Derek Schmidt: Gov. Kelly’s Education Policies Have Done ‘Tremendous Damage to Our Kids’

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly answers questions from reporters following an event at the Stateho
John Hanna/AP Photo
Katherine Hamilton

Republican Kansas Gubernatorial candidate Derek Schmidt hit out at Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly this week for her pandemic education policies and accused her of doing “tremendous damage to our kids.”

The state Attorney General pointed to a new national report which showed how nine-year-olds saw the largest average score decline in reading since 1990 and experienced the first ever decline in mathematics. The declines were seen across all races and income levels, though the decline was worse for the lowest performing students. Schmidt said the trend extends to Kansas, where the Democrat incumbent was the first governor in the country to shut down schools in March of 2020. He said:

This report confirms what Kansas parents already know. Governor Kelly’s heavy-handed pandemic overreach, locking children out of schools across our state, has done tremendous damage to our kids. As Governor, I promise to work every day to undo the damage of the Kelly administration by fully funding schools, keeping students in the classroom, empowering parents, supporting mental health, and working with local leaders to solve the teacher shortage.

Schmidt’s campaign emphasized that Kelly, who calls herself the “education governor,” was not only the first governor to switch in-person schooling to remote learning, but she also attempted to extend her statewide school lockdowns into a second school year. The move was blocked by the State Board of Education, with some of the board members calling her effort “problematic” and politically motivated. She also tried to extend statewide mask mandates in April of 2021 but was thwarted by the state legislature. 

 In the aftermath of closures and mandates, public school enrollment in the state has dropped by roughly 16,000 students, and many parents are opting for homeschooling. Kansas is also facing its worst teacher shortage in state history, according to a July 2022 report. 

One of Trump-backed Schmidt’s campaign strategies to snag the toss-up governor’s seat in November is to put Kelly on defense about how she handled education during the pandemic and appealing to aggravated parents.

“Everywhere I go, Kansas parents express immense sadness, frustration, worry and sometimes anger with the still-lingering harm to our kids from Governor Kelly’s school lockdowns and mandates,” Schmidt said in mid-August.

“She promised to be a champion for students and, in particular, to improve mental health outcomes. She broke those promises, and her heavy-handed pandemic response did more damage to our kids than any other governor in Kansas history,” he continued.

The strategy has proven popular in other states, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) victory against critical race theory-denying Terry McAuliffe serving as a primary example. Across Kansas, local school boards have also seen conservative wins, perhaps giving a peak into how Kansas parents may be feeling about the direction of public schools as a whole.

Besides pandemic protocol, Schmidt is pressing on Kelly’s acquiescence to the transgender activist agenda and her veto of a Parents Bill of Rights, which would have required Kansas school districts to keep parents informed about school instruction materials.

While incumbents often have an advantage, recent polling shows Schmidt ahead of Kelly by several points. An August poll placed Schmidt three points ahead, and an April poll showed him four points in the lead. Those results are flipped from last September, when a poll showed Kelly leading by three points.

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