Prichard Posts Silberman Press Conference Video

This from the Prichard Committee:

Laughter, Tears and a Call to Action

...and, an old secret revealed.

Last Saturday's memorial celebration of Bob Sexton's life was a moving tribute to an historic figure in Kentucky education. Surpassing his mentor, Ed Prichard, in terms of impact, Sexton stands with Bert Combs, and above all others, for his influence on modern schooling in the Commonwealth. His fingerprints were on every piece of school legislation that moved and other state leaders looked to him for guidance before committing to their own positions on educational issues. Opponents also wanted to know where Sexton stood on the issues of the day. He was the very definition of influential.

Saturday's tributes came from across the state and around the country. The beautiful fall afternoon at Transylvania University was marked by a mixture of smiles and tears. Laughter was frequently followed by an impenetrable lump in speakers' throats as they tried to express what Bob had meant to their lives, and our children.

I can't imagine any Kentucky-lover not being moved by the stories of Sexton's work and the enormity of the effort he undertook.

Sexton's story is all the more astounding since he didn't like school - despite being "one of those kids who got all the breaks because of who I was." Bob found high school boring and when he began his school reform advocacy, he couldn't see how it had changed much in far too many Kentucky classrooms. High quality teachers existed but they were too few and far between.

Too little was being asked of Kentucky students, Sexton believed. Disadvantaged and struggling students found too little support. Capable students were not being challenged. And since Sexton was not challenging himself at the time, he initially found himself underprepared for Yale.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that he did benefit from the social life, which he enjoyed. He quickly became a BMOC at the fledgling Waggoner High School rubbing shoulders with Seneca's young Mitch McConnel, with whom he worked on a few service projects. In those days, both boys were Republicans. Perhaps it was there that he began to learn his remarkable interpersonal skills.

Once Sexton's children entered the Fayette County schools in the late 70s he remained unimpressed. Students with learning difficulties, for example, found little support. But when he transferred one of his children to a private school for a better education he was disappointed. "They just didn't want him," Sexton said. "They didn’t know a hell of a lot in the public school, but at Sayre they knew zero."

Sexton's advocacy was born of twin interests in political movements and improving public education. But one of the most surprising lessons he learned was how painstakingly long and hard the work is.

MAKE THEM HEAR YOU

Scenes from a Celebration

of Bob Sexton's Life

This from H-L:

Robert F. Sexton was remembered Saturday for the several decades he spent lobbying for better schools for Kentucky children, sometimes in the face of public apathy and official hostility...Sexton, who died Aug. 26 at age 68, following a long battle with cancer, was executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence and a leading force for education reform in Kentucky as well as nationally.

Several hundred people attended a memorial service for Sexton at Transylvania University's Mitchell Fine Arts Center. Leaders in academia, business, government, the arts and the news media lined up to speak about Sexton's legacy, as did his widow, Pam Sexton, and his five children. Gov. Steve Beshear and others sent videotaped tributes.

"Bob was trusted by all factions in the education community," said former Lexington Mayor Pam Miller, a past chairwoman of the Prichard Committee, an independent nonprofit group that pushes for continuing school improvements in Kentucky.

"He was frequently the only person who could assemble different powerful interests on an issue," Miller said. "Why? Because they could see his sincerity and his determination to move beyond pettiness toward the larger goal. He was not afraid to criticize and point out shortfalls, but he was never mean..."

Bob's favorite - The Reel World String Band
Few people have the will and courage to tackle problems that have become so entrenched as to become accepted. Few people have the intellectual honesty to examine a problem form all angles, down to its roots, unafraid to broach topics that others shy away from. And fewer still can communicate with passion, urgency, and zeal in language anyone can understand and move people to join together to help solve these problems. This is what Bob Sexton did with regard to education in the Commonwealth through the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.

---Reginald & Linda Thomas

I recall with pride the alignment of the "stars" across the state
as the reform "train" began to move - the equity lawsuit
on behalf of the Council for Better Education;
the appeal to the Supreme Court; the expose' in Cheating our Children;
the outrage and "constructive dissatisfaction"
that was created across the Commonwealth.
And in the background, stirring the pot,
was Bob Sexton and the Prichard Committee.

--Lois Adams Rogers

" The last time I talked to Bob, on the afternoon that he died,
he was in the hospital sneaking a call to me when the nurses had left him alone.
We talked for a few minutes and suddenly he said, 'I've gotta go.' Click.
He called back about 15 minutes later and said, 'OK, I can talk now.
Where were we?'"

--Cindi Heine

Bob was the one who scripted, directed and produced.
We were simply the characters.

--Lois Weinberg

Bobisms: from the Prichard Staff

• Be careful about what not to say.
• Don't gather people just to see us and talk. Give them something to do.
• Don't take the attacks personally.
• The job got done didn't it. It doesn't matter who gets the credit.
• Thank people for what they're going to do.
• Think openly. Don't let emotions cloud your judgment.

This afternoon we share one thing in common.

At one point or another, to a small degree or large,

the life of Bob Sexton has been woven into our own in myriad ways...

In gathering together today, and in the days ahead, to tell stories,

sing songs, laugh at our humanity, ache over our mortality;

the depth of sorrow can subside to an awareness

of gratitude and an abiding trust in love's immortality;

in love's consecrating power.

---Rev Kelly Flood

Reading 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (the same passage read during
Bob & Pam's wedding)and passages from Kahlil Gibran -
the children of Bob and Pam Sexton:
Rebecca, Robert, Ouita, Paige and Perry.
(Photo by Jason Sankovitch at H-L.)

(Bob Sexton's granddaughter, Willa Dru Michel, 6, played her violin

at his memorial service Saturday. Photo by Jason Sankovitch.)

Everett and Alicia Helm McCorvey

"Bob possessed, and I with him, an abiding faith in the goodness of people,

the richness of work done in the community,

and the creative and lasting effects of both.

I know that he believed and expected that all of us in this room,

and beyond, would continue to concern ourselves

with educating our children and grandchildren...

I am asking...that you do so.

And I think you from the bottom of my heart - and his -

for trying with us all these years and in the future.

Make them hear you."

--Pam Sexton

Rest assured that those of us involved with the Prichard Committee.

whether they be staff, board members, committee members, parents,

or financial supporters will continue to monitor public education closely,

identifying areas of concern, and advocate of improvement.

bob was relentless in pursuit of these goals. He would expect no less of us.

--Current Prichard Chair, Sam Corbett

"He talked to me, in our first meeting, about his love

for his home state, Kentucky. He was proud

and he was hopeful about what we were about to

venture into together on behalf of the children of the Commonwealth...

