Bill to raise dropout age clears House panel

This from C-J:

The House Education Committee voted Wednesday to approve a bill that would raise Kentucky's school dropout age from 16 to 18 after Kentucky first lady Jane Beshear urged its passage.

"All of our children should be given the opportunity to realize their full potential," Beshear said in her testimony.

About 6,000 students drop out of Kentucky schools prior to their 18th birthday every year, according to state Education Commissioner Terry Holliday.

Of adjoining states, only West Virginia and Missouri allow children to drop out at age 16...

Governor's TEK Talk Draws a Crowd

Last night approximately 1,100 citizens gathered in ten locations around the state seeking a unified vision for education in Kentucky and to reenergize reform.

Reminiscent of the Prichard Committee's Town Forums of 1984 which jump started KERA, Transforming Education in Kentucky (TEK) is Governor Stever Beshear's effort to gain consensus on a wide range of school improvements that will be presented to the General Assembly in 2011. As the governor said when he kicked off the initiative in October, I’m calling on our state and our people to recommit ourselves to ensuring the future of our children.” Last night, he called for "a fresh look" at education in the state.

If the 100 people in attendance at BCTCS in Lexington is any indication, the participants were a mix of prominent citizen advocates in education and health care, along with parents, policy wonks, college professors, teachers, school administrators and interested citizens.

Newly elected Kentucky Board of Education Chair David Karem, told the Courier-Journal the Jefferson County session “affirmed my belief that each student must be seen as an individual and that learning must be tailored to each child.”

Students with a strong elementary through high school education were twice as likely to earn a college degree, Bob King told the television audience. “That’s true even with all the interventions and remedial programs we have to help (poorly prepared high school graduates).”

In Paducah, facilitator Tom Prather said 87,000 new jobs in Kentucky are expected for college graduates by 2018.“But only 12,000 jobs are expected for students with only a high school degree,” Prather said.

The statewide forums should garner important concerns from local districts, according to Morehead State University dean of education Cathy Gunn, who co-chaired the Ashland forum with ACTC’s dean of advancement Louise Shytle. “These are your schools, the districts affected by decisions in Frankfort,” Gunn told the Daily Independent.

Joe Overby, a former Daviess County Public Schools educator and board member praised the effort. "This is the way you build a movement. It's a great way to start people talking about the same thing. It helps me understand that my concerns are a part of many," Oveby told the Messenger Inquirer (subscription only).

The largest single crowd (250 participants) gathered at Northern Kentucky University. When learning about this, Governor Beshear quipped, "I don't know what they did. They must have offered steak."

But the turnout at NKU is very likely the product of substantial momentum that began to gather in November, 2007, around the Vision 2015 Education Summit during Commissioner Jon Draud's tenure.

Audience estimates are as follows: Paducah, 90; Owensboro, 100; Bowling Green, 100; Elizabethtown, 140; Jefferson, 85 (C-J estimated 100+); NKU, 275; BCTCS, 100; Somerset, 80; Prestonsburg, 50 and Ashland, 70.

TEK was also the new season's first topic on Education Matters, Kentucky Educational Television's educational policy program hosted by Bill Goodman. Goodman's guests included Governor Beshear along with First Lady Jane Beshear who spearheads the community-based Graduate Kentucky program, Education Commissioner Terry Holliday and Council on Postsecondary Education President Bob King.

Did you miss the program? Watch it here, at KET.


KET aired the program live and the panel fielded questions from participants and KET viewers while a feed of the program streamed in each location. Goodman bounced a few of the early questions off panel members to see who would best address which topics. The only question I noticed that drew little response from panel members had to do with the teaching of foreign languages in elementary schools, something Kentucky is not heavily involved in.

Afterward, the Commissioner expressed some surprise that "no one brought up the C-word." [charter schools] Goodman added, "and I didn't either... And you know what, we didn't have a question about it."

But perhaps the panel benefitted from a little administrative intervention. A staffer responded, "Well, there are some out there on the table." (Lots of laughter)

The staffer added, we were just swamped with questions from all over the state."

Beshear: "That's good."

Commissioner Holliday told the group, "We'll get all of the questions answered."

Then the staffer said, "There are a few political questions in there."

And feigning surprise, the Governor laughed and said, "No." (more laughter)

The TEK Task Force is seeking public input - from YOU - focusing (but not exclusively) on the following topics:

• Improving college readiness
• Providing every student with the opportunity to earn college credit during high school
• Creating a system of assessments that measure what employers value
• Ramping up academics in career and technical schools
• Using technology to improve teaching and learning
• Improving teacher recruitment and retention
• Improving transitions between preschool and K-12

Let the governor know what you think:

Following the program the panel took a few questions from KSN&C.

