A Shot, but a Miss

Penguin defecates on state Senate floor

This from H-L:

A penguin pooped Tuesday on the Senate floor near the desk of Senate President David Williams.

The penguin, from Newport Aquarium, was in the chamber as Senate President Pro Tem Katie Stine, R-Southgate, presented Senate Resolution 92, a measure to honor the aquarium for its contributions to the "aquatic world in general through its stewardship of sea life and penguins."

Williams, presiding over the chamber, interrupted Stine to inform her that the penguin "just defecated on the floor." An aquarium employee placed the penguin on the upper part of Williams' desk after it did its official business and while Stine finished with her resolution. 

This from Joel Pett at H-L:



Hat tip to Mikey

Faithless

"I do solemnly swear that I will support
the Constitution of the United States
and the Constitution of this Commonwealth,
and be faithful and true to
the Commonwealth of Kentucky
so long as I continue to be a citizen thereof..."

This is the first part of an oath of office required of the Governor of Kentucky, and yesterday, Republican gubernatorial candidate David Williams went a long way toward flaunting it. As President of the Senate and a Constitutional officer himself, one assumes Williams took this same oath. As an attorney, and officer of the court, Williams is honor-bound to uphold the law. But down in the polls, his campaign manager recently departed, and seemingly desperate to try anything, the Bully from Burkesville has apparently stooped to a new low - blaming the department of education (and Governor Steve Beshear, of course) for keeping the faith, following the law, and upholding every citizen's right to be free to worship as they please by not allowing the majority to establish a religion to which all must be beholden.

Perhaps Williams has forgotten that Kentucky was first settled by Virginia Baptists, among others, who were seeking religious freedom in Kentucky because the established Anglican church in Virginia jailed their ministers for preaching without a license. And, of course, the Baptists could not get a license, because they were not Anglican. To be free from that religion, whole congregations of Baptists moved to Kentucky where they earned a reputation for religious tolerance.

This from the Herald-Leader:

Williams blames Beshear

for end of Bell Co. prayer at games

A state lawyer's recommendation that the Bell County school district stop allowing prayer over the public-address system at football games has sparked controversy in Kentucky's gubernatorial election.

Republican David Williams, who is challenging Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear in the Nov. 8 election, urged Beshear in a news release Friday "to denounce this attack on prayer at public functions and lead the efforts of state government to defend our citizens' right to voluntarily pray anywhere they choose."

Williams' campaign on Friday released an email from the state Department of Education to the Bell County school district that said praying before a football game is unconstitutional and the district should "cease this activity immediately."

The email, which cited several court decisions regarding prayer and schools, was written by assistant general counsel Amy Peabody on Aug. 16.

"Even beyond the fact that I believe that the alleged activity actually does constitute unconstitutional endorsement of religion, the effort and expenditure of funds required to defend this practice in litigation will greatly outweigh, and not serve the students of the school district, any perceived constitutional purpose in this activity," Peabody wrote.

Williams responded with typical bluster. But that is not to infer that he doesn't mean it.

"It is a travesty that Gov. Beshear will not stand up for freedom of religion in Kentucky, and instead sides with an organization called 'Freedom From Religion Foundation,' " Williams said. "As governor, I will stand up against out-of-state liberal organizations who want to stomp on our freedom to voluntarily pray in public places."

Reflections on David Williams' First Beer

It's been ten days now, but I'm still chuckling about Fancy Farm.

I have only attended one Fancy Farm picnic...way back in the 80's. I mostly remember how hot it was. That part of the legend of Fancy Farm is true. Other parts may get exaggerated sometimes. But my buddy Ranger and I busied ourselves that day with a psychological experiment in crowd control. Strategically placing ourselves toward the rear of the crowd, at approximately 2 and 10 o'clock, if you will, we looked for any spot in our candidate's speech to whoop and holler. It was amazing. A relatively lacklustre stump speech on healthcare was transformed into an apparent groundswell.

Footage of this year's picnic seemed to show an increase in political theater over those earlier days, but there's always been some of that so it's hard to tell.

This year, according to reports, after blaming Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear for not being close enough to Barack Obama (such that he allegedly chose the Kentucky Oaks over the president's visit to Ft Campbell) Republican gubernatorial candidate David Williams complained that Beshear was too close to the president.

Then came the funny part. According to the National Journal,

Williams attempted to tie Beshear to the president in his speech, blasting Democrats for not doing more to create jobs. That set off a heckler who interrupted Williams' speech by chanting through a megaphone: "Stop the war on workers." Williams gave back as good as he got.

"Leave the guy alone," the candidate quipped to the audience. "I remember what it was like after I had my first beer; you'll be okay."

It's good to know that Williams has a sense of humor, even if it is Steve Martin's humor.

It's even better to know that David Williams recalls his first beer. I wonder when that was.

As I recall, there was a story of Williams, in the good ole days, sitting astride the cannon in the front yard of the Kappa Alpha Order house, at UK, on a Sunday morning, yelling at pledges to pick up all the trash (from the preceeding night's party), while he chugged a fresh one.

That might have been his first beer. But I doubt it.

As student body president of Cumberland County High School he successfully lobbied the school administration to reinstate the senior trip to Florida. But, never mind. They were all under age, so I bet they didn't drink.

Williams calls NCLB request a "farce,"

This pure horse hockey from David Williams on CN/2's Pure Politics:

Republican Senate President David Williams rarely misses a chance to criticize Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, especially on education issues.

The two are facing off in the fall governor’s race.

Williams latest criticism of Beshear is for a request he made for an exemption to the federal No Child Left Behind law.

In his request [supported by KSBA and KASS] with Kentucky’s Education Commissioner Terry Holliday, Beshear asked the U.S. Department of Education to exempt the state from the testing accountability portions of the federal law. Instead, Beshear wants Kentucky’s own system to be used when the state is graded under NCLB standards.

But Williams called the request a “farce,” because the state has yet to fully develop it’s own accountability system after scrapping the previous system. Because a system is not yet in place, Williams accused Beshear of playing politics with education.

Williams did not mention that a quickly growing number of states are following Beshear's leadership on the issue: Idaho, South Dakota, now Tennessee and more to come....stay tuned.

But Williams claims, "Gov Beshear is attempting to cover up his very dismal record..." 

That record not only includes repeated efforts (nine) to spare Kentucky education from the kinds of deep cuts that other state's children have had to endure, but netted Beshear the title "America’s Greatest Education Governor" from the NEA Sunday. The annual award recognizes governors who have made “major, state-level strides” to improve public schools. NEA President Dennis Van Roekel said Beshear has shown unwavering support for students and educators.

But Williams is going to criticize Beshear no matter what he does. Williams knows very well [wasn't he the sponsor of Senate Bill 1?] that the state's new assessment system is still in development. Many of the national standards are set and more are in development. But there's no particular problem assoicated with figuring out how one's accountability system will work, before the actual test is complete. Beshear is seeking the kind of state control Republicans say they support, unless of course, it's an election year.

