Two for the price of one?

New Kansas education commissioner Bob Corkins wanted to hire a consultant (Daniel Harden, another finalist for the job) for $15,000 to help ease his transition to the new post. It’s an unusual request: State administrators are assumed to know enough to just start work.
On Tuesday, the Kansas State Board of Education didn’t take up the idea, which already had attracted a storm of criticism, but here’s what it should have done:
Split Corkins’ wildly generous $140,000 salary and hire Harden as co-commissioner. Why not get two commissioners for the price of one? And the move would double the chances that we have a commissioner who actually knows what he’s doing.
Posted by Randy Scholfield

7 Comments

  1. TRACY
    Posted October 11, 2005 at 2:25 pm | Permalink

    As long as we’re DREAMING about “what if?”, why don’t we just fire the board and everyone involved in this ridiculous cronyism?

  2. Larry
    Posted October 11, 2005 at 4:27 pm | Permalink

    Here’s what Steve Abrams had to say about Corkins’ total lack of qualifications:”We have a lot of people that have Ph.D.s and education leadership. If there’s a question about that, he can call the desk next door to his and ask about it.”Guess he just saved us $15,000.Now if the commissioner would go back to school (like all good teachers) on his own dime..er $140,000, perhaps we’d all feel more comfortable with him.

  3. J R
    Posted October 11, 2005 at 9:26 pm | Permalink

    I’ll go ‘ya one better Randy. By this action, Corkins is essentially admitting that he is not qualified for the position for which he was selected and that indeed Daniel Harden was the correct choice (at least in his view) for the job.

    The board should demand Corkins immediate resignation. If that does not happen, then we should demand the resignation of each member of the board that voted for this tragically laughable situation.

  4. JUSTA GUY
    Posted October 12, 2005 at 6:37 am | Permalink

    THE BOE DID SOMETHING RIGHT?

  5. TRACY
    Posted October 12, 2005 at 6:48 am | Permalink

    When Corkins was named, some lawmakers began talking about passing a proposed constitutional amendment allowing voters to decide whether they want to abolish the elected board.

    “If there is a backlash to this, it most likely will be questioning anew whether the Board of Education should be disbanded and replaced by a secretary of education named by the governor and confirmed by the Senate,” said Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence.Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Jean Schodorf said it’s beyond “likely.”“I promise you it will be back in the next session,” said Schodorf, R-Wichita.

    This is from the A.P., copied from the blogsite “Thoughts From Kansas”. Bloggers here who long for a moderator and civil discussion might want to check it out.

  6. Joe Williams
    Posted October 12, 2005 at 6:59 am | Permalink

    That would be great! I’ve long believed we needed a Department of Education ran by a Secretary of Education rather than a board. Although the Conservatives will fight hard to keep the board, there should be enough moderates and Democrats to turn the tide and put it up for the voters.

  7. TRACY
    Posted October 13, 2005 at 4:07 pm | Permalink

    “I was real disappointed that he doesn’t seem prepared for the job,” said Wichita school Supt. Winston Brooks.

    Earlier this year before the Kansas Supreme Court, Corkins filed a legal brief on behalf of an anti-tax group, arguing against increased funding for schools, citing inefficiencies in school operations.Corkins told superintendents that although he had a nontraditional background, he had valuable experience as a lawyer and researcher.As superintendents questioned him about what he wanted to do, at one point Corkins said, “I didn’t think this was all going to be about me. I want to hear your concerns.”

    One superintendent said loudly, “These are our concerns.”