Kansas State Board of Education races shape classrooms. Fund clear, candidate-by-candidate reporting.
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Two Republican candidates seeking to serve on the Kansas State Board of Education are competing for a spot on November’s general election ballot.
Jim McMullen, a business owner and former Blue Valley school board member, faces Steve Roberts, a licensed teacher, rideshare driver and tutor who previously served on the state board from 2013 to 2020.
The Johnson County Election Office says both candidates are from Overland Park. They are running to represent District 3, which covers southern Johnson County and northern Miami County. The seat is currently held by Republican Michelle Dombrosky, who is not running for reelection.
The winning candidate from the Aug. 4 primary election will run against Democrat Amy Diediker of Olathe in November. Diediker has no primary opponent.
The Kansas State Board of Education sets policies and accreditation standards for the state’s school districts. It’s recently discussed technology use in schools and named a new state commissioner of K-12 education.
With five Republican incumbents on the 10-member board not running for another term, some see this year’s election as a potential opportunity to shift the board’s political balance. The other five board members — including three Democrats — are not up for reelection for another two years.
We asked McMullen and Roberts how they would approach the board’s work, including the role of parents in education, whether schools should restrict technology and their top three priorities.
Both candidates responded, though Roberts did not directly select any options on the multiple-choice questions. In one case his written response was nearly identical to a multiple-choice option. For the remaining two questions, we marked his response as “other.”
Click the links below to jump to a question:
- Accreditation standards
- Parental rights
- Nonacademic subjects
- Top three priorities
- Assessing whether strategies are working
- Technology in schools
Meet the candidates
Jim McMullen
Occupation and employer: I am an investment banker and attorney by training. I am the owner of Royal Blue Capital, an Overland Park-based merchant banking firm that provides capital markets advisory services and makes principal investments. I am also the CEO of a local truck parts distribution business, AA Wheel & Truck Supply.
Background and qualifications: Early in my career I was a middle and high school English teacher.
For more information see: https://jimmcmullen4kansas.com/
Steve Roberts
Occupation and employer: I am a teacher. I just renewed my license. Also a self-employed rideshare driver in the Kansas City area. The World Cup has been very good for me the last few weeks. I have tutored math and physics for 30 years.
Background and qualifications: I hold a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri. I hold a master’s degree in education from Grand Canyon University. My Kansas teaching license has three endorsements: math, physics and earth-and-space science. Former Kansas State Board of Education member, 2013 through 2020.
For more information: robertsforeducation.com
Multiple-choice questions
Accreditation standards
Should the Kansas State Board of Education condense its accreditation standards and other regulations for school districts?
- Yes, schools should have more leeway to decide what is important to their communities.
- No, but we should consider seriously overhauling the standards in place.
- No, most of the standards the board already has in place are the correct ones.
- Other/Unsure
McMullen: For the most part, local school districts and the local citizens who serve on those boards are in the best position to know what their communities need. We should have high expectations in terms of academic requirements, while yielding to local boards to determine the best ways to implement.
Roberts: Schools should have more freedom to decide what is important to their communities, but we should consider seriously overhauling the standards in place. I will advocate for a greater distinction between primary and secondary schooling. There are many reasons for this. Please see “Steve’s Talking Points” at robertsforeducation.com.
Parental rights
Do Kansas parents need more opportunities to direct their children’s education and control what they are taught in public schools, such as exempting them from certain lessons?
- Yes, we need to create more opportunities for parents to intervene in what their children are taught.
- No, we already do a good job at letting parents direct their children’s education.
- No, it’s harmful for children to miss out on lessons that educators have determined are beneficial.
- Other/Unsure
McMullen: Parents must always retain the right to know, and when they have concerns, voice their concerns and be able to have their wishes honored.
Roberts: Yes, we need to create more opportunities for parents to help decide what their children are taught. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
Nonacademic subjects
Should Kansas schools place significant focus on things that are not directly related to core academic subjects, such as mental health, social-emotional learning, life skills and character development?
- Yes, if they are handled well.
- No, it’s rarely appropriate for schools to teach on those subjects.
- Some of those subjects are appropriate while others are not.
- Other/unsure
McMullen: Kansas schools need to remain very close to their foundational purpose, which is imparting academic knowledge to students. Rigorous academic expectations teach important life skills and provide the character-building traits that parents want to see in their children. Kansas schools’ misguided and detrimental deviation into nonacademic areas should be stopped.
Roberts: On the board I voted for “social and emotional character development.” If I had it to do over again, I would vote no. We were assured that parents would maintain longitudinal data. At this point, parents do not.
Short-answer questions
If elected to the board, what would be your top three priorities to improve education in Kansas?
McMullen:
- Knowledge first. Our schools must prioritize their primary purpose: equipping all students with a foundational body of knowledge. By committing to a rigorous, knowledge-rich curriculum, we ensure every student gains the building blocks he or she needs to excel. This means returning our classroom focus to measurable, scholastic achievement in reading, mathematics, science and history.
- Civic responsibility. Our schools must actively cultivate civic responsibility and uphold the high expectations that keep our state strong and free.
- Critical reasoning and independent thought. We must arm Kansas students with the intellectual tools to evaluate information logically and form their own conclusions, preparing them to successfully navigate a rapidly changing world.
Roberts: Let’s pay professional educators as professionals. Pay good teachers good money, pay very good teachers very good salaries, and excellent teachers should receive excellent pay. We must make faculty evaluations real. Ask students who the good teachers are, combined with administrative review, peer review and listening to parents.
Read.
Read “Steve’s Talking Points” at robertsforeducation.com; there is much to do.
How should the board assess whether its strategies to improve education are working?
McMullen:
- Improvement in scores on standardized tests, especially in reading and mathematics.
- Establishing measures to ensure middle and high school students are also able to competently read advanced materials and write long-form essays to a satisfactory level.
Roberts: Stop asking teachers and administrators how things are going. Start asking parents and students that question. Also, keying on averages tells a story for maintenance, not for reform.
What additional guidelines and/or restrictions would you like to see related to use of technology in schools, including but not limited to screen time in the classroom, artificial intelligence and personal electronic devices?
McMullen:
- There should be very little use of technology in the classroom because it serves to distract first and foremost. Frankly, nobody should have a personal electronic device in class at any level.
- However, teaching students to wisely use AI tools is important because these tools can be a force multiplier in terms of pulling and organizing information. It’s a tough balance because students have to train their minds so that they can augment their efforts through use of these tools.
Roberts: A greater distinction between primary school and secondary schools will help greatly. In short, limit technology in K-3. In secondary school, local boards and parents need to be welcomed into decision-making processes. Embrace technology for older students, not so much for primary school children.
Again, read “Steve’s Talking Points” at robertsforeducation.com.
I was part of developing the vision that Kansas leads the world in the success of each student. We can make good on that vision.