Williams also claims that Beshear is against "the sort of interventions we know are necessary to improve education in the state." He included two examples: Beshear's opposition to Williams's neighborhood school bill which would resegregate schools in Louisville, much as is occurring in Wake County, NC, and voluntary charter schools. I support limited use of charter schools but would never go so far as to claim they are a cure for anything beyond a few site-specific cases where long-term efforts have not produced results. Citing charters as a broad solution for Kentucky schools is simply not supported by evidence. But Williams knows that in politics, one need not always be correct if what one says confirms a constituency's biases.

Holliday deferred when asked about Williams comments, saying he wasn’t a politician. But the commissioner said he doesn’t believe Kentucky is at any disadvantage in its request, despite not having its own standards set in stone yet.

Instead, Holliday said Kentucky’s push is similar to other states who want standards set at the state level.

Gov. Steve Beshear vetoes most provisions of Medicaid bill

This from the Courier-Journal:

Gov. Steve Beshear on Friday stripped the Medicaid budget bill of cuts to education as well as other provisions, leaving what amounts to his original proposal for dealing with the program’s funding shortfall.

“I'm coming forward to restore common sense to the mission of rebalancing the state's Medicaid budget,” Beshear said at a news conference where he detailed his veto of most parts of House Bill 1, sent to him by a special session of the General
Assembly Thursday night.

“… I will not make drastic cuts to classroom teaching, to our veterans programs, to public safety, to our social workers, to higher education and numerous other services when there is no need to do so,” he said...

Still to be resolved is how the session finally ends. The House adjourned for good Thursday night, with no intention to return. The Senate adjourned until a final day on April 6 — when Beshear's deadline for issuing vetoes would have expired.

And the major players continued to squabble Friday over the issue of pay for all legislators for each day until the Senate finally adjourns. A legislative session costs taxpayers about $64,000 per day.

The Senate included in its version of HB 1 a provision that no lawmaker could be paid during the 12-day waiting period for vetoes. But the governor struck that language from the bill as one of his vetoes Friday.

He said that clashed with a provision in the Kentucky Constitution that he said “states something to the effect that legislators can't change their pay during the session in which they vote to make such a change.”

Stumbo agreed with that. And he urged Williams to convene the Senate as soon as possible to adjourn and thus conclude the session.

But Williams said no lawmakers will be paid for any days after Thursday if the House returns and overrides Beshear's veto of the provision that bans legislative pay for the 12 days.

“The Senate will come back on the scheduled day (April 6) unless we are able to convince the House to come back sooner,” he said.

Stumbo said the House has no intention of returning...

David Williams' Class-size Increasing, Job-killing Budget Proposal

Senate Education Chair Ken Winters

Supports Cuts to Education

..as do Alice Forgy Kerr and Jared Carpenter

Well it's springtime in Frankfort and the pitchers and catchers have reported for duty. Senate President David Williams is pitching bull from his pen. He even used the words "truth" and "responsible" in the same sentence, referring to the knuckleball his team is prepared to throw at teachers and other public employees.

You see, Williams discovered that we have a budget problem in Kentucky and he recently suggested somebody ought to study it while he introduces his job-killing solution for the Commonwealth.

Despite having been in the Frankfort big league for 20+ years and ducking multiple opportunities to lead the repairing of Kentucky's long-broken tax structure, the gubernatorial hopeful now seems to think that firing a bunch of teachers is the solution to Kentucky's fiscal problems.

I hope Tom Shelton and the Council for Better Education are warming up in their bullpen.

The fact is that the repeated affirmative actions of the legislature to erode school funding and starve Senate Bill 1 implementation is irresponsible and a far cry from carrying out the legislature's constitutional duty.

This from the Herald-Leader:

State Senate Approves Spending Cuts

Despite Protests from Educators

Ignoring the protests of some Kentucky educators, the Senate passed a measure late Wednesday that would cut spending across state government to shore up the state's Medicaid budget.

The state Senate voted 24-12 to approve its own version of House Bill 305 after a more than hour-long debate. The move sets the stage for a high-stakes standoff between the Republican-led Senate and the Democratic-led House during the waning days of the legislative session.

The Senate version of the bill includes a 0.525 percent spending cut in the first year and 2.26 percent cuts in the second year of the budget, which begins July 1. Postsecondary and K-12 education would not be cut in the first year but would face reductions in the second year. That cut would be about 1.3 percent for K-12 education...

Brad Hughes, a spokesman for the Kentucky School Board Association, said even cuts to the state Department of Education could have dramatic and disastrous effects on the implementation of a state testing overhaul that lawmakers approved two years ago.

"Our folks as well as anyone know that times are horrendously tough," Hughes said. "But I don't know of any other state that is launching a major education and teaching initiative at the same time that you are cutting millions of dollars from school spending."

Senators who voted in favor of the measure include: Bowen, Buford, Carpenter, Denton, Gibson, Givens, Harris, Higdon, Hornback, Jenson, Jones, Kerr, Leeper McGaha, Pendleton, Schickel, Seum, Katie Stine, Stivers, Thayer, Westwood, Williams, Wilson and Senate Education Chair Ken Winters.

This from C-J:

The Senate's action sets the stage for a conflict that is likely to remain unresolved until the eleventh hour of the waning legislative session.

That's because the Democrat-controlled House, which approved Beshear's approach in an 80-19 vote last month, cannot accept the Senate's version.

“I don't believe the House will want to cut education and further cut human services, and cut the court system and other things when there's a better alternative,” House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said earlier Wednesday. “It's a basic question of whether you want to overreact and take the simplistic approach of just adding more cuts to government.”

The state budget has already been cut eight times in a three year period due to the national recession - which was not caused by public employees.

Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday responded to the Senate vote by calculating the budget cuts by district - reported at KSBA.

The Kentucky Department of Education has released calculations of the impact of proposed SEEK funding cuts included in the Senate-adopted measure to address a projected Medicaid shortfall in the 2011-12 fiscal year.

Education Commissioner Terry Holliday distributed his agency’s estimation of district-by-district cuts if House Bill 305 becomes law. That measure would cut spending by most state agencies and includes a $38.1 million reduction in SEEK.

That is on top of the previously announced $28.7 million SEEK cut because of a large-than-expected student enrollment this year and next. Overall, the latest figures are for a $66.8 million SEEK cut next fiscal year.

Although this information is preliminary and could change through the budget conference committee process, it may be helpful to you as you begin to plan for potential cuts reduct next year’s SEEK budget,” Holliday said in a Thursday afternoon e-mail to superintendents and other education leaders.

