Earlier this summer, the Post asked our readers what issues you wanted to hear candidates running for Blue Valley Board of Education to address leading up to the Nov. 4 election.
Based on that feedback, we developed a five-item questionnaire centering the issues most important to the Blue Valley community.
Each day this week, we’re publishing the candidates’ responses to one question.
Today, we’re publishing candidates’ responses to the following question:
Voucher efforts: What is your position on state policies that allow tax money to be used to pay for private schools, like tax credits for private school scholarships and tax rebates that go toward private school tuition? As someone who will represent a public school district, will you advocate for or against such policies at the state level?
Below are the answers the Post received from candidates on this issue:
Member 5
Gina Knapp (incumbent)
I do not support vouchers or using tax dollars for private schools. Public money should stay in public schools, where it is accountable to every taxpayer and serves every child. Private schools can set their own admission standards, are not bound by the same transparency rules, and do not carry the same obligation to educate all students. That makes them fundamentally different from the public system Kansans rely on.
In Kansas, our public schools are the backbone of our communities. Here in Blue Valley, families see firsthand how strong schools strengthen neighborhoods, attract businesses, and give every child—from gifted students to those who need extra support—a fair chance to succeed. When tax dollars are diverted to private institutions, it means fewer teachers in classrooms, larger class sizes, and fewer programs that Blue Valley kids—and students across the state—depend on. If reelected, I will continue to advocate against voucher or any related policies in Topeka.
Steve Roberts
Did not provide the Post with a response.
Member 6
David Benson
Did not provide the Post with a response.
Jim McMullen (incumbent)
No, I do not support these efforts. Topeka has sufficient hooks already into taxpayers’ wallets. We do not need the government’s involvement in funding private schools, with the inevitable political strings that would come with the allocation of such money.
