KSBOE member Walt Chappell questions the validity of a reprimand he received from Board Chair Janet Waugh. the reprimand chastised Chappell for speaking about education issues outside of Board meetings and not being in agreement with other board members. Chappell pointed out that other Board members who speak out but agree with the Board have not been reprimanded.

Kansas Board of Education member Walt Chappell, D-Wichita, objected during Wednesday’s Board meeting to a reprimand he received from Board Chair Janet Waugh on Nov. 18. It’s not the first time Chappell has faced a challenge to what he sees as his free speech rights and his duty as a Board member.

Waugh and other board members who supported the reprimand claim a Nov. 11 interview on KAKE-TV violated the unity of the board and caused damage to school districts in their BOE districts. Waugh’s reprimand letter also objected to Chappell being identified by a caption on the KAKE appearance as a state BOE member.

The reprimand said, “The statements you made were your opinions; however, the caption below your name referred to you as Kansas Board of Education.”

Chappell pointed out that fellow Board member David Dennis, R-Wichita, also appeared on KAKE the same day, with the same caption. “It was OK for Dave to speak but it wasn’t OK for me because I was saying something different from the party line. Not saying the sky was falling.”

During Wednesday’s meeting Waugh acknowledged she drafted the letter with the advice of the Board’s attorney, Mark Ferguson, but without a vote of the board. She said this is only the second time since the 1980s a member of the board has been reprimanded.

Chappell questioned Waugh’s authority to issue a reprimand. “She had no authority and I asked specifically, is there something in the bylaws, in policy, in guidelines, in statutes? Where is the authority that you had?”

Chappell says he’s not interested in confrontation and wants to work with the Board to find solutions. “The point is to get the ideas out on the table, get some ideas out of our various perspectives so we can make sound decisions. We need to make sure we allow free and open discussion and that’s the best way to come up with public policy.”

The reprimand made several references to Chappell’s statements being contrary to the Board:

• “… you made statements not supported or endorsed by the Kansas State Board of Education …”
• “… a majority of the Board was unwilling to support your opinions.”
• “During these difficult financial times, it is absolutely critical that the State Board work collaboratively as a team to assist districts and schools.”

Board member Sally Cauble, R-Liberal, said the immense budget pressures schools are experiencing now make it important for the Board to speak with one voice on budget matters.

“I believe in freedom of speech,” Cauble said. “But with that freedom comes responsibility.

“We are a team. We are not individuals. I think the only one who can monitor us is us,” she said.

“This individual action, this freedom of speech, hurt my district. I don’t know how we are going to take care of this problem, but it is a problem,” Cauble said.

Board members and other educators have expressed a range of reactions — including disbelief and frustration — at Chappell’s line of inquiry and his reminders about districts’ unencumbered cash balances.

Chappell has contended the funds could be used to help fill the budget shortfall without resorting to draconian cuts, a tax increase or asking other state agencies to take even greater cuts.

For example, in early November, Topeka school board members and the district’s superintendent said a $2.7 million reduction in state aid would cause them to consider closing two elementary schools and laying off teachers. According to KSDE data the Topeka district, USD501, had $4.6 million in contingency reserve funds as of July 1 and $23.8 million in unencumbered operating funds. USD501 officials have not responded to questions from KansasWatchdog about their statements.

During November’s meeting Board member Sue Storm stated, “Please, let’s stop talking about this $1.3 billion in unencumbered funds.” Storm made the comment after an exchange between Chappell and Deputy Commissioner of Education Dale Dennis. Dennis said districts could use a large portion of $699 million in unencumbered cash in various operating funds without intervention by the Legislature. At Tuesday’s meeting he said some school districts did not have sufficient unencumbered cash to over expenses while waiting for late state payments — but most did.

The recent episode isn’t the first time Chappell has run afoul of the state education bureaucracy. After numerous requests for information went unheeded he filed a Kansas Open Records Act request in June to try to extract information from the Kansas Department of Education, part of the education system he was elected to help oversee.

“It started with the January meeting when the commissioner (Alexa Posny) started by saying she wanted us all to approve the Kansas Education Summary (PDF), a document she already had printed up. I looked at it and, on the face of it, it was just bogus. There wasn’t any way these numbers made sense.

Chappell questioned the basis for claims of dramatic improvement in student assessment scores, dropout rates and claims that more education spending equates to higher achievement.

“In 1998 we had the same number of students as we do now. But we’ve increased the amount of spending by $2.5 billion in 12 years. How can we say we got cost benefit out of $2.5 billion more dollars just for the same number of students? I don’t see the data to support it. I’m not trying to criticize anyone; I’m just trying to say somehow we’ve got to beat a different drum. Right now we don’t have the money and we can’t keep saying we’ve got to have more, regardless of who else has to be cut.”

Chappell says he’s concerned with the bottom line in education. “What do we really want them to know by the time they get out of high school? To me, that’s employable skills.  That’s my mantra, two words, employable skills.”

In 1950 about 20 percent of workers needed professional or college level training, 20 percent needed technical skills and about 60 percent were unskilled laborers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2000 the workforce was still 20 percent professional, or four-year degree training, but 65 percent were considered skilled workers and only 15 percent were unskilled.

“The standards are not anywhere close to reality of what kids need to learn and they’re set up with the assumption that everyone’s going to go on to college. That’s the goal,” Chappell said. “That’s serving the academics and the universities, but it certainly isn’t the need in the job market or the employers that are going to pay them a payroll check.”

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Full text of the Reprimand letter is here.

Gene Meyer with KansasReporter contributed to this story. Read more about Chappell and Wednesday’s KSBOE meeting here.