Conservatives could win control of Kansas and Nebraska state school boards

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Conservatives could seizure majorities connected nan Kansas and Nebraska authorities schoolhouse boards successful this year’s elections, making it easier for them to style what’s taught successful classrooms.

At rumor are acquainted efforts by blimpish Republicans and groups to limit what nationalist K-12 schools tin thatch astir racism, diversity, sexuality and gender. But besides up for statement are skill-building lessons that conservatives cull arsenic societal engineering.

An effort to thatch soft skills — specified arsenic persistence, tolerance for others and managing emotions — came aft surveys successful caller years suggested that businesses spot them arsenic important for early employees. But immoderate parents, authorities lawmakers and groups spot what’s sometimes called social and affectional learning, aliases SEL, arsenic promoting wide values.

“We want to move nan guidance distant from societal engineering and backmost towards education,” said Fred Postlewait, a retired machine systems head and a Republican campaigner for a Kansas City-area spot connected nan Kansas board.

Conservative parents, groups connected nan correct and Republican officials crossed nan U.S. who’ve wanted to prohibition immoderate books and different materials are progressively including SEL among nan “woke” concepts aliases programs they want removed from nan classroom. SEL has joined DEI — for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — and CRT for critical title theory, which centers connected nan thought that racism is systemic successful U.S. institutions.

Both states thin Republican, helping blimpish candidates down nan ballot successful nan Nov. 5 election. In Nebraska, authorities committee races are officially nonpartisan, but successful Kansas, they’re partisan and statement affiliation could beryllium decisive.

“I americium worried that group don’t person this connected their radar,” said Judith Deedy, executive head of nan pro-public acquisition Game On for Kansas Schools. “If nan committee flips, location will beryllium a batch of unhappy people.”

The Kansas State Board of Education is possibly champion known for debates 2 decades agone complete whether improvement should beryllium taught successful school. The authorities had five sets of subject standards for its K-12 schools betwixt 1999 and 2007, arsenic nan board’s mostly many times changed hands.

Conservatives past won power successful 2004 and rewrote standards astir school improvement successful schools to bespeak uncertainty astir nan well-established technological mentation — and to time off room for arguments that nan universe’s complexity points to an intelligent design. In 2006, nan mean bloc recaptured power and quickly returned to standards grounded successful science. The latest standards were adopted past year.

“That benignant of taxable could travel back,” said Kansas authorities committee Chair Melanie Haas, a Democrat facing Postlewait for a 2nd term. “I don’t cognize that nan committee would person tremendous occurrence getting it done arsenic policy, but I deliberation it tin beryllium really disruptive to acquisition successful Kansas.”

Besides Kansas and Nebraska, only Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, Texas and Utah elite each their committee members, but those states’ existent majorities look improbable to suffer power. In a mostly of states, governors name astir aliases each authorities schoolhouse committee members, according to nan Education Commission of nan States.

Nebraska’s State Board of Education is divided 4-3 against hard-right Republicans, pinch 1 vacancy. Half nan seats are connected nan ballot, including nan vacant one, and successful nan different 3 districts, members of nan board’s majority, each longtime educators, aren’t moving again. Members service four-year terms.

If conservatives flip 2 seats for a 5-3 majority, they tin prosecute GOP-led policies specified arsenic banning immoderate books and materials from schools, and ending societal and affectional learning programs.

Board personnel Kirk Penner, a blimpish Republican who’s denounced “woke culture,” described societal and affectional learning successful a societal media post past twelvemonth arsenic “the TROJAN HORSE for each nan gender and CRT lessons being brought into schools.”

“After ’24 elections we should person nan mostly to person it removed,” he predicted.

Kansas committee members besides service four-year terms, and 5 of nan board’s 10 seats are connected nan ballot this year. A conjugation of Democrats and mean Republicans holds six, but 3 of those members are not seeking reelection.

The push to attraction much connected societal and affectional learning successful Kansas began successful 2015, and authorities Education Commissioner Randy Watson said SEL addresses what business and organization leaders want from nationalist schools. In past surveys, Watson said, they’ve told nan authorities committee that students are doing “pretty well” academically but request to create soft skills.

One contention surrounds questionnaires for parents who enroll their kids successful kindergarten aliases preschool programs. One for parents of 5-year-olds poses 39 questions, including whether their children tin spell to nan bath by themselves, for illustration playing pinch different children, person agelong tantrums, and, “Does your kid look happy?”

The aim, officials told nan committee astatine its October monthly meeting, is to thief teachers reside individual children’s needs and amended negociate their classrooms.

But Republican authorities committee personnel Danny Zeck, a retired northeast Kansas automobile trader who was elected to nan authorities committee successful 2022, said he worries that schools are telling parents really to dainty their children and “want each kids to respond nan aforesaid measurement to everything.”

“That’s not what our awesome state is founded connected — it’s founded connected you and maine being different,” Zeck, who besides served connected his section schoolhouse board, said during a break successful nan October meeting. “I’m concerned astir indoctrinating kids.”

In challenging Haas for her seat, Postlewait argues that “social engineering” initiatives takes excessively overmuch schoolroom time. As evidence, he points to Kansas students’ scores connected yearly standardized reference and mathematics tests overseen by nan state.

The State Department of Education reported earlier this period that two-thirds of Kansas students taking this spring’s authorities tests had nan basal knowledge and skills to beryllium fresh for life aft precocious school. It reported flimsy improvements successful nan percentages of students scoring astatine “effective” aliases “excellent” levels.

But almost a 3rd of nan students showed only “limited” knowledge and skills. That strikes Postlewait and different conservatives arsenic acold excessively high, particularly erstwhile nan figures are worse successful individual districts and schools.

“To maine it’s important that nan State Board of Education is assuring that we person rigor successful nan classroom,” said authorities Senate Education Committee Chair Molly Baumgardner, different Kansas City-area Republican.

Baumgardner said that while nan Legislature tackles acquisition issues, it can’t move arsenic quickly arsenic nan schoolhouse committee can, truthful she sees lawmakers taking action arsenic “the past resort.”

“The workforce needs that we person successful our authorities are: folks request to beryllium capable to read. They request to person beardown mathematics skills arsenic well,” she added.

Haas, nan existent committee chair, said societal and affectional learning programs thief guarantee that students are prepared some academically and socially truthful they tin thrive successful their post-graduation jobs.

Considering nan election, she said, “It perchance puts nan measurement that we grip social-emotional learning astatine risk.”

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Associated Press writer Margery A. Beck contributed to this study from Omaha, Nebraska.