Beshear calls for school reform

This from Pat Crowley at the Enquirer, photo by Patrick Reddy:

ERLANGER - Gov. Steve Beshear told a group of educators and business people Monday that Kentucky's 19-year-old education reform act needs a complete
overhaul.

The Kentucky Education Reform Act, commonly known as KERA, "was never meant to be a one-time fix," Beshear said Monday during a speech at the Boone County Education Foundation annual lunch.

"Instead, it was the start of a new commitment to education," Beshear said. "I'm determined, as we look toward the next two decades, that we seize the opportunity ... to take a top to bottom look at KERA both to see what is working and to see what needs improving.

"And I don't mean merely tinkering around the edges, but a frank and open evaluation of the fundamentals of our system," he said. "And I plan to create a task force to do just that. I want a vision for the future. I do not want a dissertation on the past."...

...Beshear said that graduation rates, content standards, college and university teacher preparation programs and remediation for college students who struggle as freshman must be evaluated...