I have thick skin. You can’t be a grassroots advocate without it. But, I have to say that as a supporter of public schools I have never been more insulted than I was today to see that Bob Corkins has been invited to speak to the House Appropriations Committee about school finance. Seriously, I about fell out of my chair.
Corkins, you may remember, was the long-time lobbyist for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce who had a brief tenure as the state’s commissioner of education. Corkins’ entire career has been spent as an ultra-conservative political activist, not an educator, and was appointed to the education commissioner’s post by the same clique of right-wing state board of education members who tried once again to take evolution out of the state’s science standards.
You may also remember that the appointment of Corkins to the commissioner’s job was so galling to so many Kansans that the state board majority that hired him was turned out of office in the next election. Corkins soon resigned to avoid the stigma of being summarily fired.
So what is Corkins doing back in Topeka talking about school finance? And why would anyone listen?
I’m sure conservative lawmakers demanded it after former commissioner Andy Tompkins testified last month. But the key player in setting the Appropriations Committee agenda and selecting “expert” witnesses is the committee chair: Rep. Kevin Yoder of Overland Park, who originally ran for office representing a Shawnee Mission Schools-based district as a supposed “moderate.”
Yes, the “moderate” Kevin Yoder is inviting to his committee, and giving a high-profile platform, to the same Bob Corkins whose right-wing anti-school agenda was so intense and ill-mannered that longtime Republican state Rep. Audrey Langworthy – a true champion of public education and the Shawnee Mission district – banned Corkins from entering her office.
According to an article in the Lawrence Journal-World, “Langworthy said Corkins was argumentative and under-handed. ‘Bob was definitely working with the ultraconservatives in the House,’ Langworthy said.”
So what has Bob Corkins been doing since he left the education department? He’s been working for the Flint Hills Policy Center; the conservative think tank funded by what we suspect is Koch Industries. We’ll never know for sure because their not-for-profit status does not require them to list their contributors.
So now the House Appropriations Committee will hear from yet another Flint Hills Policy Center employee, this will make number three! Do they care what parents think? Do they care what teachers think? Obviously NO! Folks, it is time to start thinking about who is running this committee, an elected representative or the Flint Hills Policy Center. To my knowledge the people of Kansas did not elect FHPC to represent them.
It is also time for Rep. Kevin Yoder to remember that FHPC and Koch Industries are not part of his district, but every homeowner in his district depends on the Shawnee Mission School District as the foundation of their property values.