KSN&C: Reminding the governor of similar successful past efforts by state leaders to engage the public - most recently the Prichard Town Forums - "I assume this was not an accident, to set this up in the same way as the Town Forums in 1984."

Beshear: "You don't try to reinvent the wheel when something has worked you tend to utilize it again. Particularly the Prichard Forums, that we all recall, played such a vital role in energizing the population all across the state. The parents, and you know, getting outside the education establishment, and energizing the public in general and the parents in particular. It played such a vital role in actually making all of that happen. I'm very hopeful that this kind of thing is going to play the same kind of role as we move forward and try to take this whole system to the next level.

KSN&C: I was talking to Bob Sexton the other day, and he said one of the main things they learned was how hard the work is and how long a haul it is to maintain that energy. So after 2011, when the Task Force presents its recommendations to the General Assembly, what's next? How do you maintain that momentum?

Beshear: As these fellas will tell you, a lot of this effort is just in the beginning formative stages, it's going to take a continuous effort and continuous work to make these things happen ...

KSN&C: So you think you guys will be out there again?

Beshear: Oh, we'll be out there a number of times as we go along. And as Bob - we were talking today - some efforts in other states that have, sort of, dissolved.

KSN&C: Which is actually the more common thing....

King: Well I think the challenge for us is to get some early success. If we can do that, it drives more, you know? The concern I've had - and we talked about this from the very beginning, right after Senate Bill 1 was passed - what you saw in the other states, such as Arizona, they set higher standards, or tried to. In the first round, so many kids flunked the exams that the parents went nuts because they didn't understand it. They put pressure on the legislature, the legislature commanded that everybody get retested. They lowered the cut scores. They made the questions easier. Then they allowed the kids to take the test multiple times. Then, if it still didn't work after six administrations of the exam, you could supplement the kids' record with, literally, attendance and gym class, even though the kid couldn't read or couldn't do mathematics. The pressure that I fear is that if we don't get the parents educated about what's going on that that pressure will come on to Terry and come on to the legislature and it will be really brutal. And the worst thing you can do is succumb to it, but it'll be there. The more we can do now to let families know what's coming and why it's important will serve us well in the future.

Jane Beshear: I think that as long as you've got the desire from the top, from the governor's office, to make sure you move forward, and you've got the collaboration between K through 12 and higher education, you've got the prefect storm. And that's not going to, hopefully, go away at any time in the near future. Once you get the programs going and people start to see the results through the testing scores and everything else, and the change of attitudes in our schools. You've started the engine and it just keeps going and going.

KSN&C: As you know I'm hopeful about Race To The Top too, but if we don't get funded, what other kinds of opportunities are out there? Does the Gates Foundation ...

Holliday: Yes. There's tons of foundation interest in Kentucky right now especially with our leadership on standards and our parent communication about standards and our work on assessment with Gates...

KSN&C: You feel we'll get enough to get the job done?

Holliday: We won't get $175 million, but we'll get enough to get the job done.

KSN&C: But you can build the test and make the change?

Holliday: Yeah. Nationally, we're part of all the consortia of the national assessment...

Helen Mountjoy, a former state education cabinet secretary and leader on the TEK initiative, co-chaired the Owensboro event with Daviess County Superintendent (and Council for Better Education President) Tom Shelton. Mountjoy said involvement must come from local businesses and community members, not just educators.

"Our teachers and students are able to meet expectations when they know what those expectations are," Mountjoy said. "I think there are two things I hoped would come from this: The first was a sense of where Kentucky is. The second was to involve people and talk about their hopes and dreams for education and rebuilding their enthusiasm from 20 years ago (when the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 laid the foundation for this effort)."

The scene at BCTCS:

Behind the scenes at KET, KDE staffers collect input from around the state.

Back stage before the show.

Southern Regional Education Board Honors Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear for Her Work in Education

The nonprofit Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) will honor Jane Beshear, the First Lady of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, at the 24th annual SREB High Schools That Work Staff Development Conference this week in Louisville, Kentucky, for her dedication to improving graduation rates in Kentucky and ensuring more students are prepared for college and careers.

Through her "GRADUATE KENTUCKY" initiative, First Lady Beshear has drawn attention to the importance of graduating more Kentucky students and preparing them for college, advanced training and careers. The initiative is raising awareness of the dropout problem as a community issue, instigates community discussions of the issue and helps to develop action plans to address it.

GRADUATE KENTUCKY is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive statewide conversation not only understand to why students are contemplating dropping out of school, but also to share ideas and best practices of how communities and schools can play a pivotal role in reducing the dropout rate and creating a strategic vision for keeping children engaged in school.

