Topic: Technical College
Interview of Dale Dennis, August 28, 2020
Interviewed by Andy Tompkins
People interested in the development of education policy in Kansas will find no better resource than this 2020 oral history interview with Dale Dennis, Deputy Commissioner of Education. The interview was conducted by Dr. Andy Tompkins, a former Kansas Commissioner of Education. During the interview, Dennis speaks candidly about policy development, identifying the issues and the legislators who were intrinsically involved. The interview covers the 1972 lawsuit which was the first dealing with issues of equity in school funding. Twenty years later, a 1992 school finance lawsuit again challenged the lack of equalization which rendered the formula unconstitutional. Dennis explains Show Morein detail the process by which the Legislature, Governor Joan Finney, Speaker Marvin Barkis, and others went about addressing the Court's concerns. By 2000 the Legislature had again failed to fund the school finance formula fully and the Montoy lawsuit arose. Another case, Gannon, began in 2010. This time the problem was the adequacy of the funding to meet constitutional requirements. Moving on from school finance lawsuits, the interview covers school consolidation and related issues of local control. Dennis explains why he started offering budget workshops to school administrators, including the development of software and the use of computers. This interview includes a brief discussion of the 1999-2000 legislation that moved state oversight of community colleges and technical schools (later termed technical colleges) from the Kansas Department of Education to the Kansas Board of Regents.
Highlight -- short excerpt from the interview
Interview of Jack Wempe, January 23, 2025
Interviewed by Mark Tallman
This oral history interview of Jack Wempe 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. Wempe's experience covers the scope of education in Kansas over several decades of critical change. His interview covers school unification, changes in funding public schools, qualified admissions, and reorganization of higher education with the Board of Regents assuming coordination of the nineteen community colleges. Difficult Changes
Highlight -- short excerpt from the interview
Another interview of Wempe is included in the Statehouse Conversations collection on this site. Show Less
Interview of Ed Berger, May 12, 2025
Interviewed by Mark Tallman
This oral history interview of Ed Berger, former State Senator and former President of Hutchinson Community College, focuses on the role of the community college in the educational system of Kansas. Community colleges were chartered in the 1960's in Kansas and required voter approval of a local referendum approved to begin operation. Seward, Barton, and Johnson counties were the last three to charter their respective community colleges in 1969. By 1990 there was a move to change governance of community colleges to the Kansas Board of Regents. That measure was not enacted. Berger's Show Moreinterview focuses on the community aspect of these institutions and how their educational goals change as community needs mature. Distance learning, technical education, and linkages with economic activity of the communities are highlighted in the interview. Berger describes his service in the Kansas Senate as it tried to unwind the "Brownback Tax Experiment" which had led to disruption of state finances. Berger's outlook is best described in this quote: "... Kansans are creative and resilient and... will find a way to adjust to it and still serve its public well..." Show Less