Two candidates from Topeka are contesting the race for the 4th District Kansas Board of Education seat that became open with Carolyn L. Wims-Campbell’s decision not to seek another four-year term. The candidates are Democrat Ann Mah and Republican Sue Mollenkamp.

The 4th District comprises all or part of Douglas, Franklin, Jefferson, Osage, Shawnee and Wabaunsee counties. The Douglas County portion of the district, includes much of Lawrence, Lecompton and parts of western rural Douglas County.

Ann Mah

Democrat

Democratic State Board of Education candidate Ann Mah is not a newcomer to politics. She represented the 54th District in the Kansas House before losing in a close race to Republican Ken Corbet in 2012 after redistricting removed Topeka Democratic precincts from the district.

Ann Mah

As a legislator, Mah served on the Kansas House education and higher education committees. She said she championed the bill that created the Technical Education Authority so more students could get technical certificates in high school and have a smoother transition from high school to work or college.

A teacher for five-and-a-half years in Chase County and Emporia school districts, Mah has a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s in curriculum. She has been active with the Kansas Board of Education on a QPA advisory board and its Teacher of the Year Advisory Committee. She has served for 15 years on AdvanEd, which accredited the state’s K-12 schools and was also involved with the accreditation of technical schools.

The biggest issue in current state K-12 education is the question of adequate state funding. Mah said one of her priorities would be ensuring the state board had a role in the funding discussion.

“The state board needs to play a leading role in clearly defining what is in the Rose Capacities, which have been adopted by the Legislature as what is expected in K-12 education,” she wrote in response to a Journal-World question. “Once we have laid out clearly what we want our children to learn and know in K12 schools, we can better calculate the true cost to educate them. Then the board needs to go to the Legislature and fight for adequate and equitable funding. The Legislature also needs to recognize and better incorporate the expertise of the state board members and the Kansas Department of Education professionals rather than excluding them from the process. I would fight for that as well.”

Another priority would be establishing measures to improve teacher quality, Mah said. She advocates continued strong licensure and training requirements, mentoring and advanced development programs and matching young teachers with master teachers and coaches as ways to realize that goal. She also calls for greater incentives for teachers to earn advanced degrees and national certifications.

Mah is cautious of extending teaching licenses to professions without university degrees in education.

“There are many professionals who are not licensed who would make excellent teachers, but we must be sure they are trained in the pedagogy required to know how to teach,” she wrote. “Teachers in today’s public schools are asked to use a wide range of teaching styles and methods. Teachers have to accommodate teaching styles to the learning styles of their students. That is not intuitive. It must be learned.”