Erwin to superintendents: KDE will be about customer service

This from Brad Hughes at KSBA.

Lexington -- Kentucky’s next commissioner of education pledged Wednesday that the Department of Education will focus on giving schools, districts and local personnel “the capacity to help every child achieve his dream in learning.”

Barbara Erwin, who becomes the state’s fourth education commissioner on July 16, told attendees at the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents summer conference in Lexington that the mission of the department must be “to serve the greater mission of public education in the Commonwealth.

“I believe in that phrase ‘public servant.’ That’s what I am and what I expect every member of our staff to be: a public servant,” Erwin said. “We exist for one reason: to serve our constituents – the literally thousands of people involved in public education in the Commonwealth.

“While I certainly believe and understand the role of the department to enforce, oversee, call it what you will, the laws and regs by which education in Kentucky is governed, we must be an agency focused on customer service.”

Erwin is a 36-year veteran of public schools, including superintendencies in four states, but called herself “the new kid in school” in Kentucky.
“There isn’t a person in this room who doesn’t know more off the top of your head about public education in Kentucky than I know. Most of you also know the operations and staff of KDE better than I do. As commissioner, I’m going to rely on your guidance, your good counsel, your input, your constructive criticism and your friendship. Without those things, I won’t succeed as your commissioner.”

Erwin focused most of her remarks on the success of Kentucky’s public school system since the 1990 passage of the Kentucky Education Reform Act, citing “consistent, positive growth” in math and reading scores at elementary, middle and high school grades. She also acknowledged that even with improvement in non-academic areas such as the state dropout rate, challenges remain.

“In 2006, more than 6,300 kids dropped out of our high schools in the state of Kentucky,” she said. “Persistence and completion rates of those who enroll in our colleges in Kentucky is far short of our goals. We have to change the culture of some of our schools from where the high school diploma is viewed as a beginning, not an end.

“We are at a point in education where we have to step to the plate and become more effective instructional leaders to guide our schools to proficiency and beyond,” Erwin told the hall packed with most of the state’s superintendents. “We are beyond rhetoric and good intentions. We must work together, not in isolated islands. We have to find solutions for every child in every school in every district and see that they have what they need to be successful.