Draud lauds education summits

Jon Draud, recently named Kentucky education commissioner, plans to use a Northern Kentucky program as an ember to light a fire under education throughout the state.

Draud said Friday that he wants to work with Chambers of Commerce and community leaders throughout the state to encourage them to hold education summits like November's Northern Kentucky Education Summit that drew 850 people - from educators to business leaders to parents - to discuss how every segment of the community needs to support education.

"One of my first initiatives will be to take the summit concept and do it regionally on a statewide basis," said Draud, who late last month resigned his seat as a state legislator after being named education commissioner. "I want to use the Chambers of Commerce as a base of support."
Draud said he has met with the state Chamber of Commerce president and has a planning meeting scheduled for Jan. 10.

Attendees left the daylong summit in Covington pledging to become "champions" for education.
That summit, sponsored by Vision2015, explored the need to improve the education and performance of students as a key way to strengthen the economic and social future of the whole community.

Draud said he wanted to encourage Chambers of Commerce to hold summits in areas where there are strong chambers.

Draud, named the commonwealth's education commissioner last month, lists as his top priority to assure that Kentucky students meet proficiency standards by 2014, as mandated in the federal No Child Left Behind program.

But that must become a goal for more than educators if it is to be reached, said Draud, who before he got into politics was the superintendent of Ludlow schools.

"We have to create a sense of urgency, to have people concerned about this again, like they were in 1990 for Kentucky's education reform. The business community has to lead the way," said Draud.

"Most research says for education reform to work, the business community has to be involved. It takes collaboration and cooperation. Without getting all the stakeholders involved, we're not going to reach proficiency," he said.

Draud wants to use regional summits to spread the word and light the fires under communities.
"The business community has a lot of partnerships with schools that can help kids understand the practical value of education in getting a good job. We have to make sure parents and community people really support kids and tell them how important education is. Teachers can't do it all," he said. "You need community support."

Barbara Stonewater, executive director of the Northern Kentucky Council of Partners in Education, which helped spearhead the Northern Kentucky summit last month, said the program energized community leaders.

"The Vision2015 leaders came to realize that the potential for 50,000 new jobs by 2015 will not happen if we don't focus on education," Stonewater said. That job goal is part of the Vision2015 roadmap for Northern Kentucky.

She praised Draud's plan to energize communities, but cautioned that not all communities are as ready for a summit as Northern Kentucky was. "We had Vision2015, which has laid the groundwork," she said of the Northern Kentucky civic initiative. "You have to pick regions where the stars are aligned."

This from the Cincinnati Post.