Here are the Department of Education’s SEEK cut calculations:

DISTRICT/ORIGINAL SEEK CUT/ESTIMATED HB 305 CUT/ ESTIMATED TOTAL CUT

• Adair County $131,512 $176,186 $307,698
• Allen County 158,395 209,988 368,383
• Anchorage Ind. 5,236 9,561 14,797
• Anderson County 223,475 225,050 448,525
• Ashland Ind. 148,730 200,173 348,904
• Augusta Ind. 16,305 20,778 37,083
• Ballard County 67,534 86,075 153,608
• Barbourville Ind. 36,631 45,966 82,597
• Bardstown Ind. 137,040 146,773 283,813
• Barren County 336,130 311,311 647,441
• Bath County 111,902 145,350 257,252
• Beechwood Ind. 34,549 50,349 84,897
• Bell County 168,671 221,043 389,713
• Bellevue Ind. 23,411 35,776 59,187
• Berea Ind. 71,407 82,756 154,162
• Boone County 508,712 802,249 1,310,961
• Bourbon County 106,146 151,392 257,538
• Bowling Green Ind. 185,904 251,639 437,544
• Boyd County 144,316 191,444 335,760
• Boyle County 107,283 154,425 261,708
• Bracken County 66,033 87,385 153,418
• Breathitt County 128,093 170,192 298,285
• Breckinridge County 122,767 170,206 292,973
• Bullitt County 650,276 696,167 1,346,443
• Burgin Ind. 12,644 19,863 32,508
• Butler County 122,455 158,669 281,124
• Caldwell County 102,232 136,071 238,303
• Calloway County 109,272 164,730 274,002
• Campbell County 109,830 200,537 310,367
• Campbellsville Ind. 50,095 71,028 121,123
• Carlisle County 41,938 56,091 98,029
• Carroll County 74,096 106,773 180,869
• Carter County 273,373 354,509 627,882
• Casey County 130,839 174,405 305,244
• Caverna Ind. 35,002 50,240 85,243
• Christian County 424,442 584,772 1,009,214
• Clark County 183,156 275,554 458,711
• Clay County 203,352 263,119 466,471
• Clinton County 86,523 115,793 202,316
• Cloverport Ind. 21,331 27,064 48,395
• Corbin Ind. 216,407 181,039 397,446
• Covington Ind. 143,848 216,056 359,904
• Crittenden County 61,465 82,894 144,359
• Cumberland County 53,621 66,878 120,499
• Danville Ind. 63,108 94,575 157,684
• Daviess County 465,301 668,282 1,133,583
• Dawson Springs Ind. 44,276 55,633 99,909
• Dayton Ind. 49,127 64,272 113,398
• East Bernstadt Ind. 32,026 39,854 71,880
• Edmonson County 103,602 138,717 242,319
• Elizabethtown Ind. 128,298 151,450 279,748
• Elliott County 67,289 86,577 153,866
• Eminence Ind. 32,686 42,486 75,172
• Erlanger-Elsmere Ind. 84,169 120,191 204,360
• Estill County 140,632 181,741 322,373
• Fairview Ind. 44,427 57,316 101,743
• Fayette County 677,373 1,236,808 1,914,181
• Fleming County 127,905 168,793 296,699
• Floyd County 306,487 420,167 726,654
• Fort Thomas Ind. 76,849 111,475 188,323
• Frankfort Ind. 31,464 42,875 74,339
• Franklin County 199,841 292,223 492,064
• Fulton County 23,557 33,852 57,409
• Fulton Ind. 20,551 27,459 48,010
• Gallatin County 85,686 106,839 192,524
• Garrard County 175,540 172,797 348,338
• Glasgow Ind. 104,610 128,159 232,769
• Grant County 285,718 261,518 547,236
• Graves County 221,206 298,184 519,390
• Grayson County 207,822 279,355 487,177
• Green County 107,316 126,749 234,065
• Greenup County 144,138 193,434 337,572
• Hancock County 79,827 109,022 188,849
• Hardin County 707,100 968,170 1,675,270
• Harlan County 203,227 275,681 478,908
• Harlan Ind. 45,651 57,709 103,359
• Harrison County 143,778 196,355 340,132
• Hart County 122,888 164,853 287,741
• Hazard Ind. 48,413 63,076 111,489
• Henderson County 283,601 405,302 688,903
• Henry County 124,218 151,303 275,521
• Hickman County 35,397 49,498 84,894
• Hopkins County 313,227 445,263 758,490
• Jackson County 137,880 179,508 317,388
• Jackson Ind. 23,788 29,706 53,494
• Jefferson County 2,354,818 4,194,236 6,549,054
• Jenkins Ind. 35,023 44,930 79,953
• Jessamine County 325,802 398,269 724,071
• Johnson County 218,062 285,000 503,062
• Kenton County 515,707 688,013 1,203,720
• Knott County 95,810 139,877 235,686
• Knox County 258,538 341,368 599,906
• LaRue County 127,175 169,665 296,839
• Laurel County 655,251 626,097 1,281,348
• Lawrence County 116,730 160,310 277,041
• Lee County 55,268 77,093 132,361
• Leslie County 92,170 127,053 219,223
• Letcher County 166,537 228,962 395,499
• Lewis County 126,473 166,536 293,009
• Lincoln County 221,826 294,802 516,628
• Livingston County 41,392 66,156 107,548
• Logan County 170,761 227,286 398,048
• Ludlow Ind. 43,702 58,421 102,123
• Lyon County 14,353 26,207 40,561
• Madison County 629,895 649,736 1,279,631
• Magoffin County 129,129 170,540 299,669
• Marion County 152,275 209,063 361,338
• Marshall County 175,727 254,107 429,834
• Martin County 101,471 138,434 239,906
• Mason County 117,995 170,188 288,183
• Mayfield Ind. 85,994 112,365 198,359
• McCracken County 249,655 347,312 596,966
• McCreary County 188,720 243,550 432,271
• McLean County 81,403 109,846 191,249
• Meade County 309,719 368,810 678,529
• Menifee County 68,178 87,207 155,384
• Mercer County 188,451 193,054 381,505
• Metcalfe County 83,788 111,703 195,492
• Middlesboro Ind. 69,887 95,640 165,527
• Monroe County 111,211 144,338 255,548
• Montgomery County 331,841 314,043 645,885
• Monticello Ind. 56,693 71,168 127,862
• Morgan County 120,112 154,818 274,930
• Muhlenberg County 239,785 325,484 565,270
• Murray Ind. 90,240 82,212 172,452
• Nelson County 239,315 257,794 497,109
• Newport Ind. 70,378 102,919 173,297
• Nicholas County 72,232 84,641 156,873
• Ohio County 204,759 270,998 475,757
• Oldham County 552,621 610,287 1,162,908
• Owen County 97,191 131,750 228,942
• Owensboro Ind. 198,740 272,396 471,136
• Owsley County 50,631 65,725 116,356
• Paducah Ind. 131,526 169,555 301,081
• Paintsville Ind. 32,839 44,444 77,283
• Paris Ind. 35,963 47,851 83,814
• Pendleton County 200,902 183,450 384,352
• Perry County 189,452 270,763 460,215
• Pike County 480,437 644,602 1,125,039
• Pikeville Ind. 42,327 60,870 103,197
• Pineville Ind. 39,345 43,854 83,200
• Powell County 141,344 184,454 325,797
• Pulaski County 340,939 480,615 821,554
• Raceland Ind. 57,865 72,983 130,848
• Robertson County 22,439 29,266 51,704
• Rockcastle County 182,983 237,078 420,061
• Rowan County 164,079 207,835 371,914
• Russell County 154,180 193,808 347,988
• Russell Ind. 95,900 131,129 227,029
• Russellville Ind. 63,532 75,317 138,849
• Science Hill Ind. 29,430 33,193 62,623
• Scott County 374,228 426,914 801,142
• Shelby County 329,284 379,357 708,641
• Silver Grove Ind. 9,379 13,546 22,925
• Simpson County 126,224 178,131 304,355
• Somerset Ind. 46,960 71,065 118,025
• Southgate Ind. 6,603 10,490 17,094
• Spencer County 161,080 163,939 325,020
• Taylor County 126,343 170,189 296,532
• Todd County 110,574 147,840 158,414
• Trigg County 80,036 115,444 195,480
• Trimble County 63,713 87,486 151,199
• Union County 106,558 148,618 255,176
• Walton Verona Ind. 67,392 91,850 159,242
• Warren County 612,894 702,254 1,315,148
• Washington County 88,474 111,975 200,450
• Wayne County 126,369 172,134 298,502
• Webster County 106,337 144,190 250,526
• West Point Ind. 5,891 7,855 13,746
• Whitley County 274,419 356,071 630,490
• Williamsburg Ind. 40,617 53,245 93,862
• Williamstown Ind. 58,091 65,656 123,747
• Wolfe County 81,192 106,309 187,501
• Woodford County 102,662 170,835 273,497
• TOTALS $28,680,616 $38,122,413 $66,803,029
  
