Kansas education groups are gearing up their political activities ahead of the Aug. 5 primary election, putting their money and sweat behind state House candidates that support public schools.
Organizers say teachers in particular have had enough, viewing recent changes in teacher licensing and loss of administrative due process as an attack on their profession.
The Kansas National Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, has more than $400,000 to spend this election cycle. Others organizations are going door to door to boost turnout for pro-education candidates.
Countering those efforts is Americans for Prosperity, an organization founded by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch, which lobbied for many of the changes in teacher laws. The group says Kansans like the changes and want to go further.