"First Lady's Beshear's efforts to reduce the high school dropout rate, along with her long history of striving to improve adolescent literacy, are closely aligned with two of SREB's major initiatives," said SREB Senior Vice President Gene Bottoms. "We commend Mrs. Beshear for the great progress she is making in improving education in Kentucky. "

First Lady Beshear has a long history of striving to improve education, with a particular focus on improving adolescent literacy. She is a Scholastic Reading Ambassador, encouraging children to read during their summer vacations. Mrs. Beshear began her own Reading Recommendations initiative in 2009 by releasing a list of 10 recommended books for children each season.
A graduate of the University of Kentucky and a former career/technical educator, Mrs. Beshear taught business education at Woodford County High School, which was a HSTW site for more than 10 years.

SREB's single largest program, HSTW is a national, comprehensive school improvement design based on the premise that most students can master rigorous academic and career/technical studies if school leaders and teachers create a school environment that motivates all students to make the effort to succeed. More than 1,100 high schools in 30 states and the District of Columbia participate in the HSTW school improvement initiative. Nearly 6,000 teachers, principals and other educators are expected to attend this week's conference in Louisville.

SOURCE: KDE press release

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.

Gov Beshear Launches Initiative to Transform Education in Kentucky

"Twenty years ago we made a start -

a ground-breaking approach that drew

the attention and praise of the nation.

Today that mission continues...

Today I'm calling upon our state and our people

to recommit ourselves to assuring the future of our children."

--Governor Steve Beshear

TEK task force will be catalyst to

reinvigorate public support for K-12 education

I took a little trip down memory lane this morning as Governor Steve Beshear, kicked off his tour in support of transforming education reform from one of my old schools - Meadowthorpe Elementary in Lexington. There was very nice turnout of... (I didn't really count...but) maybe 70 people to learn about the governor's plans.Joining Beshear were First Lady Jane Beshear, Education Cabinet Secretary Helen Mountjoy and Commissioner Terry Holliday. It was nice to finally meet Terry Holliday, who will be a guest in my little lecture hall next week, and it was great to see Jane Beshear again...so many years after our Kentucky Literacy Commission days. And despite our paths crossing over the years, this was the first time I actually met Helen, unless addressing her across a board room table counts.

Among other things, the Governor wants to expand preschool opportunities; fully fund all-day kindergarten; improve teacher pay and training; give every student the opportunity to take AP courses; and to provide better textbooks.

"But for now, my biggest financial priority is simply to maintain our current investments in education during this worse recession since the Great Depression," Beshear said.

Beshear advocated taking this time to aggressively look at our education system from top to bottom; to build partnerships with the business community; and to rally around our students and our teachers, reasoning that - if we do this - when the recession ends, we will know how to best invest those dollars.

This from the Gov:

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 19, 2009) – In a move to re-energize the support of public schools that nearly 20 years ago sparked Kentucky to implement the nation’s most comprehensive school reform, Gov. Steve Beshear today launched his new education initiative, Transforming Education in Kentucky (TEK). The goal is to create a unified vision of what schools in the Commonwealth need to offer in order to better serve students today and tomorrow.

“Our world has changed dramatically since the reforms of 1990,” said Gov. Beshear. “We must now turn our focus to the future and again to our schools to ensure that our strategies and programs are designed to meet the challenges of the 21st century.”


(The last 2:22 of Beshear's remarks...starting right after he states his support for expanded pre-school opportunities. Here's the audio of the full speech: 13:26)

To that end, Gov. Beshear appointed the TEK Task Force to help develop new strategies while reinvigorating public and business support for K-12 education in the Commonwealth.

The members of the task force include education advocates, teachers, superintendents, legislators, business leaders and others who have been handpicked for their commitment to education and to Kentucky.

The group will examine efforts currently underway in the state, such as the Common Core Standards Initiative, Graduate Kentucky, the Gates Foundation/SREB college and career readiness initiative, the Race to the Top competition and the Governor’s Task Force on Early Childhood Development and Education. Against this backdrop of renewed energy and activity, the panel will recommend ways to channel all of these efforts into an integrated and comprehensive system of education in Kentucky.

In addition, the task force will explore career and technical education, expanded use of technology for learning, increased opportunities for students to earn college credit in high school and other issues that affect student success.

The goal is to formulate recommendations by the end of 2010, for consideration during the 2011 legislative session.

In an effort to build awareness of the initiative and to receive input from citizens statewide, Gov. Beshear is visiting 10 cities across the state for a series of press conferences and town hall forums. The Governor and the TEK Task Force will use this input as guidance for the work of Transforming Education in Kentucky.

