Dismantling the Kansas Department of Education

Education: Local, Local, Local and the Cabal of Tax Incentive Funded Candidates

Whew, what a week!! I drove nearly 1,000 miles going to Abilene, Salina, Ellis, Scott City, Garden City, Dodge City, Ellinwood, Hutchinson, Andover and finally Pittsburg to participate in the Crawford County Republican Party gubernatorial debate/forum.

In Garden City I spoke at the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association (KIOGA). Such a delight, a room full of down to earth, common-sense folks. I enjoyed the opportunity to give them some straight talk. I hope my remarks were refreshing after a deluge of platitudes from career politicians Ty Masterson, Jeff Colyer and Scott Schwab dodging the fact of their support for GREEN ENERGY tax incentives (green as in pockets of big developers) while the small independent oil and gas operators are taxed to kingdom come!!

Here are my opponents’ campaign finance reports. You will see all of the people/organizations who benefit from tax giveaways – YOUR MONEY – such as developers, the Kansas Bankers Association, the Kansas Contractors Association, engineering firms etc. etc. Pay to play is on full display.

Ty Masterson Finance Report

Jeff Colyer Finance Report

Scott Schwab Finance Report

Philip Sarnecki was a no-show at KIOGA, he had a family issue. However, his bio was read and not to worry, his campaign finance report clearly shows his membership in the tax incentive cabal. He has received a maximum contribution of $4,000 from the Dunn Construction’s CEO Stephen Dunn (contractor for the Star Bond funded American Royal project). In addition, Sarnecki received contributions from other developers/contractors who use tax giveaways/incentives for their projects. These are tax dollars giveaways – your money!!! Campaign finance report link below:

Philip Sarnecki Finance Report

Folks, this cabal of four are all fishing from the same pond of contributors.

Next, a correction on last week’s column. I inadvertently had 2 Democrats on the list with the RINO Republicans who voted against SB 254 which would have saved US $600 million a year by no longer funding services for illegal aliens. They were Senator Patrick Schmidt (District 19) and Representative Pam Curtis (District 32). Thank you, Henry McClure, for catching that error!!!

So, now onto the subject of today’s column: Education or rather the crumbling failure of providing an education for our children.

Let’s begin with the ACT scores in Kansas which have fallen from 21.9 in 2015 to 19 in 2025. In addition, Kansas students’ college readiness score is now a horrifying 17%!! That is correct, 83% of our high school graduates are NOT college ready. I guess that means the first 2 years of college are remedial classes?? Unbelievable, academically crippling our children while YOU and I are paying nearly $19,000 per student for this failure. For more details here is the link to Kansas Policy Institute’s article: https://kansaspolicy.org/kansas-leads-the-world-in-act-score-declines/

The test scores are so abysmal on statewide assessments that the Kansas State Board of Education (KSBE) recently re-normed the tests in an attempt to gin up the public face of the failing system. The board’s attitude appears to be if the kids can’t read, write or do math (obviously math in the box, Common Core, is rotten to the core) lower the standards. KSBE earns an F by stooping so low in promoting a false narrative of success by lowering the grade scale. So, is an F now an A?

Ok, enough of this!!! This is inexcusable, we are failing our children, cheating the taxpayers and calling indoctrination education. What to do?

1. Stop taking federal funds. You take federal dollars and the feds control education with the nationalization standardization indoctrination of school curriculum. This 20-year experiment brought to us by REPUBLICAN President George W. Bush has crashed and burned but no one seems to notice.

2. Close the Kansas State Department of Education. This paper shuffling bureaucracy is costing us $300 million each and every year and does nothing for our kids. The State Board of Education is ensconced in our State Constitution so their job can be setting graduation standards of how many credits of math, science, history, English etc. No gender studies will be tolerated.

3. Empower local control, all curriculum decisions at the local level. Each and every district must be free to build curriculum that their community wants and supports: real reading (phonics a must and all obscene books out of the library), real writing (throw the computers out until at least 9^th grade) and real math (liberate numbers from boxes) along with real history, real science, music and art. Oh, yes, art and music are a must along with good stretches of being outside being a kid. An hour lunch break, 30-minute recesses morning and afternoon. Those are my suggestions, but the locals are in charge.

I get howls of, what about setting standards, what about oversight? Well, if we trust each other to stay in our lane barreling down our 2 lane highways at 70 MPH, surely we can trust the local board and patrons to have enough common sense to know how to educate THEIR children in THEIR community. The locals can’t possibly top the HORRID failure of our current system of federalization and statism.

I am asked frequently what are you going to do to help small towns. A big part of the answer is freeing our local communities to control their schools. As we move into this new world of AI what will be valued and sought after is AUTHENTICITY and UNIQUICNESS which is the wheelhouse of small towns in Kansas. If we unshackle these communities’ schools from the state and federal education mandates small towns will have the opportunity to blossom. Freedom folks, trusting our neighbors to do the right thing.

A great example of a community escaping this prison of federal and state control, without legislation, is St. Marys. During COVID this community built a church costing at least $47 million built with donations, no mortgage!!! They have a wonderfully successful classical education school, which takes no public money and the community is THRIVING.

Ok, let’s see, faith focused, school de-leashed from government = success.

Gee, who would have ever guessed.

God Bless, Keep your Eyes on Jesus,
Charlotte O’Hara
Republican for Kansas Governor, 2026