Tom Boysen, Bill Cody, Kevin Noland and Gene Wilhoit can attest

that over the last quarter of a century,

every single piece of education reform in Kentucky

had its influence from Bob Sexton."

---Gene Wilhoit

Bob's focus on results that matter

- real learning for Kentucky's kids -

should be a lesson to all of us who care

about leaving this country a better place."

--Vicki Phillips

"More than anyone else in America, he and his band of Kentucky citizens

exemplify Margaret Meade's adage about

the power of a small group of people to change the world.

Nor only did they bring about change in Kentucky,

but they inspired similar activists all over the country."

--Kati Haycock

Bob's roommates at Yale:

"We knew Bob in a little different context,

some of which we'll share

and some of which we won't..."

On Sexton's toughness and persistence:

"He simply would not give up.

And we saw this at Yale when he would continue to turn out for football

long after it was clear that he was not going to be one of the stars on the team.

When football didn't work, he then turned to rugby.

So, he was one tough, tough man."

"Invariably, I would call...and ask, 'Where is Bob on this issue?
Where is the Prichard Committee?' because that would help me calibrate
what a responsible position would be."

--David Atkisson, Ky Chamber of Commerce

[The press corps has been decimated.

There's no one on the education beat in Frankfort anymore.

The Herald-Leader and Courier-Journal cover education from the newsroom

and are increasingly focused on local schools.

Nobody has the time to stay up on the issues at the state and national level.]

"Bob Sexton was a crusading influential voice for schools.

When the media revolution sifts out content quality

will still be critical for democracy. We will need

champions of our children's future, like Bob.

And journalists who know how important it is to

listen, challenge, and report what they say."

--Al Smith

Many years ago, when KERA was first implemented,

many people were bent out of shape...

[Bob] called me one morning and asked me if I would go to a distant town.

And that's just what Bob would do. He'd ask you to do this

and then after you said 'Yes', he'd tell you what he wanted you to do.

The superintendent there had his foot on the neck of teachers

and the teachers were fighting back. The teachers

wanted the Prichard Committee to send an observer to the meeting.

I said, 'I'd be glad to go, Bob.' He said, 'Now, you're not going to be very welcome.

You have a license plate from out of county, and I want you to

park at the bottom of the hill and walk up to the school.'

And I said, 'Bob, will they shoot at me?'

And he said, 'Walk faster.'

--Elissa May-Plattner

"The low was in the late 80s when we we getting some momentum going and the Prichard Committee had no money to pay Bob or the part-time secretary." [Bob turned to consulting to keep the enterprise going.] "The high was in 1990" when the legislature passed and the governor signed KERA.

---Wade Mountz, Prichard Chair

and self-described conservative "with a big R after my name"
who Ed Prichard described as being 'of the other persuasion.'
"Never in 30 years did that divide come between us," Mountz said.

(L to R) Kati Haycock, Education Trust

Virginia Edwards, Education Week

Vicki Phillips, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

" Bob had 'IT' - that special something that sets a person apart from the crowd."

--Judith Clabes

While [many] argued that it was time for despair and disengagement,
Bob Sexton staked out the opposite claim,
marshaled his evidence and made his case.
He strengthened our shared institutions, expanded civic engagement,
and accomplished large things through democratic institutions.
He changed our state and inspired new effort across our nation,
at a time when many claimed such things were no longer in reach.

--Susan Perkins Weston at the Prichard Blog

"He was that rare public intellectual who actually loved people.
He knew that being an effective agent of change
requires more than statistics and righteous indignation."

--Phillip & Audrey Shepherd


"The Capitol will long miss Bob Sexton's brand of advocacy:
a supurb combination of skill, temperament, and knowledge.
He never lost his calm, but most importantly,
he never lost his compass."

--Ernesto Scorcone

"As Kentucky's first Education Commissioner from 1991 to 1995,
I came to understand how essential Bob Sexton was to the advent
of the Kentucky Education Reform Act and to its implementation and sustainability.
Working quietly on many fronts...and with disparate and sometimes
disputatious personalities and parties, Bob kept his head up and his vision strong.
His good will, civility, persistence and practical know how were inspirational."

---Thomas Boysen

(L to R) Mary Dean, Assoc Commish for Communications under Boysen

Kentucky's First Education Commissioner, Thomas Boysen

Vicki Phillips, Education Director, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Kevin Noland, Oft-Interim Kentucky Education Commissioner and co-KERA author

"'Call Sexton.'

I wish I had a dollar for every time some variation of those words

was spoken in a Kentucky newsroom.

Journalists relied on Bob for several reasons:

He was smart. He was honest. He always called us back."

--Jamie Lucke, Herald-Leader editorial writer

(Photo by Jason Sankovitch at H-L.)

... and a mystery revealed.

I caught Lois Combs Weinberg after the celebration and asked her a question that has been on my mind for more than a decade; one of those little loose ends from earlier research on Kentucky school reform.

The Prichard Committee's signature strategy - the first big thing that launched the committee as a force to be reckoned with - was the 1984 Prichard Town Forum which I wrote about in my dissertation. That telecast and the initial funding to kick-start Prichard came from an anonymous donation collected by Weinberg. Saturday, I asked her if she would reveal the donor's identity.

"I don't think there's any secret," Weinberg said. "He's passed on. It was B F Reed." Boyd F Reed was "a self-made man who started out shovelling coal himself" and rose to become the largest coal operator in Floyd County by the 1960s, and Weinberg "was advised to go visit him."

That little chore was assigned by her father, Bert Combs. Reed was a friend of Combs who had an extra $50,000 laying around.

This means that, even before he agreed to become lead attorney for the Council for Better Education, Bert Combs was already laying the groundwork for what would become the grassroots movement that ultimately made KERA possible. Political scholars are in agreement. The conditions that existed in Kentucky at the time of KERA were unprecedented. The Supreme Court decision was one thing. But getting the legislature to move on reform legislation required what many have called a "perfect storm." Bert Combs and Bob Sexton were rainmakers.

Memorial service planned for Bob Sexton

This from Prich:

A celebration of the life of Robert F. Sexton will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010, at Haggin Auditorium in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center on the campus of Transylvania University, 300 N. Broadway in Lexington. The longtime executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence died August 26, 2010, in Lexington.

The family will greet friends from 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and from 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Mitchell Fine Arts Center and also from 5:00-8:00 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, 250 E. Second St., Lexington.

Memorial tributes to Bob's life and work may be made to the Robert F. Sexton Legacy Fund, Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, P.O. Box 1658, Lexington, KY 40588.

