At its April board meeting, the Kansas State Board of Education couldn’t decide how to react to the U.S. Department of Education’s request to certify compliance with Title VI of the U.S. Civil Rights Act, including the elimination of DEI. Then, suddenly, last week, KSDE Education Commissioner Randy Watson sent a letter saying Kansas would not violate Title VI, but Watson’s letter leaves several unanswered questions.
Watson’s vague, if not duplicitous, behavior through this episode also calls into question the ready salute he and KSDE have offered at points in the past. We’ll save for another day how federal reinterpretation is bad for our constitutional order and Kansas students. The point is, KSDE, et al jump when they want and slow walk when they can.
The Sentinel received the letter in an Open Records request to KSDE General Counsel Scott Gordon, and followed up with several questions:
- Did the State Board of Education sign off on the letter?
- Did the Commissioner sign the Requested Title VI Certification?
- Does KSDE have written certification from each school district that DEI programs have been eliminated?
At this writing, Gordon has not responded to any of our questions.
Once again, KSDE demonstrates with this action that it has zero credibility and no interest in being transparent with Kansans or the Legislature. Last week, The Sentinel exposed two other credibility issues: Watson is unwilling to explain conflicting claims about students below grade level in reading and math, and KSDE unjustly attacked state auditors who documented multiple violations in the state’s adult virtual education program.
The State School Board is charged with oversight of the Department of Education, but current and past board members have generally allowed KSDE staff to run the show. State law requires the Board of Education to have an accreditation system based on academic improvement, but that law has been routinely ignored (along with other laws), resulting in serious declines in student outcomes.
In 2015, 32% of Kansas graduates who took the ACT were college-ready in English, Reading, Math, and Science. KSDE and State School Boards have watched that steadily fall, to just 18% last year, doing little more than offering a flurry of excuses and threatening to sue the Legislature when it tries to intervene.
KSDE makes it abundantly clear that it will not change its ways. The only way many students, especially those economically disadvantaged, will get the education they deserve is for State Board of Education members to take charge and compel change.
And if they won’t act very soon, students will have to look to voters.
