School News from Around Kentucky

Districts face textbook funding cuts - State decreases lead to more than 80 percent cut for city, county: Major funding cuts have state education officials hitting the books - or at least the funds that supply them.Local school districts are facing a new chapter in massive state textbook funding cuts, which rose from an anticipated 4 percent cut in June to more than 80 percent just recently announced...Flexible Focus Funds [have] already been cut about three times in the last three fiscal years. (BG Daily News)

Changes proposed in Jeff Co student assignment plan: Superintendent Sheldon Berman wants the Jefferson County school board to postpone part of the district's new student-assignment plan for middle and high school students — hoping to avoid the busing problems that have frustrated parents of elementary pupils. Under Berman's recommendation, the district would go ahead next fall with its plan to implement career themes and magnet programs at 16 high schools. But it would delay implementing most boundary changes for middle and high schools until the 2011-12 school year. (C-J)

Ankle bracelets cause stir at Barbourville school: Two Barbourville High School students, who have been required by the court to wear home incarceration devices after an alleged violent crime, have created concerns among students’ family and at least one school board member.School board member Eddie Smith’s own concerns, as well as concerns expressed by parents of BHS students about the young men’s presence among the student body, prompted Smith to seek a school board meeting to discuss the situation. (Times Tribune)

Kentucky college enrollment at new high: Kentucky colleges and universities hit a historic high for enrollment this fall, with more more than 256,000 students, according to estimates by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. That estimate represents a 5.4 percent increase from fall 2008 and a 40 percent jump from 10 years ago, according to the CPE. Undergraduate enrollment grew by 6 percent from last year, while the ranks of graduate students swelled by 3 percent to more than 30,400. (H-L)

Opinion - A testing result: There's no way to paint a pretty face on the big picture of the faltering performance of Jefferson County Public Schools in the latest round of statewide student testing. Only 37 of the district's 133 schools (28 percent) met all their reading and math goals required by the federal No Child Left Behind law. That's down from 44 percent last year and compares poorly with a 60 percent rate statewide, even though the state figure has declined three straight years. (C-J)

Attorney alleges former Danville board member initiated complaint: The lawyer representing the two Danville school board members accused of violating election law has accused one of the men defeated in the 2008 election of filing the complaint that got them charged. Ephraim Helton said former school board member Steve Becker filed the complaint against Julie Erwin and Lonnie Harp, alleging they broke election law during their 2008 school board campaigns. (Advocate Messenger)

Opinion - Schools fall behind: Almost 20 years after passage of the Kentucky Education Reform Act, it’s still hard to get a satisfactory answer to the question of how we’re doing. The state legislature decided earlier this year to ditch the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System and come up with a new assessment plan by 2014. Some critics felt CATS was too ambiguous in its methods and put too little emphasis on individual student performance. Last week the Kentucky Department of Education released results of the Kentucky Core Content Test (covering some of the subjects tested by CATS) and the federal No Child Left Behind program. The numbers show just 60 percent of Kentucky’s public schools met their goals last year, compared to 73 percent the previous year. The message is muddled because No Child Left Behind raises its sights each year, meaning schools must improve their scores just to stay even. Fewer are making what the bureaucrats call “adequate yearly progress.” (State Journal by way of KSBA)

Fayette bus monitor is hurt in scuffle among students: A Fayette County school bus monitor was taken to a hospital Wednesday after she tumbled out of the bus during a scuffle among several student riders, Fayette County schools spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said. The bus was taking 12 to 15 children home from Martin Luther King Academy when verbal sparring among some students led the bus driver to pull over on Seventh Street to separate them, Deffendall said. The situation escalated, becoming physical, and the children, who were scuffling near the front door of the bus, as well as the monitor, fell out of the vehicle, she said. (H-L)

Juror in Stinson case says medical experts swayed her: Less than a week after a jury found former PRP football coach Jason Stinson not guilty of reckless homicide and wanton endangerment in the death of Max Gilpin, a juror is speaking out about what happened during the 90-minute deliberation. It took three weeks to complete the trial, but one woman, who we are identifying only as "Juror Number 3," says the verdict boiled down to testimony from expert witnesses." (WAVE)