Education PACs in Kansas are spreading around tens of thousands of dollars to help both conservative and moderate legislative candidates.
There are two big education political action committees in Kansas, and they back very different candidates.
The Kansas NEA is funded by contributions solicited by the union and in the last reporting period made about $29,000 in campaign contributions and spent $12,000 on polling.
The contributions went to lawmakers who reliably back KNEA positions on school funding and collective bargaining.
On the other side is the Quality Schools for all Kansas Kids, a PAC funded exclusively with $36,000 from the conservative state Chamber of Commerce.
Almost all of that money was spent on mailers on behalf of conservative candidates. Several of them lost in the primary.
Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that the KNEA PAC is funded with union dues. It is funded with contributions solicited by the union. The Legislature changed the law in 2012 to prohibit the use of union dues, according to the KNEA.