Heine Named Prichard Committee Interim Executive Director

Committee Establishes

Search Committee

The board of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence has named Cynthia J. "Cindy" Heine as interim executive director of the statewide education advocacy
organization.

Heine will lead the work of the citizens' group until a search committee, established by the board at a meeting this week, names a successor to Robert F. Sexton, the long-time executive director who died August 26, 2010.

"The Prichard Committee and all of Kentucky lost a true champion for children with Bob's passing," said board chair Sam Corbett of Louisville. "We will miss our good friend and leader. We also know that he would expect nothing less of us than to push even harder to improve Kentucky's schools, and that is what we will do. Bob's rich legacy included a strong organization that is staffed by dedicated professionals who are carrying this work forward every day."

Corbett said the search committee would include current and former board members and a staff representative. No specific timeline was set for the search.

Heine joined the Prichard Committee staff in 1989, serving as associate executive director. In addition to managing the day-to-day work of the committee staff, she leads the committee's Strong Start Kentucky: Quality Pre-k for Every Child campaign and is a member of the Governor's Task Force on Early Childhood
Development and Education, and the Master's Redesign Review Committee for the Education Professional Standards Board, among other statewide groups. She also is the author of Kentucky School Updates: A Parent/Citizen Guide.

Heine is a board member of the League of Women Voters of Kentucky and Lexington and is involved in numerous community and church activities. A native of Michigan with a bachelor's degree in nursing, she has lived in Kentucky since 1970. She and her husband, Richard, have two grown children and three grandchildren.

SOURCE: Prichard Committee press release

After Sexton

A memorial service for Bob Sexton

Oct. 16, at 1:30 p.m.

at the Haggin Auditorium

Transylvania University

Today the Prichard Committee for Educational Excellence meets to begin a tough job: replacing Bob Sexton. It now falls to Chairman Sam Corbett and the Committee to find a successor to Sexton. This isn't going to be easy.

Is Kati Haycock looking to change jobs?

Members of the Committee undertaking the task include:
Sam Corbett, Louisville, Chair
Hilma Prather, Somerset, Vice-Chair
Keith Sanders, Owensboro, Secretary/Treasurer
and Members: Madeline Abramson, Norma B. Adams, Daniel L. Ash, Thomas E. Banta, Brady Barlow, Matthew Barzun, Cynthia D. Baumert, William E. Beasley, Jackie Betts, Robert Biagi, David Bolt, Matthew W. Breetz, Gary Bricking, Bob Brown, Patricia Brundage, Raymond M. Burse, Ellen Call, eHelen Carroll, Alva Mitchell Clark, Martha Layne Collins, Alfonso N. Cornish, Brad Cowgill, Daphine Cox, William Cox, Jr., Ben Cundiff, Beverly Dalton, Sim Davenport, Harold Dexter, Jean M. Dorton, Karen Dougherty, Adam Edelen, Paula Fryland, Pat Gish, Rebecca Goss, Jane Graham, Lois Gray, Stephen Grossman, Kevin Hable, Jean R. Hale, Donna S. Hall, Marion Halliday, Michael Hammons, Necia Harkless, Billy Harper, Marianne Schmidt Hurtt, Sylvia Watson Jaegers, Esther P. Jansing, Nancy Jarett, Franklin K. Jelsma, JoAnn T. Johnson, Doug Jones, Cheryl Karp, Judy Kasey, Joseph W. Kelly, Dan Lacy, Ric Ladt, Carol Lamm, Mary Jane Littleton, Fannie Louise Maddux, Roger M. Marcum, Elissa May-Plattner, William McCann, Lewis N. Melton, Pam Miller, Wade Mountz, P. Daugherty Murphy, Dana Nicholson, Charlie Owen, Col Owens, Kent Oyler, Dennis Pearce, Laura A. Pitman, Hiram C. Polk, Jr., Margaret G. Pope, Louis Prichard, Kathy Reed, Teresa Combs Reed, Josephine D. Richardson, Jill E. Robinson, Jean Rosenberg, Linda Rumpke, Pamela Papka Sexton, Albert P. Smith, Jr., Alice Sparks, David Tachau, J. Maynard Thomas, Lynda M. Thomas, Barney A. Tucker, Lois Combs Weinberg, Mary Gwen Wheeler, Harvie Wilkinson and William H. Wilson.

The Committee intends to launch a national search, but finding the right person to lead will be a major challenge. How does the Committee replace an individual who had great success and no major flaws? This is a tough act to follow.

It is unclear, from my vantage point, how many other individuals have the set of experiences, beliefs, knowledge and skills which, combined with Sexton's political accumen, have allowed them to navigate the choppy political waters of large-scale school reform. But, if anyone knows, it will surely be the Committee, which has shared their grassroots approach widely. Perhaps there are other Prichard Committees out there in other states.

Additionally, the Prichard Committee is not simply replacing their latest leader. They are replacing the group's founder and that challenge runs much deeper. Everything about the group's identity, it's philosophies, how it conducts business, how it studies issues, how it communicates with its constituents, where it stands on issues - virtually everything that is important - was established and nurtured by Sexton's steady hand. It will be difficult to interview candidates without comparing everyone to Sexton and noting what will surely be substantial differences.

Cindy Heine told KSN&C that the Committee had already started thinking about a transition in leadership, but I'm sure everyone thought that would be accomplished over time, with Sexton still around to guide and break in the new Executive Director. That was Sexton's plan. Bob and I had just begun a series of planned interviews intended to capture his thinking on a wide range of issues at the time of his death. He was thinking about this day, but he envisioned a gradual withdrawl from the work he loved.

Prichard Chair Sam Corbett told Education Week,

"We feel a lot of pressure. No one is irreplaceable, but Bob comes pretty close," he said. Mr. Sexton had the rare gift for being able to work on a politically fraught issue without making enemies on either side of the partisan aisle, Mr. Corbett said. "He was able to walk that magic line," Mr. Corbett said.

Ed Week Notes Sexton Passing

Education Week's Alyson Klein posted an article on education advocate Bob Sexton this week.

Sexton was cited as a "champion of Kentucky's pioneering and nationally influential efforts in K-12 education reform" and for his leadership of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.

In his role at the helm of the Prichard Committee, based in Lexington, Ky., Mr. Sexton helped shape the Kentucky Education Reform Act, or KERA, which served as
an early model of state-based accountability for schools.

Mr. Sexton was also a visible force in national education policy. He served on the board of the Education Trust, an organization in Washington that advocates for poor and minority children, as well as the board of the Education Commission of the States and numerous other organizations. Since 1992, he had served on the board of trustees of Editorial Projects in Education, the nonprofit corporation that publishes Education Week.