• Additional Reductions: National Board Certified Teachers $41,623.00
• State-Run Vocational Schools $352,497.00
• Vocational Transportation $36,582.00
• Total HB 305 Reductions $38,553,115.00

An Imaginary Hurley-Richards Defense

As KSN&C readers know, I'm not an attorney, so take my ramblings with a grain of salt. But I've been trying to imagine the defense attorney JoEllen McComb might use in an attempt to derail the FCPS appeal of Ernesto Scorsone's circuit court ruling in the Hurley-Richards case. (I'm seeking the actual brief, but it will be next week at the earliest before I can see it.)

Bob Chenoweth will argue for the district that the court is bound by KRS 13B.150(2) and that the court cannot substitute its judgement for that of the Tribunal when it comes to the weight of evidence.

13B.150 Conduct of judicial review.
(1) Review of a final order shall be conducted by the court without a jury and shall be confined to the record, unless there is fraud or misconduct involving a party engaged in administration of this chapter. The court, upon request, may hear oral argument and receive written briefs.
(2) The court shall not substitute its judgment for that of the agency as to the weight of the evidence on questions of fact. The court may affirm the final order or it may reverse the final order, in whole or in part, and remand the case for further proceedings if it finds the agency's final order is:
(a) In violation of constitutional or statutory provisions;
(b) In excess of the statutory authority of the agency;
(c) Without support of substantial evidence on the whole record;
(d) Arbitrary, capricious, or characterized by abuse of discretion;
(e) Based on an ex parte communication which substantially prejudiced the rights of any party and likely affected the outcome of the hearing;
(f) Prejudiced by a failure of the person conducting a proceeding to be disqualified pursuant to KRS 13B.040(2); or
(g) Deficient as otherwise provided by law.

OK. That seems very straightforward. How can the district lose? Scorsone appears to have done a little evidence weighing himself in determining that the Tribunal's conclusions were "without support of substantial evidence..." The word "substantial" would certainly seem to indicate a weighing of the evidence occurred.

But there are lots of laws and some are higher than others. I wonder if McComb will make a constitutional claim on Hurley-Richards' behalf.

Would granting the district's claim constitute an

unconstitutional breach of the separation of powers?

Here's my imaginary defense:

The Kentucky Constitution is particularly strong on the separation of powers. Authored by a guy named Thomas Jefferson, our Constitutional provisions related to the separation of powers contain explicit provisions which mandate a separation among the three branches of government. At Sec 27:

The powers of the government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky shall be divided into three distinct departments, and each of them be confined to a separate body of magistracy, to wit: Those which are legislative, to one; those which are executive, to another; and those which are judicial, to another.

That's the part everyone remembers because David Williams and other politicians have made outrageous claims in recent years, in an attempt to extend that separation into more power for the legislature (...or was it just Republicans?).

But there's a second part to the provision at Sec 28:

No person or collection of persons, being of one of those departments, shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others, except in the instances hereinafter expressly directed or permitted.

So my question is: By what right does the legislature constrain the manner in which the courts consider evidence? The power to try cases by hearing evidence and reviewing governmental processes would seem to belong exclusively to the judiciary.

It seems to me that the Kentucky Court of Appeals could choose to reject as improper the limitations placed on the court in KRS 13B.150(2) - a violation of the separtation of powers doctrine - and uphold the lower court ruling.

In LRC v Brown (Ky.) 664 S. W. 2d 907, 912 (1984) the Kentucky Supreme Court declared that the separation of powers doctrine must be "srictly construed."

In Rose v Council for Better Education (Ky.) 790 S.W. 2d. 186, 60 Ed Law Rep. 1289 (1989) that same court reiterated that "the power to legislate belongs to the General Assembly, and the power to adjudicate belongs to the judiciary. It is our goal to honor both the letter and the spirit of that constitutional mandate."

Just as the court is constrained from dictating to the legislature how it goes about its business, the legislature is constrained from dictating to the judiciary how judges must adjudicate.

Did I mention that I'm not an attorney?

Oh, and one more thing. The language in KRS 13B.150(2) says the court can "remand the case for further proceedings..." So, one supposes that if the district wins its appeal, the case would return to the circuit court for final disposition.

Senate Passes Charter, “Neighborhood” Schools Bill amid Passionate Debate

Measure Moves to House

When Session Resumes in February

This from KSBA:

At the end of a rare Friday afternoon debate, the Kentucky Senate narrowly voted 21-17 to pass Senate Bill 3, the charter school, “neighborhood” schools legislation championed by President David Williams (R-Burkesville).

An often passionate 80-minute debate between Democrat and Republican senators dwelled little on the issues of creating charter schools, but rather on how districts set school attendance boundaries – the “neighborhood schools” language. As in Thursday’s Senate Education Committee hearing, the focus was on the controversial Jefferson County Schools’ student assignment plan and the bill’s proponents desire to give parents greater say in having their children attend schools closest to their homes.

Both sides in Friday’s exchanges made local decision making by school boards as a primary focus of their support and opposition to both the charter schools and school attendance boundary subjects...

Support for charter schools had been building to some degree as a new advocacy group formed in Lexington. As Jim Warren reported in the Herald-Leader, interest in charter schools in Lexington has grown in recent months with the creation of Asteroids, a group of parents, educators and clergy who have been discussing charter schools since about September. To be sure, there is no groundswell of charter school support yet. And no one has indicated any intention of starting a charter school in Lexington if the General Assembly approves enabling legislation.

