By JOHN HANNA
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers have given final approval to a redistricting measure that's likely to preserve Republican supermajorities in the Legislature while possibly moving the state school board to the right.
The state Senate on Wednesday night approved, 29-11, a single bill containing plans for its members, the House and the State Board of Education, shortly after the House approved it, 83-40. The measure goes next to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, and Republican leaders appear to have the two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override a veto.
Top Republicans largely drew the new political boundaries, but the lines had bipartisan support in both chambers. Some Democratic senators liked their new districts, and most House members were pleased with theirs.
The new State Board of Education map drew an unusual amount of attention this year. The board had a rival plan likely to retain its current centrist majority, while Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, hopes to elect more conservatives.
Kelly hasn't weighed in publicly on the state school board map, but she said in an interview earlier this week that the House and Senate maps seemed “as fair to the incumbents as the numbers would allow.”
“I actually think they did a pretty good job on that,” she said.
The Kansas Constitution requires the Legislature to redraw districts once every decade to make them as equal in population as possible after population shifts. Southeast, central and parts of western Kansas lost population over the last 10 years, while the Wichita area and northeast Kansas saw gains.
If Kelly signs the measure, the Kansas Supreme Court automatically will review the maps.
Republicans expect the new maps to allow them to keep roughly the same majorities of 29-11 in the Senate and 86-39 in the House.
While the State Board of Education has a 6-4 Republican majority, it's controlled by Democrats and GOP moderates.
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican legislators in Kansas are pushing a redistricting plan that the state Senate’s top GOP leader hopes will move the state school board to the right and give conservatives more say over what’s taught in public schools.
The Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would redraw the districts for the 10-member elected State Board of Education so that districts are as equal in population as possible after a decade of shifts across Kansas. The 31-8 vote sent the measure to the House, and lawmakers expect to give final approval to new lines for board districts and for their own districts before the Republican-controlled Legislature begins its annual spring break Saturday.
Republicans hold a 6-4 majority on the state school board, but it has become far less conservative than the Legislature. The board sets curriculum guidelines for public schools, and from 1999 until 2007, Kansas endured international ridicule over debates about teaching evolution in its public schools as the board adopted five sets of science standards in eight years and its majority seesawed between conservatives and a Democratic-moderate GOP coalition.
Senate President Ty Masterson, a conservative Andover Republican and the redistricting plan’s architect, said he’s hoping for “more vibrant conversation” among board members about education policy “instead of one monolithic vision.”
“It would be good if there were more conservatives on the board,” Masterson said during an interview. “You have these offices that need more attention because we need more discussion on that, so the result is the State Board of Education doesn’t reflect Kansas.”
Conservative lawmakers are frustrated that the board hasn’t moved on its own to limit what can be taught about race and the role of racism in U.S. history or to make it easier to remove materials from classrooms and libraries.
“Their responses to parents’ concerns have not been as robust as I would probably have hoped,” said Rep. Kristey Williams, a conservative Augusta Republican and chair of a House committee on education spending. “Kansans are generally to the right of many of our board members.”
Redrawing state board districts traditionally has been an afterthought for lawmakers, with plans attached to state House and Senate maps just before they clear the Legislature. Each board district is four state Senate districts, so top House Republicans plan to defer to GOP senators’ wishes.
Board members have their own map, one more likely to preserve the political status quo. That proposal avoided putting two incumbents in any district.
Board member Ann Mah, a Topeka Democrat, said the board’s plan would ensure that it continues to “stand up” to the Legislature.
As for Masterson, Mah said, “If he could mess it up and have a weak board that the Legislature could control, that would be, you know, right up his alley.”
GOP lawmakers’ plan would pair Republican board members Ben Jones, of Sterling, and Deena Horst, of Salina, in a central Kansas district. In the Kansas City area, Democratic board members Janet Waugh, of Kansas City, and Melanie Haas, of Overland Park, would share a district.
The measure also would carve up the Kansas City, Kansas, area among three board districts, while the board’s plan would split it between two. The area is in a single district now, represented by Waugh.
“Carving it up with what appears to be a more partisan divide is a little unsettling,” said Democratic state Sen. David Haley, of Kansas City, adding that minority communities could lack “a clear voice” in board debates.
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