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Kansas State Department of Education

Coordinates: 39°02′46″N 95°40′29″W / 39.046012°N 95.674697°W / 39.046012; -95.674697
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Kansas State Department of Education
Leadership and Support Through Student Learning
State education agency overview
FormedJanuary 14, 1969 (1969-01-14)
Preceding State education agency
  • Kansas Superintendent of Public Instruction
JurisdictionState of Kansas
Headquarters900 SW Jackson St, Topeka, KS 66612
Topeka, Kansas
39°02′46″N 95°40′29″W / 39.046012°N 95.674697°W / 39.046012; -95.674697
State education agency executive
  • Dr. Randy Watson, Commissioner of Education
Parent departmentState of Kansas
WebsiteKSDE Website

The Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) is a state agency responsible for administration of the state's K-12 education system. It is governed by a ten-member board, the State Board of Education, which appoints the Commissioner of Education.[1] The Board helps determine educational policy for the state's primary and secondary schools.[2]

Kansas State Board of Education

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Under the original Kansas Constitution adopted in 1859, the Superintendent of Public Instruction was established as a partisan elected office, with responsibility for overseeing the state's public school system.[3] In 1966, Kansas voters ratified a constitutional amendment that eliminated the elected Superintendent, replacing the position with a ten-member elected Board of Education with responsibility for appointing the Commissioner. The ten districts are drawn every ten years by combining four adjoining State Senate districts.[4]

Kansas State Board of Education Members[5]
Member District Party First elected Next election
Danny Zeck District 1 Republican 2022 2026
Melanie Haas District 2 Democratic 2020 2028
Michelle Dombrosky District 3 Republican 2018 2026
Connie O'Brien District 4 Republican 2024 2028
Cathy Hopkins District 5 Republican 2022 2026
Beryl A. New District 6 Democratic 2024 2028
Dennis Hershberger District 7 Republican 2022 2026
Betty Arnold District 8 Democratic 2020 2028
Jim Porter District 9 Republican 2014 2026
Debby Potter District 10 Republican 2024 2028

Intelligent design controversies

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Main article: Kansas evolution hearings

In 1999, the Board voted to eliminate most references to evolution, the age of the Earth, and the origin of the universe from the state's science standards and to remove these topics from the state's standardized tests. The Board relied heavily on material from the Creation Science Association of Mid America in constructing science standards that minimized the teaching of evolution.[6] The Board was awarded the Ig Noble Prize for the new rules.[7] However, after the 2000 elections altered the composition of the Board, it reversed its 1999 decision, instead requiring instruction on all those topics and restoring them to standardized tests.[8]

A shift after the 2004 election restored a conservative majority on the Board, which voted to adopt new science standards, effective in 2007, that mandated equal time for the theories of evolution and "intelligent design." The decision was condemned by Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius, who argued, "If we're going to bring high-tech jobs to Kansas and move our state forward, we need to strengthen science standards, not weaken them."[9] Finally, following yet another shift at the 2006 election, which elected a moderate majority, the Board reversed the decision and restored the state's original science-based standards.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "Article VI, Section 3". Constitution of Kansas. Kansas Secretary of State. 1859. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  2. ^ "About Us". Kansas State Department of Education. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  3. ^ Heller, Francis H. (2011). The Kansas State Constitution. Oxford University Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-19-977899-7. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  4. ^ Yeargain, Quinn (2023). "Shadow Districts" (PDF). Cardozo Law Review. 45 (2): 424, 448–49. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  5. ^ "Kansas State Board of Education". Kansas Department of Education. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  6. ^ Green, John C.; Rozell, Mark J.; Wilcox, Clyde, eds. (2003). The Christian Right in American Politics: Marching to the Millennium. Georgetown University Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0878403929.
  7. ^ "Ig Nobel Prize Winners". Improbable Research. Archived from the original on 2019-09-06. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  8. ^ Cavanagh, Sean (2005-05-10). "Kansas Hears from Critics of Evolution". Education Week. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  9. ^ Wilgoren, Jodi (2005-11-09). "Kansas Board Approves Challenges to Evolution". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  10. ^ "Kansas board boosts evolution education". NBC News. 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2025-02-15.

Further reading

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  • Kester, D., & Kester, J. (1985). History of the Kansas State Department of Education. Topeka, KS: Kansas Department of Education.
  • Throckmorton, A.F. (1967). Kansas Educational Progress: 1858-1967. Topeka, KS: Kansas State Department of Public Instruction.
  • Throckmorton, Adel F. (1960). Our Kansas System of Education. Topeka, KS: Kansas State Department of Public Instruction.
  • Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, Strategies Evolve as Candidates Prepare for Kansas Board Races. Science 3 February 2006 311: 588-589 DOI 10.1126/science.311.5761.588
  • Yudhijit Bhattarcharjee, Evolution Trumps Intelligent Design in Kansas Vote. Science 11 August 2006 313: 743 DOI 10.1126/science.313.5788.743
  • AAAS Board of Directors, On the Kansas State Board of Education Decision on the Education of Students in the Science of Evolution and Cosmology. Science 12 November 1999 286: 1297 DOI 10.1126/science.286.5443.1297b
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