"I guarantee you there is lot of frustration among parents with the public school system in Lexington," said Brandi Carey, a mother of four who says a charter school could provide Lexington students with more choices in language immersion programs.

Talk about charter schools previously has been limited mainly to Louisville, where
some parents are calling for charters as alternatives for students in persistently low-achieving public schools.

Rev. Willis Polk, pastor of Lexington's Imani Baptist Church, told H-L that too many students are falling through the cracks and charters could be a valuable addition, if enabling legislation is properly crafted.

"Many of our children graduate from high school, go to college, and arrive there with great deficiencies. Something must be done. Some people are looking at [charters] and hoping and praying that some kind of alternative is made possible for our kids."

Polk's church serves members from the Booker T Washington, Leestown, Bryan Station, and other areas.

SB 3, which is being called “the voluntary charter school bill,” would allow local school boards to create public charter schools free from many existing state and local rules for operating schools to improve educational opportunities for children attending the charters.

Unsuccessful charter applicants could appeal denials or restrictions required by the local school board to the Kentucky Board of Education, which could overturn them. Charter schools would be given three to five years to demonstrate their impact before facing possible loss of their operating authority.

In committee, Senate President David Williams, the bill’s chief sponsor, argued that charter schools are just another tool for “intervention” in low-performing schools, similar to the transformation options schools now use.

Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, said that while he’s not opposed to charter schools, he is concerned about how they would be structured and their accountability as outlined in the bill.

Senate Bill 3 sailed out of the Senate Education Committee on Thursday, with all five Democrats on the committee voting against it.

But the bill is not only about charter schools. It also contains provisions that under some circumstances, would allow students to attend the school closest to their home - a measure with questionable consequences. Williams argued,

“The only thing this bill does is to give individual parents some authority to negotiate and say ‘I want my child to attend the school closest to our residence within the school attendance boundary,’ rather than have some bureaucrat decide whether that child goes to that school or somewhere else. This bill does not take local control away, it just guarantees parent control.”

So the whole thing turned into an argument over local control - only this time it was Republicans supporting the state imposition of attendance boundary solutions on local school boards.

KSBA reported,

Sen. Gerald Neal (D-Louisville) urged defeat of SB 3, saying it would indeed negatively impact local decision making, as was argued Thurday by three members of the Jefferson County Board of Education.

“These complex issues will not be resolved by actions taken by the state as opposed by those policy makers who are on the ground. An election was just held (in Jefferson County) and all of those (school board members) were re-elected. That’s a public expression of democracy in action. This body, particularly the (Republican) majority has consistently spoken that decision making should take place on the local level. This is a break from that,” Neal said.

Neal unsuccessfully sought to amend the bill’s mandates with a study of the measure’s impact.

“It’s very important that we identify the districts in the state that are likely to be affected. We don’t know that,” he said. “The potential increase in costs of facilities, student transportation and other operations. We don’t know that. Identification of potential impact on diversity and access to special programs. We don’t know that. This study would be central considering what we don’t know, but what we should know when we take a step like this,” said Neal.

The fun-filled 2011 General Assembly resumes on Feb. 1. The issue now goes to the House of Representatives where Speaker Greg Stumbo harbors doubt over its likely success.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, told the Courier-Journal on Monday, that he thought several bills would pass the Senate this week - a week usually reserved for organizational matters. The Courier reported that "significant action on several major bills would be unprecedented during the first week of a short regular legislative session..."

Williams released the GOP agenda which included (the good) creating a commission to recommend changes in the state tax code and allowing local school districts to establish charter schools, (the bad) moving new state workers into a 401(k)-type pension plan, and (the ugly) adopting an Arizona-style immigration law.

There were complaints from the Governor and Democratic legislators, who told C-J they had not seen drafts of any of the bills. Williams assured C-J that "the majority Senate Republicans strongly backs all of the bills." Apparently, Senate GOP bill drafts were made available to the media, but only to some members of state Senate.

But, Democrats control the House and Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, told CNHI's Ronnie Ellis he doesn’t expect the House to conform to Williams’ accelerated schedule, instead using the first four days for organization. He seemed lukewarm about most of the provisions Williams is pushing and suggested Williams might be motivated by politics. Stumbo doubts Tax Modernization will go anywhere, but a proposed study passed a Senate committee today. The panel also passed Senate Bill 13 which would expand on a privately funded program called Advance Kentucky that already gives cash incentives to math and science teachers in 44 participating schools across the state.

Williams, a declared candidate for governor is on the fast track. But he did find time to squelch dissent on education issues by throwing Louisville's Tim Shannessy off the Education Committee.

First up for education? SB 3: Charter Schools and "Neighborhood Schools" bills.

But a hearing that was supposed to take place today on SB3 was moved back to Thursday. Committee Chairman Sen. Ken Winters (R-Murray) apologized for the delay saying, "We have some of the sponsors who are involved in a meeting out of town and they will not get back before we adjourn.”

This from KSBA:

The Senate Education Committee has now set an 11 a.m. ET Thursday, Jan. 6 hearing on SB 3.

SB 3 would allow local school boards to create public charter schools free from many existing state and local rules for operating schools in an effort to improve educational opportunities for students attending those schools; allow unsuccessful charter applicants to appeal denials or restrictions required by the local school board to the Kentucky Board of Education, which could overturn them; and would require charter schools be given three to five years to demonstrate their impact before facing possible loss of their operating authority.

SB 3 also would create a new set of student enrollment rules relating to the distance between their homes and the public schools in which they enroll. Although the controversy over the Jefferson County Public Schools’ student assignment system has been tied to the bill by both sponsors Seum and Williams, the language of the bill would apply statewide.

The Senate Education Committee did approve Senate Bill 12, which would have principal vacancies filled by the superintendent, after consultation with the school’s site-based decision making council.

So far, 35 Bills have been filed that may impact education.

Education, Elementary and Secondary
11RS
WWW Version

African-American male student achievement, study of - HCR 15

Attendance
areas, establishment by local boards - SB 3
in schools closest to residence - SB 3

Body
mass index, preventative healthcare examination forms - SB 32
mass index, school physical examination forms - HB 89

Charter
school, requirements for - HB 103
schools, application and approval of - HB 103
schools, establishment of - SB 3
schools, renewal or revocation of charter - HB 103

Compulsory attendance, age limit, raising of - HB 75

Digital citizenship, inclusion in discipline code and professional
development - HB 30

Early
childhood assessment and intervention, district-wide
implementation of - HB 17
education assessment and intervention, implementation of - HB 86

Evaluation, certified personnel - HB 120

Foster children, dual credit and dual enrollment courses,
tuition waiver - HB 13

Great Schools Tax Credit Program, establish - HB 98

Juvenile status offense actions, requirements for - HB 123

Laptop computers, middle school students, study - HCR 7

Mandates on public schools, financial support for - SB 35; HB 39

Persistently low-achieving schools, development of charter
schools in lieu of - SB 3

Physical
activity of children, assessment of and data use - HB 16
activity of children, increasing - HB 88

Principal selection, appointment by the superintendent after
consultation with the school council - SB 12

Programs, career and technical education - SB 36

Scholarship eligible high school student, definition of - HB 112

School
attendance - SB 21
buses, commercial advertising on - HB 62, 67
calendar, starting date - SB 31
meal program, clarification of access to - HB 81

Scientific theories, critical analysis, teaching of - HB 169

Student
assignment plans, funds for implementation of - SB 28
religious expression, support of - HR 25

Students with disabilities, alternative high school diploma for - HB 171

Suicide prevention, Rachael's Law - HB 134

Teachers of advanced science and mathematics, monetary awards for - SB 13

Photo By David Perry at H-L; Hat tip to KSBA

Neighborhood Schools Plan May Cost State

Williams calls latest bill a cheap trick

...and he should know

This from Toni at C-J:

A Jefferson County lawmaker wants the state to pay the costs — possibly hundreds of millions of dollars — that would result from a proposed bill letting children attend the public school closest to their homes.

State Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, a Democrat, pre-filed a bill for the 2011 session on Wednesday that responds to a bill pre-filed last month by Senate President David Williams and Sen. Dan Seum of Louisville, both Republicans, that would allow children to attend their neighborhood schools.

Shaughnessy said the Williams-Seum bill is an effort to take control of the schools away from local districts — and if the state is going to do that, “the state needs to pick up that financial responsibility.”

Williams responded Wednesday that Shaughnessy's proposal is “a cheap political trick” and that the bill he's co-sponsoring would not cost districts any additional money.

The Williams-Seum proposal, titled the Neighborhood Schools Bill, would let parents enroll their children for attendance in the public school closest to their home except in cases where the school has academic or skill prerequisites, such as magnet and traditional schools.

It also says that, in cases where a neighborhood school is full, the children who live closest have priority for enrollment. In addition, under a grandfather clause, any child attending the school would not be moved out to let another child attend.

Jefferson County school officials say the Williams-Seum bill would require almost $200 million in new spending, including transportation changes and new schools.

The bill for other districts is unknown, but Lisa Gross, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education, has said the Williams-Seum legislation could affect all 174 school districts in the state...

How EduJobs Saved Senate Bill 1

After several years of legislative haggling over education reform, KERA, and testing, the Kentucky General Assembly finally came together to chart a new path for the public schools when it passed a revised version of Senate Bill 1 in 2009.

Gone were earlier claims that attempts to kill “the CATS test” were merely an effort by state Republicans to undermine public education. Pushed by disgruntled teachers, Democrats were suddenly on board saying it was time to move to the next phase of reform. The abandonment of CATS became the central focus of R’s and D’s alike.

Nationally, it is hard to find much distance between the educational ideologies of Republicans and Democrats. Most of the debate is between two groups made up mostly of Democrats. Except for the use of fixed targets, and allowing individual states to define what it meant for a student to be “proficient,” President George W Bush’s use of NCLB testing is a lot like the policy of President Barack Obama - who promises to fix the broken NCLB measures but has yet to accomplish it.

Both camps seem to be listening to Bill Gates when it comes to education policy. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s agenda of charter schools, national standards, a national exam, longitudinal data systems and the use of student achievement results to evaluate teachers has been broadly accepted by hundreds of education groups – as have hundreds of millions of Gates dollars for those willing to follow along.

In Kentucky, Senate Bill 1 provides a good plan but no budget allocation to make it work.

In an effort to salvage his central mission, Education Commissioner Terry Holliday went looking for money to make Senate Bill 1 happen. It was a hard slog. The Obama administration and Gates provided lots of opportunities for money, but only to those willing to tailor their state systems to fit the national agenda. To show enthusiasm for the new reform agenda, Kentucky became the first state to adopt national standards. That may have earned brownie points from Education Secretary Arne Duncan but it earned too few real points in the federal Race to the Top competition. Holliday’s effort to win a $175 million grant fell short, in large measure but not exclusively, due to Kentucky’s resistance to passing charter school legislation.

“Not getting the Race to the Top funds will slow down our ability to implement Senate Bill 1,” Kentucky Education Association President Sharron Oxendine said. The failure of the Kentucky General Assembly to provide “adequate state funding for our schools will make it even more difficult for Kentucky teachers to assure that all students reach their potential.”

However when the bad news came down, Holliday was not completely out of luck. Kentucky is participating in three separate consortia of states who are working on developing national assessments by 2014. Kentucky recently learned it would share in $330 million to build the new tests.

Part of Holliday’s problem was solved. The state could now build the test, but there was no way to train Kentucky teachers on the new standards – the most important aspect of reform.

Then, just when it appeared that Kentucky teachers would be denied the support they needed to implement SB1, along came EduJobs. The US Congress passed the $28 billion EduJobs bill with the idea of saving teachers jobs but it also allowed flexibility so long as the funds were used to “save or create” education jobs at the school level.

But most Kentucky school districts had already tightened their belts in anticipation of bad budgets and any district that hired new teachers through this one-time fund would end up firing them in the end.

So Holliday saw an opportunity and strongly encouraged districts to utilize Kentucky’s $135 million share of EduJobs funds for “Senate Bill 1 professional development” over the next two years.

Problem solved.

When asked if EduJobs saved Senate Bill 1, Holliday said flatly, “Yes it did.” The money the state failed to budget was provided by the federal government.

And there was a minor miracle. In Frankfort Thursday, a joint meeting of the P-12 and Postsecondary Budget Review Subcommittees passed a unanimous motion asking Governor Steve Beshear, Senate President David Williams and Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo to send a letter to all state superintendents urging them to use EduJobs in support of Senate Bill 1.
“We’re getting a lot of support behind the scenes now that we know about Race to the Top,” Holliday told the Kentucky’s Association of Teacher Educators who met at Georgetown College Friday.

EduJobs which was supported by Congressman Ben Chandler, and quickly pursued by Governor Beshear gives districts local control over decision-making in the use of the funds.

Andy Barr, who is seeking Chandler's seat in the US House called EduJobs a “reckless spending spree.”

~

This from the Budget Review Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education and the Budget Review Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education:

September 23, 2010

The Honorable Steven L. Beshear
Governor, Commonwealth of Kentucky

The Honorable David L. Williams
President of the Senate, Commonwealth of Kentucky

The Honorable Gregory D. Stumbo
Speaker of the House, Commonwealth of Kentucky

Dear Governor Beshear, President Williams, and Speaker Stumbo:

At a joint meeting of the Budget Review Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education and the Budget Review Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education, subcommittee members discussed with Dr. Terry Holliday, Commissioner of Education, the possibility of utilizing funds from the recently enacted Federal EduJobs Program to support implementation of Senate Bill 1 (2009 General Assembly). As a result of this discussion, the subcommittees voted to request that you jointly prepare and forward a letter to all local school superintendents encouraging them to utilize, to the extent possible, EduJobs funds to support and implement the provisions of Senate Bill 1.