“This effort seeks to build off the progress of the last 20 years in order to lay the foundation for the 20 years ahead,” said Gov. Beshear. “Today, I’m calling on our state and our people to recommit ourselves to ensuring the future of our children.”

Gov. Beshear and Kentucky Department of Education
Commissioner Terry Holliday will serve as co-chairs of the task force.

Other members of the task force include:

Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, D-19th District
Rep. Leslie Combs, D-94th District;
Rep. Jeffrey Hoover, R-83rd District;
Rep. Carl Rollins, D-56th District;
Helen Mountjoy, secretary, Education and Workforce Development Cabinet
David Adkisson, president, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce;
Sheldon Berman, superintendent, Jefferson County;
Mary Ann Blankenship, executive director, Kentucky Education Association;
Karen Cash, classroom teacher, Louisville;
Margaret Cleveland, school board member, Woodford County;
Sam Corbett, chair, Prichard Committee;
Ben Cundiff, Cundiff Farms, Cadiz;
Sharon Darling, president, National Center for Family Literacy;
Betty Griffin, The Griffin Group, Frankfort;
Tim Hanner, superintendent, Kenton County;
Trichel House, classroom teacher, Russell;
Nanette Johnson, superintendent, Hardin County;
Eleanor Jordan, executive director, Kentucky Commission on Women;
Robert King, president, Council on Postsecondary Education;
Nana Lampton, American Life & Accident Insurance Company of Kentucky, Louisville;
William Lovell, school board member, McLean County;
Brent McKim, president, Jefferson County Teachers’ Association;
Bob Porter, mayor, City of Paintsville;
Johnna Reeder, Duke Energy, Covington;
Stu Silberman, superintendent, Fayette County;
Stephen Trimble, superintendent, Johnson County; and
Diane Whalen, mayor, City of Florence.

*Gov. Beshear has asked Senate President David Williams to recommend two additional members from the State Senate and they will be added to the task force once they have been named.

Others in the crowd:
Mike Stacy, Meadowthorpe principal; FCPS honchos Mary Browining, Mike McKenzie, Jack Hayes, Melissa Bacon; Cindy Heine from the Prichard Committee; Rep Charlie Hoffman; KBE member Rev C B Akins; Meadowthorpe School Council member Tracy Letcher; P G Peeples of the Urban League; H-L's Jim Warren and lurking in the rear of the room Larry Dale Keeling; Alva Clark of Petrilli v Silberman fame.

This from Jim Warren at the Herald-Leader:

Beshear announces education task force

Gov. Steve Beshear announced in Lexington on Monday morning that he is naming a task force to develop plans for future educational development in the state, to build on the success begun with the Kentucky Education Reform Act almost 20 years ago.
Beshear made the announcement at Lexington's Meadowthorpe Elementary School on the first stop of a three-day tour of the state that will include press conferences and town-hall meetings to talk up the importance of education...

..."This effort seeks to build off the progress of the last 20 years in order to lay the foundation for the 20 years ahead," Beshear said. "Today, I'm calling for our state and our people to recommit ourselves to ensuring the future of our children."

Beshear said that although KERA, which was enacted in the early 1990s, dramatically improved Kentucky education, more work is needed to improve the state's education system and prepare its children for the future.

"Slow, steady, incremental improvement is no longer enough," he said, calling for "an all out sprint" to boost student achievement.

"Let's get started," he said.

Decreasing state's high school dropout rate is summit's goal

This from Jim Warren at H-L:

Almost 6,500 students dropped out of Kentucky schools in 2008 — enough to make up a good-size small town — and faced an uncertain employment future without a high school diploma.

Kentucky first lady Jane Beshear said Wednesday that the state can't afford to keep sending so many young people handicapped by an incomplete education into an increasingly competitive job market.

"Together, as a community, we must find ways to keep all of our students engaged and in school," she said in a statement.

Accordingly, Beshear will host a summit in Frankfort on Sept. 11-12 called Graduate Kentucky: A Community Approach. It's aimed at developing a statewide action plan to raise Kentucky graduation rates and help prepare more young people for success in life.

Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of The Children's Defense Fund, will be the keynote speaker at the summit. Gov. Steve Beshear will join other state and education leaders at the meeting, which will include discussion of best practices and ideas for raising graduation rates.

The Frankfort session will be followed by a series of regional summits, beginning this fall and continuing into next spring. The goal is to have a plan ready by summer to
attack Kentucky's dropout problem....

