Topeka ? Former House Speaker Doug Mays has been hired to be the lobbyist for the Topeka Unified School District 501.

It was a surprising move to some. But school officials say Mays is well-connected and will help them better reach conservatives they have had a hard time winning over.

Mays wasn’t considered an ally to educators during his time as legislator. But Topeka school board member Nancy Kirk, who suggested hiring Mays, said Mays is far from being an enemy of public schools.

She said Mays was key in helping broker a school finance package a couple of years ago. Kirk believes Mays can use his school finance expertise to help the urban district fill its needs.

“I have great respect for his ideas and his integrity,” Kirk said.

The Topeka district will pay Mays’ lobbying business, Doug Mays and Associates $36,000 – or $4,000 a month – for nine months.

Mays, who began lobbying last year including for gaming interests, said he will give the district a presence it has lacked.

The district last had a lobbyist in 2004, and Mays said the Shawnee County delegation heard little from Superintendent Tony Sawyer, who left this summer.

“It was disturbing to those of us who were members of the delegation,” Mays said, referring to the lack of communication. “It was a real need.”

Chris Huntsman, president of the Topeka chapter of the National Education Association, said she thinks Mays will be an active lobbyist.

“Doug certainly knows finance,” she said. “He knows the workings of the Legislature, and I have felt Topeka public schools has been underserved by their lobbyists in the past.”

Mays said he is not anti-education, despite what others believe.

“I think public education in Topeka is a huge part of our city,” he said, “and the success of Topeka will be determined in large part by how successful public schools are, how successful the board and superintendent is. If I can help in a small or significant way, I’ll feel good about what I do.”