University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, November 7. 1990
5
Education proposal defeated
By Karen Park
Kansan staff writer
Kansas voters yesterday defeated a proposed constitutional amendment that would have given the state greater control of education in the state.
The amendment failed 229,041 to 347,724
State education officials opposed the amendment, which would have removed references to the State Board of Education and the Board of Regents from the Kansas constitution and would have placed all educational concerns under the jurisdiction of the Legislature.
Stanley Kopik, executive director of the Regents, said, "It's not desirable to have the Legislature run the Board of Regents."
Kopik said that if the amendment had passed the Regents could have been abolished.
The amendment was placed on the ballot without public discussion, be said.
Koplik said he spoke to several people who said they were confused by the wording of the ballot's explanation, noting the amendment.
"I think many more people studied the amendment before they went to vote," he said.
Kopik said he thought the education amendment would be discussed again in the future.
Chancellor Gene A. Budig said, "We are very pleased that voters have expressed their continued confidence in the Board of Regents."
Dan Neuenswander, superintendent of the Lawrence school district, said the Legislature had sufficient control of the board and the Regents.
Neuenswander said he did not think the Legislature would try to pass the amendment again.
"Neither gubernatorial candidate supported the amendment, and without the support of the executive office, the representatives will not be interested in bringing it up again," he said.
Neuenswander said Kansans were not ready to give up the balance of power that existed between the education system and the Legislature.
Connie Hubbell, chairperson of the Kansas State Board of Education, said the board was pleased to con- tinue public education in Kansas.
"The current system is the best for providing quality education," she said.
Praeger wins close race for 44th District
The vote against the amendment was a vote of confidence for the board. Hubbell said.
"The voters are not willing to give full authority to the Legislature," she said.
Hubbell said the amendment would not be voted on again for at least two years. That is the next time a proposition can be voted on by the people.
She said the board and the Legislature would continue to discuss possible changes in the educational system.
But Hubbell said future discussions would have to include the board.
"We weren't included this time," she said. "It's being soundly defeated and that is a statement that the work to provide quality education."
About 10 minutes until midnight last night, the rotunda of the Douglas County courthouse rang with the screams of Nancy Kaiser-Caplan, as her sister, Sandy Praeger, narrowly escaped the attack by investigatives seat for the 48th district.
By Yvonne Guzman
Kaiser Caplan and Praea's husband, Mark, hugged Praea as the last of yesterday's election crowd watched county officials write the final score for the race on a black barricade. 4,319; Barbara Bailar, 4,242
Kansan staff writer
"I knew it would be close," said Praeger, the Republican candidate. "Barbara's very well known. I didn't see her very of us would run away with it."
Praeger will replace Democrat Jessie Branson, who retired after the last legislative session.
One way this race differed from other close races, the candidates said, was that Praeger and Ballard were good friends. Both said they ran positive campaigns because they had respect for each other.
There was an unspoken agreement between them that their competition would be a friendly one, Praeger aid.
Ballard said that she and Praeger had similar agendas and did not clash on any issues. She said she was pleased with her campaign and would not have done anything differently if given the chance.
After the final scores were posted, Ballard, who was also at the court-house, gave Praeger a congratulatory hug.
"I feel really proud of our campaigned," Ballard said. "I was really pleased with what we did."
Ballard said she would continue to work as director of the University of Kansas Emily Taylor Women's Center for 10 years she has appointed for 10 years.
Ballard also will continue her position as associate dean of student life and a member of the Lawrence School Board.
Her experience as a counselor and educator were two assets Ballard stressed during her campaign, which emphasized financing higher education, providing property-tax relief, improving health care and fighting poverty.
Praeger said her experience gave her the edge that helped her win yesterday's race. She was chairperson of the American Commission from 1984 to 1985 and
served on the Lawrence City Commission from 1963 to 1989. She was mayor of Lawrence from 1966 to 1967
Praeger, who is vice president of community affairs at the Douglas County Bank, said that one of her biggest goals as a newly elected legislator will be to maintain support for higher education.
"First and foremost will be funding for the third year of the Margin," she said.
But her goals for education will not be accomplished with financing the third year of the Margin of Excellence.
"We can't stop there," Praeger said.
The Margin was the Board of Regents three-year plan to increase the total financing of its seven institutions to 95 percent of that of their peer institutions and bring faculty salaries to 100 percent of that of their peers. The Legislature financed the first two years but not the third.
Praeger said that she hoped to pass the Margin during the next legislative session but that it was important to plan for the future of Regents institutions following the years covered by the Margin in order to maintain the quality achieved with the Margin.
After hearing she won, Sandy Praeger hugs her opponent.
Charlton reclaims 46th
Betty Jo Charlton waits for 46th District results to be announced.
By Debbie Myers
Kansan staff writer
Betty Jo Charlton, D-Lawrence, won her sixth term as 46th District state representative last night, bringing in 3,813 votes to Republican challenger Sean Williams' 2,718 votes.