Kids Create Bookmarks For Derby

First Lady Jane Beshear has been a stalwart advocate for literacy in Kentucky since, at least, the mid 80's when she chaired the Kentucky Literacy Commission. I had the privilege to work under her direction (along with JCPS's Marty Bell) on the Commission, and have known Jane (and Steve) to be terrific parents at Cassidy School. They were always kind and considerate folks who never put on airs.

I'm glad to see her passion for literacy has not waned.

This from NKY.com:

FRANKFORT, Ky. – In classrooms throughout Kentucky, students are decorating bookmarks that support literacy while celebrating the 2009 Kentucky Derby.

The bookmarks will be distributed to guests attending the Derby Celebration, to be held 8 a.m. to noon, on May 2, on the Capitol grounds in Frankfort.

Each bookmark has the outline of a jockey and the quote, “Readers are Winners!,” from First Lady Jane Beshear. In all, about 7,500 bookmarks have been sent to classrooms for children age preschool through high school to color, paint and decorate. Approximately 60 school districts are participating.

“I love that this project allows children to be creative while also encouraging them to read,” Mrs. Beshear said, “combining fun and learning is the best way to ensure that children become lifelong readers.” ...

First Ladies Unite for Children

This from First Lady Jane Beshear, and former First Ladies Glenna Fletcher, Phyllis George, Libby Jones and Martha Wilkinson in the Courier-Journal:

Investing in Kentucky's children

As the current First Lady and former First Ladies of Kentucky, we have joined forces because we all value children and understand the importance of investing in their lives. During this holiday season, one of the best gifts we can give our children is a strong foundation that will prepare them to be the leaders of tomorrow. We know how crucial it is that each of our children and every child in Kentucky receive the education they need to become successful adults.

That's why we, along with all of Kentucky's former First Ladies, are serving as honorary co-chairpersons of a statewide campaign, Seniors4Kids, because as grandparents, parents, sisters and aunts we care about Kentucky's future. We want policy makers to understand the importance of investing in Kentucky's children and make high-quality pre-kindergarten available to every 3- and 4-year-old. We want to guarantee that Kentucky realizes that investing in its children and making high-quality pre-kindergarten available to every 3- and 4-year-old is pro-economy and pro-productivity. Recent research indicates that children who attend pre-K strengthen their social and cognitive skills and go on to become successful adults.

According to the latest annual report from the National Institute for Early Education, spending per child enrolled in pre-K in Kentucky is still below the national average.

In addition to spending per child, the percentage of 3- and 4-year-old children enrolled in pre-K in Kentucky is also below the national average. Only about 41 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds attend pre-K programs in the state. Among all the states, Kentucky ranks as 31st for number of children enrolled.

We can change the world by ensuring that we adequately prepare and educate our 3- and 4-year-olds.

Kentuckians of both political parties are focused on increasing pre-K quality and accessibility. The Kentucky Preschool Program was created as one part of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 to provide a high-quality pre-K program to the state's neediest children. Financial difficulties prevented the Kentucky Preschool Program from growing for over a decade, but since 2006 there has been an increase of $23.5 million in funding.

On Oct. 29, 2007, as part of the initiative of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, the committee's Strong Start Kentucky program convened nearly 50 state leaders to develop recommendations to improve quality and access around the state. The recommendations stressed making voluntary, quality pre-K available for every 3- and 4-year-old in Kentucky.

Adults 50 and older will be instrumental in supporting efforts to increase quality and access to pre-K programs in Kentucky. Baby boomers are starting to reach the age typically associated with retirement. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of adults ages 50 and older in Kentucky is going to increase substantially while the number of children ages 3 and 4 will change very little. These older adults will make great advocates for our children.

Developing high-quality pre-kindergarten is the most cost-effective way to decrease the number of unskilled adults in Kentucky's work force. A good early childhood education helps prepare a child for achievement by improving school readiness in vocabulary, reading scores and math skills.

One of our volunteers explained it best when she described her recent visit to a pre-kindergarten classroom in Kentucky. She saw an eager boy who was learning and thriving, a youngster who, his teacher adamantly explained, had special learning needs and wasn't speaking until he started pre-K. And now, after just a short amount of time, he was almost caught up with his age group. What a wonderful example of a pre-K success.

It is because of successes like this that we're pleased to join Seniors4Kids in working to improve education in Kentucky, education that will benefit people of all generations.

During this holiday season, we all have time to reflect on what is important to us. As those who have had the privilege of serving Kentucky as First Ladies, we believe the most critical gift we can give our state's children is a sound beginning. We encourage Kentuckians everywhere to join us and make a New Year's resolution to support pre-K for all of Kentucky's children.