good LTTE in The Star about the new educ commissioner

[proud2BlibKansan]

Schools commissioner

Recently I was checking the status of my teaching certificate online to remind myself of my renewal date, when I noticed that they had added my No Child Left Behind status of “highly qualified.”

I remember a few years ago filling out the No Child Left Behind paperwork to “prove” I was highly qualified. I was really miffed, because I had graduated from an NCATE-accredited program (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education) at the University of Kansas.

Now I want our newly hired education commissioner to fill out the same paperwork. Will he pass the test? No. He has degrees in speech and law. Where are his credentials? Where is his experience? His major work in life has been to lobby against public education.

Many people think that anyone can be an educator. But teaching is a profession, and educators have spent many years training for it. Would you want to go to a hospital where the head of surgery had a degree in speech and lobbied for health insurance companies? I hope that his contract is short and that the voters come to their senses. Pay attention, voters. This is more important than a presidential election.

Dorothy Hoyt-Reed

Lawrence


http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/opinion/12919900.htm

[coda]

1. Some comments about the former lobbyist

The sole staffer of two conservative "think tanks". LOL, I mean how ridiculous is a "one man think tank"?


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http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/oct/17/reviews_corkins_lobbyist_are_mixed/

Reviews of Corkins as lobbyist are mixed
By Scott Rothschild (Contact)

Monday, October 17, 2005

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The former chairwoman of the Senate Tax Committee Audrey Langworthy, a moderate Republican from Prairie Village, banned Corkins from her office in the late 1990s. Langworthy said Corkins was argumentative and under-handed. "Bob was definitely working with the ultraconservatives in the House," Langworthy said.

According to Corkins "there was an instance where Senator Langworthy did become angry" with him. But, he said, he and Langworthy have had several pleasant conversations since.

When asked about that, Langworthy said she had no recollection of having any pleasant conversations with Corkins after she banned him from her office. She said Corkins was the only person in her more than 15 years in the Senate that she asked not to come back to her office.

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Former Senate President Dick Bond, a moderate Republican from Overland Park, said he remembered legislators unhappy with Corkins.

"I do recall many of the (tax) committee members didn’t have a lot of respect for his testimony and questioned at times the information he gave the committee," Bond said. But, Bond said, he could remember no specifics.
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http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/oct/06/corkins_mum_finance/

Corkins mum on finance
Education commissioner doesn’t plan to back off conservative views
By Scott Rothschild (Contact)

Thursday, October 6, 2005


State Sen. Peggy Palmer, a conservative Republican from Augusta who founded KLEAR, said Corkins will make a great education commissioner.


"I think the education community will be pleasantly surprised,” Palmer said. "They’re going to find out that Bob is non-controversial and will put the children first."

Legislators paid $400 per year to become members of KLEAR and receive advice from Corkins on whether proposed legislation abided by the group’s principals of limited government — free enterprise, individual liberty and family values — Palmer said.

"He probably knows education better than most folks," she said.