I don't believe there has been a more influential education advocate in recent Kentucky history.

Sexton is seen here with Harry Moberly, an influential legislator during the same period. Moberly was recognized by the Prichard Committee, on May 10th, as a "leading advocate for education and an expert on the state budget." It marked only the second time the organization had presented the award.

A Democrat from Richmond, Moberly was first elected to the state House in 1979. He was involved in the task force that developed the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 and has spearheaded efforts to improve the state's testing program, upgrade teaching quality, and promote school technology. He is a former chairman of the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee.

As Klein points out, Sexton was closely associated with KERA which was passed in response to the Rose Case where, in 1989, the Kentucky Supreme Court declare that the legislature had failed to meet its constitutional duty to create an "efficient school system. The court declared the entire system to be unconstitutional.

Sexton had been a professor of history at Murray State University, an administrator at the University of Kentucky and took on leadership of the Prichard Committee in 1983.

Sexton led the push for using student progress measures as a means of assessing school effectiveness, a model that caught on nationally.

KSBA's Brad Hughes told Klein that "Prichard was probably the linchpin for the start of the grassroots push that … led to KERA....[Sexton] was always out there [saying] that we are asking schools to do a tremendous amount to make tremendous changes, and the schools really had to have the resources...He was a tireless advocate, and some would say, a tireless agitator....When he had something to say, he didn’t wait for someone else to call him."

In fact, the night before his death Aug. 26, Mr. Sexton was on the phone with journalists, Mr. Hughes said, to talk about the next steps for state lawmakers in pushing ahead with a school improvement agenda after Kentucky fell short as a
finalist in its quest for up to $175 million in federal Race to the Top money. Mr. Sexton had scheduled those interviews himself, Mr. Hughes said.

Education Trust's Kati Haycock told Ed Week that Sexton's Prichard Committee served as a testament to the power of state-level activism. The Prichard Committee demonstrated how grassroots education advocacy utilizing "well-regarded citizens" at the local community level got the attention of legislators and created momentum for change.

Bob Sexton's Legacy

This from the Courier-Journal, Cartoon by Marc Murphy:

By any calculation, Robert F. Sexton was the most significant figure in public education in Kentucky in the last half century. In his 27 years as executive director of the Prichard Committee on Academic Excellence, he set a high bar for public education in Kentucky — and proved to be an effective advocate for nationally recognized reforms.

His death, on Thursday at the age of 68, after a brave fight with cancer, leaves the commonwealth without one of its most articulate and respected leaders.

A Kentucky native and the product of Louisville schools, Dr. Sexton went on to Yale University and the University of Washington. He might have made a career for himself as an historian, on a quiet campus. But instead he returned to his home state, where he became a leading advocate for reform, at a time when such a figure was vitally needed.

He became involved in such important efforts as the Governor's Scholars and the Kentucky Center for Public Issues. A strong advocacy group was needed (Kentucky then ranked 45th in the nation by most educational comparisons), and Dr. Sexton was chosen in 1983 to lead it. The Prichard Committee on Academic Excellent was created to honor the legacy of Edward F. Prichard Jr. (1915-84), the attorney and public servant whose career focused on reform, particularly that of education, which he knew had to happen for the state to succeed economically and culturally.

When the state Supreme Court in 1989 ruled that education funding in Kentucky was inherently unequal, and unconstitutional, Dr. Sexton became among the key advocates for a top-to-bottom reorganization. The result, which became the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990, must stand as the high water mark of his influence and success.

But as Dr. Sexton was the first to tell us, passing a law, even one that was a national model, was only a start. Over the following two decades, he relentlessly asserted the need for accountability of teachers and students, for improved pre-school education for all Kentucky youngsters, and for learning that molded the way students think, not just the facts they could recite.

His efforts occurred right up to the end — he was on the telephone just Wednesday night, reacting to the state's second loss of federal Race to the Top dollars for education. It was part of the challenge.

“We've spent the last 100 years near the bottom,” Dr. Sexton told The Courier-Journal's Pam Platt in an interview last year. “Let's spend the next 100 years much closer to the top. We've shown we can do this.”

It was Bob Sexton who showed the way. Now the rest of us must find a way to follow his example.

This from The Prichard Commimttee:

SEXTON Dr. Robert Fenimore, executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence and a long-respected education advocate, died Thursday evening, August 26, 2010, at the University of Kentucky Medical Center following a struggle with cancer.

He was born to Claude F. Sexton and Jane W. Sexton Jan 13, 1942. His passing is a deep loss not only to his family and friends, but to generations of children who did not know him and may not hear of him.

Over 34 years, his work grew to include not only Kentucky schools, but the nation's. He believed passionately that all children could learn at high levels and that all parents could be empowered to know about and help their children's teachers and schools. He deeply respected the teaching profession and believed that teachers could also reach high levels on behalf of their students. He advocated for their respect among the professions and for higher salaries.


He spent most of his career building the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, an unusual and exceptional non-profit organization that reached around the Commonwealth to include parents and grandparents, educators, policy analysts, and politicians in strong organized efforts to improve Kentucky schools and universities.

He was a civil, dedicated man who listened to all opinions, analyzed all available information and came forward with a vision, looking for paths to larger lives for the people of his beloved state. His persistence and passion for better education was in play until the moment of his passing.

He was interested in and uplifted by experiences and friends from many arenas: the arts, the literary community, the legal profession, the culinary world, the world of news and journalism, and all things related to public policy, politics and history.

He, with his wife Pam and children and friends, linked themselves to nature- to forests and birds, rivers, boats and fishing, hiking and exploring, especially the fascinating corners of Kentucky and Wyoming (Pam's native home), as well as the broader world of the United States and Europe. He was enamoured with fly-fishing and many of the country's great trout streams. Much of his deepest thinking was accomplished while standing in the midst of a cold river, wearing his waders, fly rod in hand.

With great joy and attention, he collected the art of a diverse group of Kentucky artists and surrounded himself in home and office by their work and called many of them friends. He loved music, especially spirituals and Kentucky traditional and Bluegrass music, and actors and dancers of all stripes. He was avid reader of policy, history, well-crafted fiction, poetry, and enthusiastically talked about literature.

He is survived by his 94 year-old mother Jane W. Sexton of Lexington, his wife of 25 years, Pamela Papka Sexton; one daughter, Rebecka Byrne Sexton of Chicago; one son, Robert Byrne Sexton, of San Jose, CA; three step-children, Ouita Papka Michel (Chris) of Midway; Paige Papka Richardson of Lexington; and Perry Aaron Papka of Frankfort and two granddaughters, Willa Dru Michel and Lily Kathryn Schade, and the mother of his children, Kathryn Johansson of Chicago.