We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Senator Vernie McGaha, Co-Chair
Budget Review Subcommittee on
Postsecondary Education
Budget Review Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary
Education

Representative Arnold Simpson, Co-Chair
Budget Review Subcommittee on
Postsecondary Education

Representative Tommy Thompson, Co-Chair
Budget Review Subcommittee on
Primary and Secondary Education

This from the Gov:

Kentucky to Receive Millions to Support Education, Teachers

Governor Steve Beshear announced today that he has submitted the state’s application for nearly $135 million in federal money to support education and teacher hiring. President Obama signed the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act in mid August, which includes $10 billion to support teacher hiring and retention and other educational support in the states. “Despite the worst economic times in our recent history, we have been able to protect the primary funding formula for primary and secondary education from deep budget cuts,” said Gov. Beshear. “These funds were unexpected, and are one-time in nature, but will help school districts get through a tough year in which their local funds are not growing along with their expenses.” Funds will flow directly to the school districts through the SEEK formula and must be used to retain, hire and rehire school personnel, including teachers. The funds may also be used to support related expenses that were in jeopardy because of funding pressures.

“Even with the protection of SEEK funding, school districts are struggling to maintain teaching positions and instructional programs,” said Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday. “These federal funds will provide some much-needed temporary support for the state’s 174 school districts.” Many states have had mass layoffs of teachers, have closed schools, and have made other deep budget cuts to education. “We acted aggressively early in this financial crisis to both cut state spending and at the same time protect education from those cuts,” said Gov. Beshear. “So our schools haven’t faced the disastrous cuts inflicted on schools in some other states.” · In New Jersey, about 3,000 teachers were let go in May. · In Florida, about 550 teachers were let go this spring in Broward County Public Schools alone. · Illinois’ governor recommended an additional $70 million in education cuts on top of $241 million in previous cuts. · Georgia’s fiscal 2011 budget cuts schools and colleges by more than $600 million. For those states, their share of the $10 billion Education Jobs Fund will be used to restore the cuts.

Gov. Beshear reminded school districts to be prudent. “I urge our schools to be cautious and conservative with these funds,” he said. “These funds will help the districts this fiscal year, but they will not be available next fiscal year, which will be more challenging than the current year from a funding perspective.”

And from The Governor's BLOG – who knew?

First, the good news. Kentucky is getting $134.9 million from the Education Jobs Fund, money that we are sending directly to school districts through our current SEEK formula. It must be used to retain, hire and rehire school personnel -- including teachers -- and to support related expenses that were in jeopardy because of funding pressures. In short, 100 percent of these funds will be used to support classroom instruction, which has been a high priority of mine throughout this crisis.

Our schools haven’t faced the disastrous cuts inflicted in other states because we acted aggressively early in this financial crisis to both cut state spending and yet protect education spending from those cuts. Still, as school officials will tell you, these new funds – though one-time in nature – are desperately needed. I urge our schools to be cautious and conservative with these funds because they will not be available next fiscal year, which promises to be even more challenging from a funding perspective.

David Williams Being David Williams

This from H-L:

Cynical ploy by Williams, Seum

Williams, Seum attack local control

State Senate President David Williams and his fellow Republican, Sen. Dan Seum, went into full pander mode last week, thereby removing any doubts election season has arrived in Kentucky.

Williams and Seum pre-filed legislation that would guarantee K-12 students the right to attend the public school nearest to their home.

Because the bill would open the way to resegregating the state's schools, this was a rather blatant playing of the race card by two men who hope it will improve their chances in upcoming elections.

Seum faces a challenge in November in his Jefferson County district, where public unrest with the local busing plan flared anew after schools reopened last month. Williams has all but declared his entry in the 2011 gubernatorial field, and no doubt hopes to reap statewide benefit from his variation on former Republican President Richard Nixon's infamous "Southern strategy."

This is a cynical political ploy for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the hypocrisy of Republicans who preach against "Big Brother" government while auditioning for the role of Big Brother themselves....

Never One to Learn a Lesson

On the heels of a spanking by the Kentucky Supreme Court Senate President David Williams is attempting an end run - yet another effort to funnel public tax dollars into private hands.

This from Bluegrass Politics:

Senate panel OKs amendment

to fund pharmacy scholarships at private schools

The state Senate voted unanimously to pass a revenue bill that included an amendment that would allow coal severance taxes to fund pharmacy scholarships at private and public schools.

A state Senate committee had approved some additional amendments to a revenue bill Friday afternoon, including the amendment that would allow using coal severance taxes to fund pharmacy scholarships at private and public schools.

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, who introduced the amendment in the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee and later on the Senate floor, said the proposal would address concerns raised in a recent state Supreme Court decision that said state funds could not be used to build a pharmacy school at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, which is in Williams’ district...

Leaders meet on budget, but special session likely to continue Saturday

This from Bluegrass Politics:

House Speaker Greg Stumbo and Senate President David Williams met privately for about an hour Friday afternoon in an attempt to work out differences between their two chambers on a state budget bill.

Stumbo said after “the very productive” meeting that he was more optimistic that the legislature could enact a budget bill, but he said the final vote on it might not come until Saturday.

He noted that it could take 12 hours to print an amended budget bill before lawmakers voted on it.

“The odds that we won’t have to go into next week are very good. I can’t promise that we won’t have to go at least into tomorrow because it does take about 12 hours to print for enrolling and engrossing,” he said. “But we are making significant progress.”

Referring to the Senate's premature evacuation from Frankfort during the regular session Stumbo warned that,

"If the Senate should approve a budget bill later Friday and then adjourn, putting he House in an accept-it-or-reject-it position, we won’t have a budget.”

He added: “Keeneland is not running today so I have hopes they will stay around for awhile.”

Williams reacted with pomposity saying Stumbo's comments were “pejorative, outrageous and vitriolic statements.” He claimed those statements are “rolling off our back like water.” Then to prove it, Williams implied that Stumbo wasn't reading the bill the Senate sent to the House.

Just another day in Frankfort. Maybe the legislature does its job. Maybe not. Stay tuned.

Kentucky to Wave Bye Bye to $175 Million

This from H-L:

Jobless funds, bourbon tasting

on special session agenda

Charter Schools Not on Special Session Call

Gov. Steve Beshear wants the legislature to tackle a measure that would help shore up the state's bankrupt unemployment insurance trust fund when lawmakers return to Frankfort Monday for a special legislative session.

Beshear issued the "call," or the agenda, for the special session on Thursday...

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, and Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, have said they believe there is enough support in both chambers to pass Beshear's $17.1 billion two-year compromise budget that was proposed after House and Senate leaders failed to pass a budget by the end of the legislative session...

A measure that would allow charter schools in Kentucky is not on the agenda. Education leaders had pushed for the legislation so the state would be eligible for millions of federal education dollars. The Republican-controlled Senate has supported charter schools in the past but the Democratic-controlled House has resisted the move...

State Supreme Court strikes down aid to religious school

This from the Herald-Leader:

The Kentucky Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the legislature's 2006 attempt to give $11 million in state funds to a private religious university for a pharmacy program, but it did so without restricting other kinds of state aid that flow to religious colleges.

