Some lawmakers fear new Kansas Board of Education redistricting map could lead to conservative swing
A normally sleepy process of drawing new district lines for the Kansas State Board of Education has grown spirited, with a controversial move to overhaul the board's lines drawing criticism of gerrymandering from the panel overseeing K-12 education in Kansas.
Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, said the moves were in part designed to break up a board that he called "monolithic," saying it was his hope the new lines might inspire a more conservative slate of candidates to run for office.
"There's some reason we need some some shake up and some change on that board," Masterson told reporters Tuesday.
But Masterson's comments drew rebuke from state board members, with tensions running high between the two bodies over the past year on a range of issues.
The Legislature has attempted to push bills shaping curriculum and course offerings, earning pushback from the state board, which argues those matters should be their domain.
"He wants a state board that the Legislature can run, that won't stand up for kids," said Ann Mah, D-Topeka. "That's what he's trying to do. The thing that is monolithic about the state board right now is we care about kids and education and we care about public schools. And that's what he doesn't like."
State Board of Education Chair Jim Porter, R-Fredonia, said he would "not be surprised" if the maps got challenged in court due to how it splits communities of color, a fate currently facing the state's newly enacted Congressional maps.
"I call this gerrymandered," said board member Deena Horst, R-Salina.
New districts divide Kansas City area
The Senate Redistricting Committee approved the maps Tuesday and are set to be considered in the full chamber later in the afternoon.
The state board of education maps have strict parameters, with each board district including four Kansas Senate districts, leaving legislators with fewer options to draw the lines.
The final product marked a compromise in some key areas, including a move to keep Garden City and Dodge City paired into the same western Kansas district, as well as a change to ensure the city of Wichita has its own state board seat. A previous draft of the map divided the city into two districts.
But the map splits the Kansas City area, with Wyandotte County divided into three districts. Porter said the move to pair parts of the Kansas City school district with more affluent counterparts in Johnson County hurt representation for all parties.
"They have totally different issues, and they need to be represented," he said. "They all have unique challenges, but they are completely different challenges."
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He said it was "disappointing" that legislators didn't address the board's core concerns, including the pairing of four incumbents, board members Ben Jones, R-Wichita, and Deena Horst, R-Salina, in District 7 and members Melanie Haas, D-Overland Park, and Janet Waugh, D-Kansas City, in District 2.
The debate is a reprise of criticism surrounding a set of GOP-authored congressional maps that divide Wyandotte County into two U.S. House districts. Those lines are currently the subject of a legal challenge, with a trial to begin next week in Kansas City, Kan.
But Masterson said he found the criticism from Porter and others "ironic," saying those opposed to the Congressional maps argued Johnson and Wyandotte counties should be bound together.
The same logic, he said, should apply for the state board of education.
And he questioned whether it would have a major impact on the composition of the board.
"You only have 10 members," he said. "There isn't a lot of effect."
But it could complicate matters for at least one Topeka-area district as well. Shawnee Heights USD would be included in board District 4, that wraps around into Johnson County, where the district's represent would likely live.
The remaining four Topeka districts would be in board District 6.
"I really think they should keep all of Topeka together," Mah said.
New maps could promote conservative push
Masterson said it was his hope that more conservative candidates ran for the state board. The body technically has a Republican majority, but debates there often have a different tone than the more conservative Legislature.
Some local school boards in many parts of the state, most notably metro Wichita and Kansas City, got more conservative in elections last fall, part of a shift many have attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I think there's a little bit of a disconnect," Masterson said. "I don't think many people know how their (state) reps and senators are, even less know who their state school board member is. I would love to have more interest in that. You're starting to see, particularly after COVID, how important education is and how important that board is."
But Porter disagreed.
"If there would be nefarious political motive to changing boundaries, I find that to be disappointing and poor leadership," he said.
More:Kansas K-12 classrooms are missing more than 12,000 students. Here's what that means for schools.
A more conservative state board isn't without precedent.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the board engaged in a debate over the teaching of evolution in schools, garnering national attention.
Mah said those debates were a "national joke" and predicted the new lines would pave the way for their return.
"It wouldn't take much of a shift to put us back in the bad old days," she said, "where we were arguing about evolution."
Andrew Bahl is a senior statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at abahl@gannett.com or by phone at 443-979-6100.