Along with family, he is survived by a close circle of beloved friends and caretakers, including three long-time brothers-in-spirit, Bob Lamson of Seattle, Hugh Straley of Seattle, and Russ Edgerton of Washington D.C.

His work was made possible by the loyal and dedicated staff of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, who became his extended family. Pam and all of Bob's children are grateful to them as well as too the large team of caring doctors and nurses who helped make his last year possible.

A native of Louisville, Bob was a member of the first graduating class of Waggener High School, the first valedictorian and student body president. He held a bachelor's degree from Yale University and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Washington. He was a visiting scholar at Harvard University and the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University and had been awarded honorary degrees from Berea College, Georgetown College, Bellarmine University and Eastern Kentucky University.

Bob's many civic contributions included serving as a member of the board that created the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington and on the boards of the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center and the New Opportunity School for Women. He was a founder of the Kentucky's Governor's Scholars Program and of the Kentucky Center for Public Issues.

His national board service included Editorial Projects in Education (publishers of Education Week and Teacher Magazine), the Education Trust, the Center for Teaching Quality, the Education Commission of the States and the American Association for Higher Education. He also served on advisory groups for several national foundations.

A memorial service and tribute to Bob's life and career is planned for Oct 16, 2010. Memorials may be made to the Robert F. Sexton Legacy Fund, Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, P.O. Box 1658, Lexington, KY 40588.

Memorial service planned for Robert Sexton

A memorial service for Robert F. Sexton, the longtime executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence who died Thursday, will be held Oct. 16.

The time and place have not yet been determined. Milward-Broadway Funeral Home in Lexington is handling arrangements.

Sexton, a leader of education reform in Kentucky for 30 years, died Thursday night at the University of Kentucky Medical Center following a long battle with cancer. He was 68.The Kentucky Educational Television network will air at 10:30 p.m. Sunday a 2007 interview Sexton had with Bill Goodman, host of the show, "One to One," about education reform.

Memorials may be made to the Robert F. Sexton Legacy Fund, Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, P.O. Box 1658, Lexington, Ky. 40588.

"We've Got to Continue On"

Bob Sexton commented at Bert Comb’s testimonial dinner, in 1990, about the difficulties that lay ahead for Kentucky school reform after the passage of KERA. Sexton was beginning to understand the breadth of commitment required to implement such a sweeping reform.

The early days of reform required diligent attention to many details and the legislature as well as the Department of Education needed support in order to effect change at the classroom level, and to resist those who would simply prefer to throw the reform out. Intellectual leadership was called for.

The Prichard Committee had a decision to make. The Committee had already reinvented itself from a group with a higher education mission into an elementary and secondary education watchdog. After the passage of the KERA, it evolved again, into one dedicated to supporting the changes; not a lapdog, but clearly unwilling to be too critical.

But the larger question of systemic reform outweighed any particular problems with implementation. Sexton recalled the internal debate about whether the Prichard Committee should continue after the passage of reform. "I think it was a critical decision as to whether to continue" [the Prichard Committee after KERAs adoption], Sexton said.

"By the late 1980s I was getting pretty tired of this whole thing," Sexton told interviewer Catherine Fosl. "The work was beginning to get a little bit boring. It was like one more damn legislative session, and another Governor to argue with, another press conference. Same old, same old, again and again. And I had kind of said, ‘Should I move on to whatever else is next?’"

In the mid 80's Sexton WAS the Prichard Committee and he was scratching out a future for the organization on a day-by-day basis. "The fund raising was not fun," Sexton said. "Still isn’t, but it was less fun then because…we never knew where our money was going to come from... There was the question of what our staff does…How long do we do this?"

One imagines how easy it would have been for Sexton to declare victory in 1990 and quit.

But just at that moment, things began to change. Kentucky had been all over the national newspapers and when Sexton talked to a national foundation about support they were suddenly showing interest in the Prichard Committee.

"I mean, things had changed dramatically…for us…just in the few weeks after the reform act passed…Kentucky had never gotten that kind of positive publicity. So that was quite an upper…The boredom factor changed," Sexton said.

Sexton, and then Prichard Chair Wade Mountz, wrote to the membership asking whether the committee should fold up its tent. "Overwhelmingly, people wrote back and said, ‘No, we’ve got to continue on'," Sexton reported.

Once Again, a Time of Change

Whenever a strong, highly-regarded "founder" leaves an organization there is always concern about his or her replacement. Sometimes there is a concern for the life of the organization itself.

The desire to find "another Bob" will be strong. But there isn't another Bob. The Prichard Committee's next leader will be a different person with a different style and a different perspective on the work. Who will fill Bob's shoes?

Following Sexton's death the Prichard Committee wasted no time assuring the public that it would remain a vital organization stating, "The committee will honor his legacy by continuing the important work that framed his career of public service."

Longtime Kentucky education expert Robert Sexton dies

Kentucky education has lost a great friend.

--Richard Day, KSN&C

I am deeply saddened by the news of Bob Sexton’s passing.

His leadership of the Prichard Committee since it was created

in 1983 was characterized by an unswerving dedication to

strengthening Kentucky’s public education system. Bob received

many accolades during his lifetime, but I will always think of

him as a friend, both on a personal level and because of his

efforts to improve the lives of Kentucky’s children.

-- Commissioner Terry Holliday

Jane and I were very sad to learn of Bob Sexton's passing.

I have known Bob for years, and working with him

on the Prichard Committee…gave me the opportunity

to see firsthand how deeply he valued Kentucky

and how committed he was to improving education

for all our students.

His passing leaves an enormous void in our state.”

-- Gov. Steve Beshear

"...a passionate advocate for improved education in Kentucky."
-- Senate President David Williams

"...his heart was in the classroom and doing everything
he could for public school students in the state.
This is a great loss for every public school student in the state.
They have lost a great advocate.”
-- Sharron Oxendine, KEA

“never met an advocate who worked harder for
seeking better opportunities for the children of this state.”
-- Brad Hughes, KSBA


This from Jim Warren at H-L:

Robert F. Sexton, executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence and a major force for education in Kentucky for 30 years, died Thursday night.

Sexton, who lived in Lexington, had been battling cancer since last year, although a co-worker said Friday that Sexton's death was unexpected.

A Louisville native, Sexton had headed the Prichard committee since its creation in 1983. He also had been deputy director of the Kentucky Council on Higher Education, now known as the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, and was an administrator at the University of Kentucky and a professor of history.

