Kansas State Board of Education Prevention

You may recall that a week or two ago I mentioned I was looking for information on the Kansas State Board of Education members. I had emailed to inquire about additional information. As of yet, my email has not been answered.

However, today a friend sent this email to me about an organization that seems to want to address these issues. I'm putting it here for any of you who might also be interested in joining forces. The pertinent information is www.ksalliance.org.

Here's the information:

Dear Friends:

Over the last several months many Kansans have become alarmed by the actions of the six member social conservative majority on the Kansas State Board of Education. These six have been preoccupied with inappropriate science standards and unnecessary opt-in sex education guidelines. Recently they have hired a Kansas Commissioner of Education whose qualifications for the job are woefully inadequate. It is becoming increasingly apparent that they are more concerned with promoting their own narrow agenda than they are with preparing the children of Kansas to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

I want to introduce you to the Kansas Alliance for Education (KAE), a newly formed group of individuals who have come forward to say enough is enough. The KAE does not consist of professional activists or political operatives but rather citizens willing to take a leadership role to ensure high quality education for all students. The KAE is non-partisan and will be involved in all five Kansas State Board of Education races in 2006. Members of KAE come from all over the state, are from both parties, and have diverse backgrounds. Their common interest is making a change in the Kansas State BOE, and the sole focus of KAE will be working for the re-election of the one moderate and replacement of the four social conservative incumbents who are up for re-election in 2006.

The Kansas Alliance for Education has adopted the following principles:

Moderate and informed educational policy best prepares children for the 21st century

Public education must be available for all children residing in the state

Quality public education is the key to social and economic vitality

The group is organized as a Political Action Committee and will be raising money to inform the public about issues pertinent to the State Board of Education. The KAE will also stress the importance of voting in the 2006 Primary and General Elections and provide information about their endorsed candidates. This is going to be true grass roots politics.

Our common interest is to return quality as the focal point of the Kansas State Board of Education decision-making. Our goal is to retain Janet Waugh, the moderate past president of the board, and to return a common sense voice to the board by replacing the other four members up for election in 2006: John Bacon, Iris Van Meter, Ken Willard, and Connie Morris.

The KAE web site www.ksalliance.org is now operational. The web site will contain information about not only the issues you are concerned about but about candidates in the five races and how to contact them. There will also be a link to Pay Pal for those who would prefer to contribute electronically. The information on the web site will change frequently so please visit often so you have the latest �scoop�.

If you share our concerns and have wondered what you can do, I have a few suggestions. The first thing you can do is to make a contribution. You can contribute through the KAE website, www.ksalliance.org. Second, you can share this message by adding your personal comments and forwarding it on to family and friends. If you do so, please cut and paste or use the attached documents. In this way the message stays clean and free of an ever expanding list of email addresses. Third, as the movement picks up steam you can volunteer to man booths and/or hand out literature at county fairs and other community functions. And finally, if you can do nothing else, cast an informed vote for candidates who will put quality first, not ideology, when it comes to our children�s education.

Best regards,

Don Hineman, Chairman
Kansas Alliance for Education
116 S. Longhorn Rd.
Dighton, KS 67839

620-397-2504 (home)
620-397-7552 (fax)