Endorsements: Kansas Board of Education, the critically important elections no one’s talking about | Opinion

If you don't pay attention to any other endorsements we make this election season, pay attention to this one — Jeffrey Jarman and Betty Arnold are the reasonable choices for the Kansas State Board of Education in District 10 and District 8.

Both are Democrats, a disadvantage around these parts. But sadly, the Republican candidates for those two seats are both so abysmally unqualified that it should cause even the most dedicated straight-ticket GOP voter to think twice.

We're leading off our general election endorsements with these two races because they will very probably decide the ideological balance on the board, and in fact could be the most important votes that anyone in south-central Kansas will have a chance to cast in the November election.

Some background: the state Board of Education is split, with four members focused on political performance art, rather than providing high-quality schools and a safe and productive educational experience to the children of Kansas.

Should that faction gain majority control of the board in this election, we should prepare to revert to the really bad old days of the early 2000s, when cultural/religious wars dominated the board and "science standards" seeking to elevate creationism made our state a national laughingstock.

The current cautionary example for us lies just to the south in Oklahoma, where religious extremists with an agenda have taken control of the state school board and the office of superintendent of public instruction. The focus there now is on divisive hot-button issues like book banning , whitewashing American history and requiring all teachers from fifth to 12th grades to teach the Bible .

Oklahoma's superintendent, Ryan Walters, carried out a Soviet-style purge of the Education Department to get rid of dissenting voices and replace them with subordinates who can be counted on to never question his orders.

Our Kansas schools are No. 24 in the nation, according to US News and World Report rankings. Could be better, but Oklahoma's school system is 49th out of 50.

So that's why your choices for state school board are critically important.

Jarman over Potter, Rowe

Jarman is a lifelong educator, a 29-year veteran professor at Wichita State and director of the university's well-regarded Elliott School of Communications.

Moreover, he served eight years on the school board in Maize USD 266, one of the state's most successful school districts.

His opponent, Republican Debby Potter, home schooled some of her own eight kids and was a substitute teacher in Garden Plain for about three years.

One of Jarman's top priorities is to protect public education from false and bizarre attacks that have become commonplace in recent years — like the undying Internet rumor that schools have litter boxes for students who identify as cats, which has never happened, anywhere.

"People regularly repeat false and misleading things about what is happening in our schools," Jarman said. "And the board can and should be a vocal advocate to not just correct that misinformation, but to help share the stories of things that are going so well in all of our schools."

He also wants to work with the Legislature to make sure school funding remains adequate and equitable, which the Kansas Constitution requires. That standard was only officially achieved in February, after a 14-year court fight during which the original student plaintiffs grew to adulthood.

"The funding formula we have is a pretty good one, constitutional, finally, but it will expire in 2027," Jarman said. "We need a state board that will advocate to extend the funding formula, and work to encourage the Legislature to work on what I think are minor tweaks, things to help districts that are maybe declining due to population declines, to help make sure that the funding formula not just remains constitutional, but also protects communities where public schools are so important."

Potter, meanwhile, offers little clarity as to what she'd do on the board.

She declined to return a message seeking an interview and refused to answer written questions for The Eagle's Voter Guide — directing us to her website instead.

There, we can draw some clues of the kind of board member she'd be, mostly from a video of her speaking to a Republican women's club.

"I have all these grandchildren and I want them not to be indoctrinated away from, you know, their faith and away from their parents, and I feel like there's a lot of undermining of the families going on," she said.

There's not.

It's a running joke among teachers that if they had that power to indoctrinate their students, they'd indoctrinate them to put away their phones, sit down and pay attention in class.

Humor aside, what Potter and her type generally mean when they accuse schools of indoctrination is that the schools aren't allowing to indoctrinate other people's children to beliefs.

Potter says she's for "school choice" without really explaining what that means: The choice to attend any public school in the district? The choice to go to another district? Diverting tax money to vouchers to pay for private school tuition? Paying tax dollars to parents to home school their own kids?

Who knows?

Jarman has the education, professional experience, school-board track record and good judgment to make an outstanding state board member.

Potter has buzzwords — and not even reassuring ones at that.

The race is a complicated one because there's a third-party candidate on the ballot.

His name is Kent Rowe and he's representing the Green Party.

The main thrust of his campaign is to equip schools with solar panels to generate clean electricity for themselves and create an additional revenue stream by selling excess power to the electric company.

He's not a flake: He has a PhD in engineering from WSU and has served on national energy panels.

But we can't recommend voting for him right now. Like most third-party efforts, his campaign is less than robust and about all he could accomplish is to be a spoiler for Jarman, who needs all the votes he can get.

This endorsement isn't even close. Jarman in District 10.

Arnold over Carmichael

The race for the District 8 seat is equally clear cut.

Arnold understands as well as anyone that times have changed for schools, and she has a record as a thoughtful and forward-looking board member.

"We are facing a crisis of teacher shortage, declining enrollment and a growing demand for students and teachers safety. This is not a fix that rests solely on the Board of Education, but instead will require the willingness from all stakeholders to lead the way," she wrote in response to our questionnaire. "It takes time and dedication to understand all the nuances in and around the institution of education."

Her opponent is Jason Carmichael, fresh off losing a USD 259 board race last year.

Campaign-wise, he seems to be counting on the R next to his name to attract voters (which in Kansas elections often works when voters don't do their homework).

He has a Facebook page: "Jason For Kansas Depart (sic) of Education District 8."

There's not a lot there — a Bible verse, some thoughts about COVID shutdowns and other random stuff, and this statement about his candidacy: The "vision" of the Kansas Board of Education is way out of date. It's time for a new Vision. My goals are to change the food served, demand physical fitness, and enforce individual academic achievement."

Well, OK, anybody who's ever eaten in a school cafeteria knows the food could be better, and physical fitness is good. How he plans to "enforce" academic achievement is anybody's guess.

Arnold is the obvious choice.

These last two years, the Kansas Board of Education has shown it can absorb four ideologues and/or cranks without too much damage.

But for some reason, it's a 10-member board, so a 5-5 split would mean gridlock and a 6-4 majority would have Kansas following Oklahoma in its race to the bottom.

So on Election Day, Tuesday Nov. 5, vote for Jarman and Arnold like the future of this state depends on it — because it does.

Someday, your well-educated children will thank you.

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