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Election 2022: Find out where candidates stand on education issues


Posted Date: 06/22/2022

Election 2022: Find out where candidates stand on education issues

Questions about school funding, safety, vouchers and other education issues are certain to be front and center during the 2022 campaign season.

To find out where candidates stand on the major education issues, KASB has put together a list of questions that can be used during political forums or one-on-one meetings with candidates. These questions are simply suggestions and can be tailored for individual races.

The political party primaries are on August 2, and the general election is November 8. On the ballot are federal races for U.S. Senate and U.S. House. State offices on the ballot are for governor, attorney general, secretary of state, insurance commissioner, Kansas House, five State Board of Education seats and six of the seven Kansas Supreme Court justices.

As school leaders, we should encourage voter registration and voter participation. For people who are not registered yet to vote, you have until July 12 to register for the primary election and October 18 to vote in the general election.

Possible questions for Kansas House candidates:

  • If elected to the House, will you vote for or against continued cost of living adjustments called for under the Gannon school finance plan?
  • School districts are reporting increasing difficulty in hiring teachers and staff. What will you do to help schools attract and retain quality employees?
  • Students living at or below the poverty level tend to have the most difficult time in school. What steps can the state take to help change that situation?
  • If you are elected to the House, will you vote for or against legislation that would allow vouchers or education savings accounts to use taxpayer dollars to send students to private schools?
  • What is your opinion of the State Board of Education's “Kansans Can” vision and school redesign efforts?
  • Would you support a phased-in increase for special education funding to reach 92 percent of excess costs as directed by state law?
  • Do you support the Kansas Constitution when it comes to the K-12 public education system that the State Board of Education has general supervision of the system and that local public schools shall be maintained, developed and operated by local school boards?
  • Should school boards have the authority to take necessary steps, such as implementing mask requirements, to address contagious diseases?
  • Would you oppose or support efforts to allow or require school board candidates to run in partisan elections?
  • If you are elected to the House, will you vote for or against placing on the ballot a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would give the state Senate final approval of Kansas Supreme Court justice nominees, or that would have our state Supreme Court justices elected?
  • If you are elected to the House, will you vote for or against placing on the ballot a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would require a supermajority of legislators to approve new taxes or increases in taxes?
  • What do you think should be done to ensure that schools are safer?

Questions for gubernatorial candidates:

  • If you are elected governor, will you support or oppose continued cost of living adjustments called for under the Gannon school finance plan?
  • Students living at or below the poverty level tend to have the most difficult time in school. What steps can the state take to help change that situation?
  • If you are elected governor, will you sign into law or veto legislation that would allow vouchers or education savings accounts to send students to private schools?
  • School districts are reporting increasing difficulty in hiring teachers and staff. What will you do to help schools attract and retain quality employees?
  • What is your opinion of the State Board of Education's “Kansans Can” vision and school redesign efforts?
  • Would you support a phased-in increase for special education funding to 92 percent of excess costs as directed by state law?
  • Do you support the Kansas Constitution when it comes to the K-12 public education system that the State Board of Education has general supervision of the system and that local public schools shall be maintained, developed and operated by local school boards?
  • Should school boards have the authority to take necessary steps, such as implementing mask requirements, to address contagious diseases?
  • Would you oppose or support efforts to allow or require school board candidates to run in partisan elections?
  • What do you think should be done to ensure that schools are safer?

Questions for candidates for U.S. Senate and U.S. House:

  • Do you support increasing the federal government's portion of special education funding?
  • What do you think the federal government should do to help improve broadband internet access for Kansas students?
  • Students living at or below the poverty level tend to have the most difficult time in school. What steps can the federal government take to help change that situation?