Education takes hit in state’s proposed budget

This from the Messenger:

The state budget brings bad news for education, Prichard Committee Executive Director Bob Sexton says.

“The bottom line ... is basically a cut for education,” he told members of the Madisonville Noon Kiwanis Club during its lunch meeting Friday at First United Methodist Church. “The word in the paper is things are holding even. But when you’re holding even and costs are increasing ... someone has to pay.”

The rising costs of employees’ health insurance and pension benefits take an ever-increasing percentage of education funds, Sexton said.

During the past 20 years, Kentucky has moved from the lowest ranks of U.S. schools and is considered in the mid-range, he said.

“We think the challenge now is to move into the top-20 states in the next generation,” Sexton said. High standards set at the state level hold schools accountable for student learning and provide a way to help those who are struggling, he said.

“When most of us were in school, the success of a school was essentially measured in whether they covered the curriculum,” Sexton said. That’s changed with reforms in recent decades.

"he first thing we need to do is ... keep the system of accountability intact,” he said. The Commonwealth Accountability Testing System survived an attempt to dismantle it during the current General Assembly session.

The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, based in Lexington, is a nonpartisan education advocacy group. “We think Kentucky needs to vastly expand the preschool experience available for 3 and 4 year olds,” Sexton said. Attending preschool increases children’s chances of graduating high school and going to college, he said. It also makes it less likely that they will fail classes or qualify for special education.

Students must be encouraged to take high school classes that prepare them for postsecondary studies, he said. Other needs include revamping the senior year, offering more classes in public schools that provide college credit, and increasing the level of parent involvement, he said.

A “good preschool experience” returns $4 to $16 to society for every $1 invested, Sexton said. He called for expanding the state-funded preschool program to include
children from families with incomes below 200 percent of poverty level.

A huge factor in the success of schools is the quality of teachers, Sexton said. He called for comprehensive reform, including the change to a differentiated pay system.
“We have to find a way to get the very best teachers to go into the very toughest schools,” he said. Now, successful teachers are rewarded by being sent to schools where there is a lot of support.

It’s difficult to recruit math and science teachers for high schools, Sexton said. A physics major can earn $50,000 to $60,000 in an entry-level job, he said, while a starting teacher earns just $25,000-$30,000. “The next wave of reform in Kentucky has to be about attracting, keeping and supporting highly qualified people to work in our schools,” he said.