Is the governor’s criticism of others who haven’t provided enough support for the state’s education system warranted?

A few days ago, Gov. Bill Graves was critical of many Kansans, particularly those in higher education and members of the Kansas Board of Regents, for not doing a more effective job of outlining the fiscal crisis facing higher education.

The governor is free to criticize because he is the target of much criticism and second-guessing, but it is difficult to understand what measurement he is using to suggest there hasn’t been a strong, ongoing effort to get the public, as well as state legislators, to recognize the seriousness of the present challenge facing all state-aided education programs in Kansas.

In fact, there are many who say the governor himself has not been as outspoken, aggressive and passionate as he should be concerning the school funding issue.

Many people are engaging in the finger-pointing exercise these days, and perhaps this increased activity suggests more Kansans finally realize there isn’t much time left to figure out a way to provide the funds necessary to avoid serious, lasting damage to the state’s system of higher education, as well as to K-12 public schools. Also, many of those pointing fingers may be trying to position themselves to avoid being blamed for what could turn out to be a terribly harmful, shortsighted and weak-kneed effort to provide adequate funding for the state’s schools.

In this light, it is difficult to figure out Sen. Sandy Praeger’s recent vote against higher taxes to provide more money for K-12 needs. There are not enough lawmakers who have the courage to vote for what is in the best interests of the state as opposed to what may be the most popular with the public.

In his criticism about insufficient efforts to sell the educational program, the governor went after the regents for not measuring up. Here again, on what basis is he making this assessment?

The past several years, under the leadership of former chair Bill Docking and current chair Clay Blair, the regents have been far more aggressive in telling the story about the needs of higher education. They have crisscrossed the state delivering the message about the need for more than minimal funding for higher education. They have done an excellent job, and Blair, in particular, has devoted a tremendous amount of time to working with legislators trying to encourage them to be more supportive for increased funding and exploring new ways to fund badly needed facilities and programs. He played a central role in the bonding bill to fund research facilities at Kansas University, Kansas State University and Wichita State University, as well as programs to allow universities to keep tuition money and many other innovative programs.

It is understood Graves plans to dump Blair as a regent and appoint the governor’s political pal, former Senate leader Dick Bond as Blair’s replacement. Could it be that the governor’s criticism of the regents is an effort to justify his appointment of Bond, claiming the regents under Blair’s leadership had not measured up to their responsibilities?

Maybe the governor would like to have the regents declare a moratorium on new enrollment or admission to the state’s colleges and universities unless funding is increased. This was done recently in Wisconsin, and it got the public’s attention. It wasn’t long before the state’s legislators reacted and admissions directors renewed enrollment activities.

The upcoming wrapup session of the Kansas Legislature is bound to be hectic with all kinds of deals and IOU’s being offered. It’s not the best way to do business, and unfortunately, there probably will be many legislative efforts that may look good for the near term but do not really solve problems on a long-term basis.

Hopefully, between now and May 1, when legislators reassemble in Topeka, a sufficient number of lawmakers will have developed the courage and conviction to do what they know is right rather than what might be the most popular and most likely to garner votes in their next re-election effort. Otherwise, the state and its people of all ages will suffer the consequences of inaction and lack of backbone. It would be helpful if the governor spoke out on the needs of education in a powerful, sincere and enthusiastic manner.