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Topic: School teachers

Sandy Praeger, Alecia Salisbury, Kansas

The Skirts – Conversation with former Senators Audrey Langworthy and Sandy Praeger, October 18, 2019

Interviewed by Joan Wagnon
The participants in this short Statehouse Conversation, former Kansas State Senators Audrey Langworthy and Sandy Praeger, reflect on the changes in attitudes toward women senators during their service. Three new Republican women were elected to the Senate in 1984. Because they shared an office, they frequently arrived in the Senate chamber together, causing their male colleagues to remark, "Here come the Skirts!" Langworthy and Praeger had both taught school, served on the same committees, and had also been elected to their respective city councils prior to running for the Senate. By the mid-1990's the number of women had increased significantly Show Moreso the differences were not so stark as before. 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 Melody McCray-Miller, April 21, 2022

Interviewed by Frances Jackson
Melody McCray-Miller describes her job as speaking truth to issues that were relevant at that time, and representing a group of people who were marginalized. Rep. Miller was not the "status quo." She doesn't consider herself a "politician" but instead, a public servant. Her concept of public policy or public service was influenced by the fact that she is a Black woman who was raised in a Black family. She is the daughter of Billy Q. McCray, the first African American Commissioner in Sedgwick County who also served as a state Senator. Show More One of her mentors described her as "tough as leather." Miller was in business with her husband, and also taught school prior to running for office. She detailed how she handled conflicts or incidents of racial discrimination by "pushing forward." The latter part of the interview deals with a variety of legislative issues McCray-Miller initiated or followed. Those issues ranged from early childhood education, to payday lending, juvenile justice and health policy. Show Less

Interview of Anthony Hensley, September 16, 2022

Interviewed by Alan Conroy
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley was first elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1976 at the age of 22. He moved to the Senate in 1992, finishing an unexpired term of Senator Nancy Parrish. His interview covers his 44 years in the House and Senate, and almost every issue the legislature dealt with in those years: taxes, reapportionment, school finance and labor issues, to name a few. His story about negotiating with Dick Bond to increase funding for schools is a "must read". Hensley's description of how the Brownback tax cuts were Show Moreenacted after the Senate reconsidered its vote to kill them is a lesson in how parliamentary maneuvering between House and Senate can have unexpected consequences. There are many stories about other leaders and other issues to illustrate how the legislature makes laws.

Highlights -- short excerpts from the interview

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Interview of Jack Wempe, January 23, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman
There is a 2021 interview of Jack Wempe in Statehouse Conversations that covers his legislative experience. This interview focuses on his experiences first as a student in a one-room school, next as a teacher, principal and superintendent in rural Kansas, then his legislative activities involving education issues, and finally, his service on the Kansas Board of Regents and interest in higher education. Wempe's experience covers the scope of education in Kansas over several decades of really critical change. His interviews covers school unification, changes in funding public schools, qualified admissions and a reorganization of higher education Show Morewith the Board of Regents assuming coordination of the nineteen community colleges. Show Less

Interview of Cynthia (Cindy) Lane, March 25, 2025

Interviewed by Mark Tallman
Cindy Lane's leadership has helped transform Kansas education to benefit Kansas children. This interview shows the impact she had on education policy, from special education to the Kansas Board of Regent's newest endeavor, the Blueprint for Literacy. This quote from Dr. Lane sums up the interview: "Most of my career in KCK as a leader was to focus on outcomes that actually transformed kids’ lives, that opportunity piece." From changes in special education , to court cases on school finance, to the Kansas Board of Regents, she is still working to transform kids' lives.

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 library. 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
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