Charlton maintained a lead from start to finish and edged ahead of Williams each time.
With 99 percent of in, Charlton left the Douglas County courthouse, saying she was a victim.
“No matter how many times we win, we run if nobody had ever heard of me before,” Charlton said. “We just do the same campaign every time.” And it seems to be a winning combination.
Charlton skipped a Democratic victory party at a supporter's private residence to spend the day in Washington.
"I appreciate the party, but I think I'd rather watch the state and national returns on my own," she said.
Both candidates said the campaign had been fair, but Charlton said that if any issue had been played up by Williams, it had been the age difference between the two candidates. Charlton is 67 and Williams is 34
She said that building respect in the Legislature took many years.
"In the Legislature, it takes a long time to build a political base so you can get support from your fellow legislators and let people know you are a hard worker," Charlton said. "It takes at least two terms to begin to be an official and an effective member of the Legislature."
Williams, who left the courthouse at 10:15 p.m. for a campaign party at Johnny's Tavern, 401 N. Second St., said campaign against Charlton had been difficult.
"There's a whole set of different levels at which running against an incumbent is difficult," Williams said. "One that she's been through five campaigns. She has an entrenched campaign staff. She has learned a lot. People know her very well."
Williams said that he had expected about 2,500 more voters to participate in the election but that their votes probably would not have changed the outcome of the election.
"I happy about the fact that I actually threw my hat into the ring and attempted to do something," she said.
Solbach wins close 45th District race
By Monica Mendoza
Kansan staff writer
In a neck-and-neck election race, Salbach defeated his opponent, Martha Parker, by 343 votes in the 48th District.
Before the final count was in, State Rep. John Sobach, D-Denance, said the incumbent had the advantage. He right.
Solbach said he knew from the start that it would be a close race.
As the results trickled in, Parker said she was trying to "hang in there."
After the first count, Parker was ahead by 15 votes.
"Well, I'm ahead with absentees, and that's a good sign," she said.
But after the second count, Parker, who ran against Solbach in 1984 and 1986, fell behind and remained about 200 votes behind.
Close to midnight, the final vote was announced. Solbach received 3,866 votes; Parker received 3,533.
Solbach said that after 12 years in office he was still overwhelmed by
the support of the voters
He said he had analyzed what it would take to run a successful campaign. He worked for that success by running a positive campaign.
"I have never attacked an opponent," Solbach said.
He said he was not surprised by Joan Finney's gubernatorial victory.
"I think the people wanted a change, and Joan Finnley has the policy experience," he said. "I think the potential to be the governor."
He said there would be advantages and disadvantages to having the same party affiliation as the governor.
"A disadvantage will be if many people in the same party disagree and the others have to defend certain policies," Solbach said.
One advantage will be that Finney often will sign legislation favored by her party, he said.
Finney's ability to administer will make the staff function as a whole unit, he said.
John Solbach holds his son. Bart.
Three women win governor in the nation
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Jubilant feminists say Ann Richards' triumph in the hard-fought Texas gubernatorial race shatters a "glass ceiling" for women candidates.
Joan Finney captured the governor's mania in Kansas and Barbara Roberts triumphed in Oregon's statehouse race. But Dianne Feinstein trained in California and women went down to a string of senatorial defeats.
Nebraska Gov. Kay Orr was losing to Democrat Ben Nelson in her reelection bid.
The results were mixed, too, for Black candidates. The most prominent. Democrat Hillary Clinton was selected at the hands of Sen. Jessica Brown in a racially charged contest in North Carolina.
But in Connecticut, Black conservative Garry Frank's election to the House, the first Black Republican to serve there since Illinois' Oscar De Priest in 1935.
Gantt, an architect and former mayor of Charlotte, saw his lead slip away against Helms' charges that the Democrat favored hiring quotas.
"We've seen the triumph of racism over reason in North Carolina," said Eddie N. Williams, president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a black think tank. "It's sort of Willie Horton all over again."
Williams said President Bush's veto of a job discrimination bill helped deprive Republicans in the governors' races in Texas and Florida.
1.
New Orleans elected a Black Democrat, mate Son. William Jefferson, to succeed the incumbent.
All three Republican congressmen who ran for the Senate were defeated — Lynn Martin in Illinois, Claudine Schneider in Rhode Island and Pat Saiki in Hawaii — and their old House seats went to Democratic men.
But Richards' come-from-behind victory against GOP good-boy-boy-ctay Clinton Williams prompted cheers in women's political circles.
"We broke the glass ceiling" that blocked political advancement, said Jane Dowitiz, executive director of the Women's Campaign Fund.
She credited the Richards victory to women voters, who favored Richards 61-39.
STUDY ABROAD FAIR
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Wednesday, November 7 9:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Kansas Union, Main Lobby
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