Sexton, 68, earned his bachelor's degree from Yale University and his doctorate in history from the University of Washington. He was a visiting scholar at Harvard University and at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.

He probably was most widely known for directing the Prichard Committee, a statewide non-partisan group that advocated for better education across Kentucky.

But Sexton also helped found the Kentucky Governor's Scholars Program and the Commonwealth Institute for Teachers; was founder and president of the Kentucky Center for Public Issues; and chaired the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington. Sexton served on numerous boards, commissions and panels that addressed education, low-performing schools and other aspects of education.

He was author of a 2004 book, Mobilizing Citizens for Better Schools, published by Teachers College Press of Columbia University.

Bob, 68, died Thursday night, August 26, 2010, at the University of Kentucky Medical Center following a long battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife, Pam, and children Rebecka Sexton, Robert Sexton, Ouita Michel (Chris), Paige Papka Richardson, Perry Papka, granddaughters Willa Dru and Lily Kathryn and the Prichard Committee staff. Memorial plans are pending.

Ky. education cuts undermine gains

This from Bob Sexton in the Enquirer:

The recently enacted state budget is another step backward for Kentucky kids. And it comes at a particularly bad time - just when the state is poised to move student achievement to the next level and help lead the nation on the most important education reforms in a generation.

Our ranking on key indicators of progress has moved from the cellar (43rd in 1992) to closer to the middle (32nd in 2009), according to an index compiled by the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center. Kentucky students scored above the national average in science, reading and fourth-grade math on the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Kentucky legislation enacted in 2009 requiring new, tougher academic standards positioned Kentucky to be the first state to commit to common standards developed by a consortium of 48 states. This summer, Kentucky educators are working to move those higher standards into classroom use, and new statewide tests will be administered in 2012 to reflect the changes.

In short, we're setting higher expectations and giving educators more to do, but our schools have fewer resources to work with.

Two cuts deserve special mention. First, cuts in professional development come at the very moment we are asking teachers to master new standards and develop more effective ways to teach them in the classroom. We say, "Learn more, do more," but then we strip away most of the funding to help teachers do that.

Second, the 2012 budget will eliminate all funding for highly skilled educators - people of great talent and expertise who help the state turn around Kentucky's weakest schools. Education Commissioner Terry Holliday had hoped to use these funds to deploy people to help build local capacity to ensure classroom success with the new standards. Instead, the new budget includes bad cuts to the funding we need to implement some very good reforms.

As direct funding to help kids learn is cut, one big thing is still growing - health insurance costs. These show up in the direct cost of employee health insurance, the health-driven share of current retirement premiums, and the state's continuing obligation to pay back the retirement system for the legislature's past borrowing. From 2009 to 2012, those benefit costs will increase by $138 million. Meanwhile everything else the state spends on P-12 education goes down by $107 million.

Clearly, the recession and an outdated revenue system are not the only things undermining Kentucky's ability to do what it needs to do in education. Indeed, the unsustainable growth in health insurance costs could be the worst revenue problem we have.

Kentucky's governor and legislators must do two things if we are to stop eating our seed corn.They must reform our antiquated tax system so state education revenue can keep up with economic growth. And they must get control of spiraling health insurance costs while ensuring that teachers and other public employees receive fair and sustainable benefits. None of this will be easy.

We need more thinking - and action - to meet our obligations to Kentucky's school children and to the future of our commonwealth.

Southern States' Budget Cutting Endangers Pre-K Gains

This from the the nation's oldest education philanthropy, the Southern Education Foundation:

Southern states are in danger of losing critical, hard-earned gains in early childhood education - the South's most effective innovation in public education - if state legislatures in the region enact substantial cuts to pre-kindergarten programs (Pre-K), according to a report released on March 2 by the Southern Education Foundation in Atlanta.

The South leads the nation in offering state-funded Pre-K to America's three- and four-year-old children. Southern states in 2008 provided Pre-K to 20 percent of the region's three- and four-year-olds --- double the rate in the rest of the nation. SEF also reports that Southern states lead the nation with indicators of high quality and educational impact. Six of the ten states with the highest standards for Pre-K quality are in the South.

The Southern Pre-K programs are the region's "comparative advantage in public education," according to Lynn Huntley, SEF's President, because high-quality Pre-K is the only area in which Southern states lead the nation in providing high-quality education to students. The SEF report cites a wide range of recent independent studies demonstrating Pre-K's positive effects on young children's learning in areas of language, literacy and math skills in Southern states.

"Today, proposed budget cuts jeopardize the significant gains that many state-supported Pre-K programs in the South have begun to provide in getting small children school-ready and capable of achieving at higher levels in future grades," Huntley stated. "It makes no sense, no matter how severe the economic crisis faced by Southern state and local governments, to make damaging reductions in the availability of quality pre-kindergarten services for children."

In Kentucky, the recent adoption of more rigorous academic standards for elementary and secondary students makes it even more imperative to protect Pre-K funding, noted Robert F. Sexton, executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. "Giving students the strongest possible start in quality preschool is the best way to ensure their later success in school and life," he noted.

In addition, recent research in the state proves the economic value of Pre-K investments, Sexton said. A University of Kentucky study found that every $1 invested in expanding quality preschool would yield a return of $5 in benefits for individuals and the state as a whole.

Southern legislatures are facing a collective shortfall of almost $30 billion in revenues, and many are considering deep cuts to education and related programs. In Virginia for example, legislators have submitted various budget amendments to cut or remove all state funds for the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI). The annual state General Fund for VPI is $75 million. In Georgia, Governor Sonny Perdue is proposing to gut the Pre-K program's resource coordinators who work with low income families to increase parental involvement and family support.

"Pre-K is already doing more for less in the South," noted Steve Suitts, SEF's Vice President, and the report's author. "In most Southern states Pre-K is delivering the greatest impact for the least cost." The SEF report points out that the costs per child for Pre-K are on average one-third less than K-12 per pupil expenditures. In Alabama, for example, Pre-K costs are closer to half the K-12 costs of public education.

"Southern states would save very little - practically nothing - from cuts to Pre-K," the SEF report states. Across the South, Pre-K programs make up about ½ of one percent of the states' entire budgets. Georgia's Pre-K, one of the largest programs in the South, constitutes a little more than one percent of the state budget, but those funds come out of Georgia lottery revenues - not tax dollars. And the Georgia lottery has increased revenues and holds nearly $1 billion in reserves.

