Last week, Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday sent a letter to Senator Ken Winters, chair of the Senate Education Committee, and Representative Carl Rollins, chair of the House Education Committee, encouraging them work with their fellow legislators to move key pieces of education legislation forward.

The full text of the letter is copied below.

March 5, 2010


Representative Carl Rollins, Chair
House Education Committee
702 Capitol Avenue
Room 367, Capitol Annex
Frankfort, KY 40601

Senator Ken Winters, Chair
Senate Education Committee
702 Capitol Avenue
Room 215, Capitol Annex
Frankfort, KY 40601

Dear Representative Rollins and Senator Winters:

Kentucky’s long history as a leader in education reform was reinforced this week by the announcement that our state is one of the finalists in the federal Race to the Top (RTTT) competition. We must give much credit and praise to the Kentucky General Assembly and the Governor for the powerful bipartisan support shown for the innovative design of 2009’s Senate Bill 1 and the swift passage of House Bill 176 this year, both of which clearly illustrate the solidarity of our state’s leaders behind Kentucky’s RTTT application. With Senate Bill 1 as the foundation for our RTTT application, our submission stood out as a powerful, integrated plan for moving the state’s education system to the next level.

Kentucky took a huge step in its Senate Bill 1 implementation on February 10 when it became the first state to adopt the Common Core Academic Standards and all three of the state’s education agencies adopted a joint resolution to implement the standards as part of their work and processes. In order to continue the superb momentum established by the adoption of the standards and by being an RTTT finalist, the passage of the following pieces of pending legislation is vital to the success of Senate Bill 1’s implementation and to carrying out the intent of the General Assembly’s vision for education:

• HB 109 Response to Intervention – improve the quality of instruction and learning for each child and thereby college and workforce readiness
• HB 301 Graduation Bill – increase graduation rate and college and workforce readiness (Note: Eight of the 16 states that are finalists in the Race to the Top competition have compulsory school ages of 17 or 18, which may give them an advantage in the review process. We anticipate only six to eight states will be funded and do not want to be at a disadvantage because the other states have higher compulsory school attendance ages.)
• SB 67 Early Graduation - accelerate the pathway to graduation for students who have specific career and college plans
• SB 163 Adolescent Literacy - enhance the literacy of students beyond the primary basics of the reading process, i.e., “reading to learn” in addition to having learned to read.

As leaders of the House and Senate Education Committees, I urge you to work with your colleagues to swiftly move the bills mentioned above through both chambers of the General Assembly. Their passage is fundamental to the ultimate goal of Senate Bill 1, to ensure that all of Kentucky’s students are career- and college-ready.

I am available to support the legislature’s consideration of these bills through furnishing additional information, testifying before committees or meeting individually with legislators. Please contact me for assistance at 502-564-3141 or via e-mail at Terry.Holliday@education.ky.gov .

Thank you for consideration of my request.

Sincerely,


Terry Holliday, Ph.D.

Cc: Governor Steve Beshear
Senate President David Williams
House Speaker Greg Stumbo