The court's decision focused on the Baptist-affiliated University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, which wanted $10 million to build a pharmacy school and $1 million to start a pharmacy scholarship program.

Kentucky's Constitution prohibits state money from going to a "church, sectarian or denominational school," the court said. The funding, backed by Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, also violated the Constitution's rule against "special legislation" because it was intended exclusively for one small category of students, it said.

"If Kentucky needs to expand the opportunities for pharmacy school education within the commonwealth, the Kentucky General Assembly may most certainly address that pressing public need, but not by appropriating public funds to an educational institution that is religiously affiliated," Justice Lisabeth Hughes Abramson wrote for the majority, upholding a 2008 circuit court ruling that blocked the funding.

Williams, who previously argued that the funding was legal, declined to comment Thursday.

Having lost twice in court, the University of the Cumberlands will drop its pharmacy school plans, said its president, James Taylor....

KSN&C Backstory.

Not Afraid to Shoot

This from Marc Murphy in C-J:

Beshear considering charter schools for special session agenda

This from Bluegrass Politics:

Gov. Steve Beshear said Tuesday he wants to explore the possibility of putting creation of charter schools on the agenda of a special legislative session to craft a state budget.

He also said he will be considering for a special session’s agenda the state’s bankrupt unemployment insurance fund and raising the state’s dropout age from 16 to 18.

The issues were discussed in the 60-day regular session that ended last week but were not approved...

Beshear said he is “open on the topic of charter schools.

“I’m willing to have some conversations to see if there may be some way to come to some agreement on that.”

Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, said last week that he would like to see the governor include charter schools on a special session call...

Beshear said he has discussed charter schools with state Education Commissioner Terry Holliday, “and we’re going to continue those discussions.

Kathy Stein told KSN&C recently that the dropout age bill was spiked by David Williams to spite first lady Jane Beshear.

Frankfort disgrace

This from the Courier-Journal:

Before the General Assembly adjourned Thursday, the House and Senate were brimming with lawmakers. Yesterday, the chambers were empty. The reduction in brainpower and political courage was nil.

In a disgraceful failure, the legislature was unable to reach compromise and pass a two-year state budget. That's the most important job the legislature has, and it had 60 working days in which to do it. Now Gov. Steve Beshear must call lawmakers back to Frankfort for a special session to pass a budget. That will cost $60,000 a day. If a budget isn't enacted by June 1, it could prevent the state from saving tens of millions of dollars by refinancing bonds in June.

Yes, this has happened before. The 2002 and 2004 sessions failed to pass budgets, too, and new fiscal years began under executive spending plans — the first by Gov. Paul Patton, the second by Gov. Ernie Fletcher. But since then, the Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that a governor lacks the power even to make emergency appropriations, so a severe curtailment of state services would likely take place July 1 if no budget was in place.

It's all as unnecessary as it is grotesque.

Senate President David Williams and his lieutenants may be right that accepting the House leadership's offer of a one-year continuation budget would have run the risk of heaping particularly draconian cuts into the second year of an eventual biennial budget.

But the Senate decision followed its refusal to accept House measures to raise about $275 million through a business tax adjustment and accelerated collection of the state sales tax. Mr. Williams and crew called those steps tax increases — a finding that raises the politics of reflexively opposing all tax hikes to the level of an obsession — and made clear that even deep cuts in areas such as education and Medicaid would be preferable. How that kind of thinking best serves the long-term needs of the people of Kentucky — as opposed, say, to the short-range interests of the Republican Party — remains a mystery.

Of course, there was a better plan all along — Gov. Beshear's initial proposal to raise about $780 million through expanded gambling. But Sen. Williams — deaf to the pleas of some in his own GOP caucus and to leaders of the horse industry, many of whom are Republicans — wouldn't hear of it, and the House declined to take action without assurances that the Senate would also vote on the measure.

So there you have it. There's no budget, no blueprint for making needed cuts, no means to raise new revenue, no relief for the state's beleaguered horse industry.

But legislators can now get down to doing the one thing that really matters to them — running for re-election.

Wimped Out

This from H-L:

Legislative session ends without a state budget

After bickering for more than three months, lawmakers ended the 2010 General Assembly on Thursday without an executive branch budget.

A "disgusted" Gov. Steve Beshear called the legislature's inaction an "abject failure" and said he will call lawmakers back to Frankfort in May to close a roughly $1.5 billion gap between existing revenue and expected expenses during the next two years.

Beshear, his tie loosened and shirt sleeves rolled up, blamed the budget debacle on lawmakers who "decided to put their egos and their personal priorities above the needs of Kentucky families — families that are struggling to pay their bills and hold on to their jobs in the worst recession of our lifetime."

After rejecting the governor's budget proposal, which would have raised more than $700 million by allowing electronic slot machines at racetracks, leading lawmakers crowed that "writing their own budget would be their 'defining moment,'" Beshear said.

"Well, it was. A moment of abject failure," he said.

This from KSBA:

Wimped Out

Hopkins County Schools Superintendent James Lee Stevens is disappointed the Senate adjourned Thursday without approving a budget.

Lack of a state budget means the district can’t prepare its own spending plan, he said.

“Basically, usually the second board meeting in May, we present our draft budget to the board,” Stevens said. “In all probability, we will not present one. I can’t present one on ghost numbers.”

He also said the district can’t prepare a budget based on current numbers, because the state keeps cutting funding.

“This has really thrown a curve,’ Stevens said.

The lack of passage will have a wider impact because of additional legislation that had been attached to the budget bill, such as whether school will be in session for 185 or 187 days next year.

Without a decision on the number of instructional days, employees who work on 187-day contracts must be notified by May 15 if they may be paid less next year.

“Since they wimped out and left town without a budget, all that does is cause pain and heartache,” Stevens said. “It just causes a tremendous amount of burden and
uncertainty to my employees.”

This from the Paducah Sun (subscription):

Sen. Bob Leeper, chairman of the Senate budget committee, said efforts to reach an agreement should resume in a couple of weeks.

“Hopefully, everyone will go home, take a deep breath and listen to their constituents about what they expect us to do,” Leeper, I-Paducah, said soon after the Senate adjourned. “The governor will work with the leadership of the House and Senate. If they can reach a compromise for a reasonable budget, he’ll call us back for a special
session.”

Chances for a budget deal Thursday faded when Senate President David Williams declared that a so-called continuation budget House Speaker Greg Stumbo proposed failed to garner Senate support.

“It is the most important job that the General Assembly has, and the General Assembly has failed to pass a budget,” Williams told reporters.

An angry Stumbo later said Kentuckians had every right to be disappointed that Gov. Steve Beshear will have to call lawmakers back into a special session. Stumbo called it a needless expense.

“We don’t want to come back,” Stumbo told reporters. “I think it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money to have to come back, and the very simple action of a continuation budget would have prevented us from coming back and would have saved that money.”

Leeper, who was involved in the behind-the-scenes negotiations, doubts the $65,000-a-day special session will start before the May 18 primary elections.