SEF also reports that high-quality Pre-K will save revenues for states in the long run. In Louisiana, for example, for each dollar invested in high quality Pre-K, the state can realize as much as $8.20 in direct and indirect benefits over the next 40 years.

"The economic impact of Pre-K comes from the fact that high-quality Pre-K has a proven capacity to help a child from a low-income family stay on grade in school, stay out of trouble, graduate from high school, and continue to college. In this respect, a good job in the South in a global economy begins with Pre-K," SEF's Huntley stated.

"In a world economy, a state can enlarge its income and quality of life only if it increases the high school and college education of its residents," observed Suitts. "Most of the South has been behind the nation in educational attainment primarily because too many students are not school-ready, never catch up, and drop out. Pre-K is where this cycle can be broken. It is one area where the South can not afford cutbacks."

SOURCE: press release, thanks to Prichard

Big Effort - Not Enough

From Kentucky experience, we accept that

an inadequate system takes time to rebuild,

but the process ought to be expected

to raise measurable student outcomes

to the needed level within a single generation.

--Weston & Sexton

A new paper on Rose and political mobilization in Kentucky from Susan Weston and Bob Sexton just came out.

At first read, it appears the authors argue a Kentucky judiciary that was "both bold and restrained" and that "the system could not be made constitutional without lasting legislative monitoring."

Justice Robert Stephens thought of himself as a judicial activist but he did demonstrate restraint by not exceeding the court's authority according to the separation of powers - a decision that would have later benefitted the plaintiffs in Young v Williams. Stephens struck down Judge Ray Corns' idea of a committee to monitor the legislature for the same reason, but made it clear that it was the General Assembly's responsibility to monitor the continued constitutionality of the system - something the legislature has almost never done very well.

This from Prich:

"Substantial and Yet Not Sufficient" provides an analytic overview of the origins, impact and implications of Kentucky's landmark educational adequacy litigation, Rose v. Council for Better Education. It provides important new material and insights regarding the political mobilization for school reform, legislative action, statewide implementation, and recent fiscal difficulties that have occurred over the past 20 years since the case was decided. The authors make their case that Kentucky's 1989 court ruling and 1990 legislation unquestionably led to substantive improvement for all students in the state. Based on their experience, they also share a set of thoughts about what counts as successful work to build school systems that serve all students well.

Our experience illustrates that a restrained judicial ruling, at least in the context of lasting political mobilization, can yield quite major legislative steps forward.

Governor to sign CATS overhaul; reaction mixed

This from the Mesenger Inquirer:

Students in Kentucky public schools will take the current core content test within the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System this spring, but CATS will start going away over the next three years.That is the gist of Senate Bill 1, which Gov. Steve Beshear said Monday he will sign into law.The legislation, which passed both chambers of the 2009 General Assembly on Friday, charges the Kentucky Department of Education with developing new standards and a new test for the 2011-12 school year based largely on lawmakers' mandates.Since Friday, educators and advocates from all sides have been finding parts of the new assessment plan to like and dislike.

"The short term is really a mess," said Robert Sexton, the Prichard Committee's executive director. "We are very concerned about the next three years. ... If we can get through that, the end product will be a better system."School accountability will be drastically cut down while the new standards and tests are being created...

..."There's some good and not-so-good sides to it," Daviess County Public Schools Superintendent Tom Shelton said. "I'm really surprised there hasn't been more outcry to this."Shelton, who was in Frankfort on Friday when the last-minute discussions on the bill were taking place, gave the Daviess County Board of Education an update at a Friday night board retreat held at the central office."

Quite frankly, the legislature shouldn't be deciding this," Shelton said. "They should set the standards, and the department of education and local districts should be creating this."Shelton said he would have preferred to leave CATS intact until 2014, the target year for all Kentucky schools to have helped students achieve proficiency in the tested subjects."If I was among the public, I would be saying, 'You promised me proficiency by 2014. ... Now what?' " Shelton said.

Board member Frank Riney asked why there was such a push to change CATS."Is it because a bunch of schools are not going to make accountability by 2014, and now they don't have to face the music?" he asked.Shelton said he believes the lack of public outcry may be because a large number of schools are not in line to achieve accountability.

The superintendent speculated the reasons behind the push were more political."We'll find ways to make it work as we always do," he said. "We'll also find ways to make sure other areas not tested are not forgotten, because as you know, if it's not tested, it's not taught."Shelton, who is the president of the Council for Better Education, said legislators got mixed messages from education groups.

The Kentucky Education Association supported Senate Bill 1.Three other groups -- Kentucky School Boards Association, Kentucky Association of School Administrators and Kentucky Association of School Superintendents -- could not reach consensus on where assessment should go, Shelton said."I think legislators said, if the educators can't agree, then we have to do this," he said.

Owensboro Superintendent Larry Vick said the new assessment plan has some good features, including reducing the amount of testing and changing the way writing portfolios are used."I support teaching writing and we will continue to stress writing, but the writing portfolio is not as reflective of students' abilities as it is teachers' coaching, which is perfectly legal under the current system," Vick said.

Vick also is encouraged by components in the plan that will focus on aligning high school and college coursework."There is no reason for a child ever to have to go to college and take a remedial course," he said. "We can coordinate much better with what they need to know to go to college."

Vick also is concerned about the interim years and accountability."Right now we have more questions about the system than answers," he said.

Sandy Hayden, an art teacher at the Owensboro 5-6 Center, said she, too, wants to learn more about the assessment changes. She serves on the state's core content advisory committee for visual art."Personally, my greatest concern is with the possibility/reality of the arts being removed from the test," she said in an e-mail message. " I fear programs will be removed (from study) because they are not 'on the test.' "Hayden said Kentucky's testing system was meant to improve education, but in the end it has been our "own worst enemy." ...

Angela Gunter, a senior writing teacher at Daviess County High School, said she's excited about the changes."I think the on-demand test given to seniors is a much better tool for me as an instructor and measure of student ability than the portfolio," Gunter said in an e-mail message.

"It is comparable to the writing portion of the ACT ... ."Gunter also said she will be happy to be able to refocus some class time she is spending on portfolio preparation toward specific students' needs for college writing.

Bonnie Watson, a writing specialist at the Owensboro 5-6 Center, thinks the assessment changes will be good for education. She, too, prefers the on-demand writing test at the end of the year as a true assessment of students' writing."If teachers are teaching the writing process throughout the year, students should be able to perform on the test at the end of the year," Watson said. "I've seen that to be the case here at the 5-6 Center. We teach the children how to write, and their scores reflect that. ..."

CATS Reaction Across the State

Senate Bill 1 could be signed into law today as across the state folks are coming to grips with what all this means.

