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Topic: Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB)

Kansas House Speaker Robin Jennison

Interview of Robin Jennison, October 4, 2019

Interviewed by Jim McLean
Jim McLean’s interview of Robin Jennison is lengthy but full of interesting stories and anecdotes about what went on in the legislature in the last decade of the 20th Century. McLean teases out both the politics and policy from Jennison’s experiences in the House with the 1992 school finance bill and his Republican alternative. Jennison shares his philosophy on how to fund schools, lower property taxes, leadership races and his rapid rise to Speaker in the 1999-2000 sessions. The strategy he used to pass the 1999 transportation bill out of the House is clever. There is Show Morean anecdote about replacing carpet in the Judicial Center and what it took to get that appropriation passed. Jennison describes his role as Secretary of Wildlife and Parks and working under Governor Brownback. Show Less
Jo Ann Pottorff, Kansas

Interview of Jo Ann Pottorff, October 9, 2020

Interviewed by Patty Clark
Former Kansas State Representative Jo Ann Pottorff describes her best legislative work as getting the Parents as Teachers program passed. With her background in education, she saw opportunity for this program to make a difference for children. Pottorff’s policy interests were education, financing the work of the legislature, and funding schools. In order to pursue those interests, she secured an assignment to the House Appropriations Committee early in her tenure. Over the course of her service in the Legislature her interests broadened. Pottorff was assigned to the Joint Committee on State Building Construction, which she chaired for a Show Moretime, and as a member of that Committee was involved in the renovation of the Capitol building. At the national level, Pottorff worked with National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) and the Women's Legislative Network which allowed her to meet other women in office and to travel internationally, to Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Germany. Pottorff describes the changes in the culture of the legislature during her years of service (1985-2012). She notes the rise in partisanship and inter-party divisions evidenced by the fact that she was often targeted in a Republican primary election when she sought renomination. Show Less

Interview of Ben Scott, January 14, 2022

Interviewed by Joan Wagnon
Ben Scott describes his life of service as an activist for schools and the community as well as his church. Scott's early experiences with segregation and racism informed his later activities as a member of the Board of Education in Topeka as the district sought to achieve racial balance in its public schools. The desegregation plans he and Sherman Parks Jr. developed in 1990's were instrumental in dismissing the federal lawsuit against the district. Scott was a leader in the Topeka and Kansas NAACP. He pointed out their priorities were finding enough Black teachers as Show Morewell as improving housing. Racial profiling was another NAACP concern that he carried to the Kansas legislature along with his concerns about student achievement and teachers having enough resources. In his interview, Rep. Scott talks candidly about racism in the juvenile justice system, racial profiling, Critical Race Theory (CRT), and the role of the church in dealing with racism. His hopes for continued legislative service were derailed by loss of election in 2016; however, he still pushes for developing standards for teaching Black history.

Highlights -- short excerpt from the interview

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Interview of Carolyn Campbell, March 25, 2022

Interviewed by Eric. Sexton
Mrs. Campbell, as she is known around the Statehouse, has experienced an important part of state history in Kansas government. Following her 1991 retirement from Southwestern Bell, she has served countless numbers of elected legislators; then using that experience , she became an elected official in her own right in local and state school board positions. becoming the first African American to serve on the Kansas Board of Education. Mrs. Campbell started her interview with this: "I am a proud product of segregation. I tell that because folks sometimes think, “Oh, that’s too bad,” Show Morebut I want everybody to know that as a black child in Topeka with the four all-black elementary schools that we had, we got excellent education, and we were told that we could be whatever we wanted to be, and we were valued every day. " This interview covers her experiences as a 12 year member of the Topeka Public Schools Board of Education, and later her eight year term as a member of the State Board of Education where she was the first African American elected to this post.

Highlights -- short excerpts from the interview

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Interview of Andy Tompkins, January 13, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman
Dr. Andy Tompkins has had a leading role in education in Kansas that started in 1970 when he was hired to teach English in Hugoton. That job quickly became Principal and then Superintendent of 3 different districts until he was tapped in 1996 as Commissioner of Education. The interviewer, Mark Tallman skillfully leads Tompkins through the changes that have taken place in public education in Kansas over the years. His interview touches on special education, "A Nation at Risk", the movement to improve education, standards and the 1992 School Finance Reform Act. Tompkins is able to Show Moreexplain why things changed and with what result; Tallman has also been active in education with the Kansas Association of School Boards and the two, together lay out the changing educational landscape from 1970 - 2020 including what was happening in higher education. After leaving the commissioner's office, Tompkins began teaching at the college level, then became Dean of the College of Education in Pittsburg, and later, President and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents and interim President of both Wichita State and Fort Hays Universities. The portrait of Andy Tompkins that emerges from this interview is one of skilled leadership, a trusted leader committed to improving education for all. Show Less

Interview of Frank Henderson, May 21, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman
At the time when a group of high school students discovered that Fred Seaman, the namesake of District 345 was the Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920's, Frank Henderson was President of the Seaman School Board. His interview describes the process the board went through to investigate and analyze the students' recommendations to change the district name. At the end of the process, the name stayed, but Fred Seaman's photo and memorabilia were removed from the school buildings and placed in the museum. They aligned the district with the community, not Fred Seaman's Show Moreviews. He said the outcome didn't satisfy anyone but it was unanimous. Henderson's interview describes many challenging situations at the local, state and national level as he served on various state and national boards of education. Henderson and Tallman's exchange highlights major issues in education that affected school boards and local communities. The interview reflects Henderson's view that "Every Student Matters." He believes, "we, as fellow humans, have the responsibility to see the value in every person and do what we can to ...help that person fulfill their potential." Show Less

Interview of Connie Hubbell, May 21, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman
Connie Hubbell is well-known in state government circles as an effective advocate for education, mental health and health care for seniors. She ran for the state board of education, winning three terms and later served as President of the National State Boards of Education organization. One of her significant accomplishments while on the Kansas state board was leading the board to mandate human sexuality AIDS education in Kansas public schools. Another was the inclusion of special education students into regular classrooms which began under her leadership of the National Association of State Boards of Education. Show MoreShe followed that experience with a run for Lt. Governor on the ticket with gubernatorial hopeful Senator Fred Kerr. Although they were not successful, three governors have subsequently noticed her management skills and offered her positions in their administrations, beginning with Governor Graves who appointed her Secretary of Aging. She has been an effective lobbyist for health care organizations, retiring as Director of Governmental Affairs for the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services in 2021. Show Less

Interview of Sue Peterson, May 13, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman
Dr. Peterson reflects on how she became involved in state politics and how her various positions in the executive and legislative branches taught her “the process” it took to get anything accomplished in the Statehouse. She later used these experiences in her role as the Assistant to the President at Kansas State to help the university secure significant opportunities. The interview is replete with stories about people and programs they championed. These opportunities included KSU’s selection as the location for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility and the merging of the Kansas Technical Institute in Salina into K-State Salina. Show MoreDr. Peterson shares that her role was “to advocate, and to educate, and…to defend” her institution. Show Less

Interview of Christy Levings, June 9, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman
Christy Levings’ interview highlights how schools and educators have adapted to significant changes in education over the past fifty years and how professional organizations such as the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) and Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB) worked together in making those changes. Levings spent time as a national and state officer in the NEA and worked in forty-two different states. She credits her undergraduate years at Washburn University with instilling in her the need for “learning all the time…being a scholar.” Throughout her professional career, she has been committed to helping teachers and administrators Show Moreimprove their skills and the educational opportunities of their students and to advocating for the teaching profession. Show Less
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