Monday, August 17, 2009

Graduate Kentucky


This from Cindy Heine at Prichard:
I am happy to announce that First Lady Jane Beshear and Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Secretary Helen Mountjoy have invited the public to participate in Graduate Kentucky: A Community Approach. This initiative will focus on raising awareness of the dropout problem in Kentucky, instigate a community discussion about the issue and develop an action plan to address the problem.

In Kentucky, more than 6,000 students dropped out in 2008, and nearly 26 percent of adults have less than a high school education.

These numbers have real consequences for the Commonwealth: High school dropouts are four times more likely to be unemployed than college graduates; one in four resorts to public assistance; and crime rates soar among those who have dropped out of school.

The dropout problem is affecting not only individual dropouts, but also our communities and society as a whole. And this is why communities and organizations like ours must be part of the solution.

On September 11-12, Mrs. Beshear will host a statewide summit at the Convention Center in Frankfort to begin this effort. Following the statewide summit, six regional conferences will be held throughout the year.

I encourage you to participate in both the statewide summit and the regional summits. If you are interested in attending the statewide summit or need more information on the broader initiative, please visit www.graduate.ky.gov or contact one of the individuals below.
Cindy Heine: Prichard Committee; cheine@prichardcommittee.org; Office: (859) 233-9849 x222

Colmon Elridge: Governor’s Office; Colmon.Elridge@ky.gov; Office: (502) 564-2611

Kate Wood: Governor’s Office; Kate.Wood@ky.gov; Office: (502) 564-2611

We are all needed to address this critical issue in the Commonwealth. As you are well aware, education is the key to success for an individual, a community and our shared legacy.

SIURCE: Prichard Communication

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

God bless Cindy and the other folks at the Prichard Committee who have been addressing the same educational issues with the same worn out "solutions" for several decades now with little impact. They remind me of labor unions that do not want issues to go away because that would make them less relevant. If they really wanted to improve Kentucky education the Prichard Committee could start with lobbying for tenure reform. As a principal I worked with several lousy teachers who did not have the skill, intellect or will to successfully teach, and yet my superintendent would not move the teachers out even with boxes of documentation. What happened? We passed the trash in the annual dance of lemons. How many of these lousy teachers helped kids along the way to drop out?

Anonymous said...

Well, if your super was like Stu, he/she probably never had the evaluations to get rid of them.

Anonymous said...

I'm saddened that so few educators know of the Pritchard Committee. I'm equally saddened that this committee on educational reform is named for a man who broke the law. .