"I believe there are several positive elements that could represent an important step forward in our ongoing efforts to reform primary and secondary education. Most significantly, this legislation will create a new system for statewide accountability and assessment that will, for the first time, measure individual student progress over an extended period of time. That is critically important,” Beshear said in a statement.

Politically, some wonder anew if House Speaker Greg Stumbo's rookies should be faulted for the surprise abandonment of accountability over the next three years. Was this a phantom provision, dropped into the free conference report at the last minute? If so, how, and by whom? Or was it a provision that all conferees agreed to with eyes wide open?

"It's an outstanding bill that will make great improvements and will honor the input that we've received from our educators," Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond [told the Herald-Leader].

Republican Sen. Dan Kelly of Springfield, a longtime proponent of changing Kentucky's assessment tools, said the bill would strengthen Kentucky's education system, not weaken it. "This is not the death of reform," Kelly said.

By all accounts, there was a great deal of input from teachers who had had enough....of something. Some clearly reacted to the amount of time they were being "asked" to commit to assessment at the expense of instruction. After all, you don't fatten a calf by weighing it. Some claimed that district personnel and principals had pushed teachers to the edge of some ethical cliff, and they pushed back.

Kelly's assurance that this does not mark the death of education reform in Kentucky is a welcome acknowledgement for those of us who believe a strong system of public schools is essential to our ability to compete as a state. But not all conservatives are buying it. Over at vere loqui, Martin Cothran declared that with the removal of the testing system KERA is officially dead and asked,

Will the last person out of Kentucky's Education Reform Headquarters please turn off the lights?

At KentuckyProgress, David Adams noted "the end of a disastrous episode in education 'reform'" and "got a kick out of "the Courier Journal referring to Bluegrass Institute as merely a "right-wing think-tank" (when everybody knows they are so much more). He thanked the Herald Leader for the "big laugh and free mention" when they referred to "conservative enemies" which Adams correctly assumed meant BIPPS, even though H-L didn't say.

None of the conservative groups came right out and said that Kelly was wrong. But they apparently believe he was.

The Herald-Leader lamented that as "lawmakers were dismantling Kentucky's school-accountability system last week, researchers were holding it up as a national model" citing Kentucky as one of five states that stand out for increasing high-school graduation rates while reducing schools that are "dropout factories." "It's impossible to not credit the Kentucky Education Reform Act for improvements in graduation rates," the H-L wrote.

Secretary of State Trey Grayson issued a statement voicing his dismay over the reduction of emphasis on social studies.

“By suspending the state accountability index and following the federal accountability requirements, we run the risk of marginalizing civics education,” he said in the statement. “With no accountability system in place for social studies, schools will naturally place a greater focus on those subjects that are part of accountability standards of No Child Left Behind.”

It now falls to the Kentucky Board of Education to guide KDE's response to Senate Bill 1. They start chatting on April 1st.

In the interim, some school districts, like Fayette County, are going to "make public its own 'academic index' based on this spring's testing, whether the state publishes a performance index or not." State education department spokeswoman Lisa Gross told the Herald-Leader the interim provisions in SB 1 might lead to widespread confusion until the new assessment system starts. Wayne Young, executive director of the Kentucky Association of School Administrators told H-L, "Some districts are going to go ahead and finish their portfolios. But you could get a bit of everything. There's no pattern that I would describe."

This morning outgoing President of the Council for Better Education Roger Marcum told state education leaders in an email message that Kentucky "chose the path of least resistance and the high risk of lower expectations for the immediate future."

His opinion echoed that of Prichard Committee head Bob Sexton who wrote an open letter posted on the Prichard blog,

It was decided that, for the next three years starting this spring, Kentucky schools should have no accountability except for student test scores on math and reading as required by No Child Left Behind. This means that the results of testing for writing (portfolios included) science, history, geography, economics, civics (i.e., social studies) and the arts won't be counted. The Kentucky Department of Education is also prohibited from publishing an overall school improvement score (accountability index) so schools won't know whether they are better or worse than the previous year - and neither will parents or other taxpayers.

Sexton quoted KEA President Sharron Oxendine as saying, "we should 'just give everybody a breather' from most accountability until we have a new system in three years."

The problems with that, according to Sexton include:

1. For the next three years schools won't have a way of telling parents and other taxpayers how they're progressing with student learning except in math and reading required by NCLB.
2. A likely result will be to de-emphasize writing, science, social studies (history, economics, geography, civics) and the arts.
3. Strong accountability ... and making the case for adequate or superior school funding are joined at the hip.

This last point has some serious legal implications for schools. Kentucky's constitution requires the General Assembly to provide an efficient system of common schools throughout the commonwealth. The Supreme Court has ruled that that means schools must be adequately funded to reach their goals. The absence of state accountability makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for a court to determine whether the General Assembly has fulfilled its obligation. How is a court to determine whether the system is sufficiently funded to reach its goals if the state has no justiciable standards by which the court might measure the efficiency of the system?

Sexton Decries Early Death of Accountability

The Prichard Committee has been generally supportive (with reservations) of efforts in the House to produce an alternative to the Senate Bill 1. Today they are wondering what hit them.

Somewhere, Sharron Oxendine is smiling.

This from Bob Sexton:

CATS: What today's news stories missed?

In a surprise last minute move on legislation affecting testing and accountability (incorporated now in SB 1), the House amended the bill to "suspend" accountability in most subjects for at least 3 years starting this spring. The consequences will be highly disappointing for parents, students, and the public because these measures of school progress underpin Kentucky's push for improved student learning --- and support the case for adequate school funding.

But now it will be more difficult for parents, taxpayers and teachers to figure out how their schools are progressing in core subjects like writing, science, history, geography economics and civics, and there will be no measure of how they are doing overall (calculated by the index of all the subjects).

All they will know under "suspended" accountability is what No Child Left Behind testing in math and reading tells them, which isn’t enough. There’s a strong chance too that all the other subjects---the ones that "don't count"--- will get less attention in the classroom.

This is a hugely ironic outcome for the teachers who lobbied for this change. Teachers who have bitterly complained about NCLB now get nothing but NCLB! They also saw their best case for adequate funding --- evidence of making progress with children --- thrown in the garbage. Be careful what you wish for, as the old saying goes.

So with data on school results "suspended" what's next? Who knows. What information will school boards and superintendents use to push local schools to improve? Will we suspend aid for struggling schools and efforts to reduce achievement gaps? Will we suspend calls for adequate school funding?

Stay tuned --- schools and kids are in for a bumpy ride.

SOURCE: Prichard release