...wherein Bill Ellis and I are
taken to the woodshed
by our buddy
for forgetting her,
and her agency.
Oops.
Guilty.
By Penney Sanders
I am delighted that Dr. Bill Ellis has undertaken the task of writing
a history of education in KY. There is much to note, remember and
hopefully, learn from.
However, my invitation to the History of KY Education symposium
based on his new book was somehow lost in the mail. So too, is there
no mention made of the Office of Education Accountability anywhere
in this history, not even in the appendix.
Since the OEA is not represented at the conference, I will tell the story
of the agency, albeit briefly.
The Office of Education Accountability is a child of KERA. Its creation
was both forward-thinking and controversial. The agency was
conceived as an enforcement agency within the legislative branch
which made it immediately unique and provocative. Remember,
the legislative branch simply writes legislation; it is the executive
branch that enforces the law. However, the OEA was the legislature’s
collective statement that this time they were serious about changing
KY education.
The genesis for an accountability agency arose from KY’s history
of systemic corruption and operational mismanagement in school
districts. Many school systems were more like feudal fiefdoms.
Misappropriation of funds, failure to provide adequate resources,
rampant nepotism and decrepit buildings were the order of the day in
many places (and these abuses weren’t solely in eastern KY). Politics,
not teaching, was the norm. Some school districts looked more
like “mom and pop” stores rather than centers of education: dad was
the superintendent, mom and daughters were teachers, the sons held
various administrative positions, cousins manned the bus barns and
there was always a place for the aunts and uncles in central office.
Judge Bert Combs and Chief Justice Bob Stephens, whom I refer to
as the godfathers of reform, were determined to have both equitable
funding for schools and quality instruction. Judge Combs, as a son
of the Eastern KY hills, was particularly adamant that the historic
corruption in schools would once and for all be dealt with.
The OEA, as codified in Chapter 7 of the KY Revised Statutes, is
housed in the Legislative Research Commission (LRC). KRS 7.410(4)
reads in part” The Office of Education Accountability…Investigate
allegations… of waste, duplication, mismanagement, political
influence and illegal activity at the state, regional or school district
The Agency, in its early years conducted investigations in numerous
school districts. In its first two years of operation at least three
superintendents and numerous school board members were brought
before the State Board of Education and removed from office based on
the investigations conducted by the OEA.
The message was clear, not only was there to be programmatic
reform but mismanagement, corruption and nepotism were to be a
thing of the past. There was a method of accountability; there were
consequences for the failure to act appropriately.
The first members of the investigative division were retired FBI agents
who obviously knew a thing or two about conducting investigations.
The first general counsel for the agency was a criminal attorney.
The OEA was also responsible for preparing an annual evaluation of
the program components of the Reform Act. That reporting obligation
continues today. In the early years, the annual report was the only
assessment of the programmatic impact of KERA. In fact, much of the
benchmark performance data was collected by the OEA.
Accountability was a fundamental component of the KY Education
Reform Act. Today, the term is used largely to describe assessment
and holding schools responsible for improving student performance.
However, in the first days of reform, KY sought to be accountable in all
aspects of school operations. The historic Education Reform Act was
designed to shake up the system and it did indeed. At its inception
KERA was opposed by nearly all in the educational establishment:
teachers, principals, superintendents and school board members.
Those were tumultuous times.
Other states have Accountability Offices or Inspectors General,
usually housed in the Department of Education. However, to my
knowledge, no state has created an agency with the spectrum of
authority that KY’s OEA has. It still stands as a most unusual creation
of the legislature.
The OEA mandate remains the same, to ensure that the children of the
Commonwealth receive an equitable, quality education. The Agency
continues to deal with abuses of the system in its many forms.
_____________________________________________________
I hope Dr. Ellis will include a brief passage about the OEA and its
contributions to school reform in the second edition. As one of Bill’s
students from his early days as a US History teacher at Harrodsburg
High School, perhaps I will be inspired to write the full history of the
Office of Education Accountability. If I don’t, a lot of great stories will
go the grave with me.
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