Approves Challenges to Evolution". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  10. ↑ "Kansas board boosts evolution education". NBC News. 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2025-02-15.

Further reading

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