Snapshots of Fiscal Equity

KERA has led to a significant decline in differences in educational spending across the Commonwealth.

According to a recent UK study the gap in current expenditures per student between metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts fell from $600 in 1987 to $10 in 2006. Equitable funding is KERA's clearest success. Adequacy remains.

But what does equity look like in a funding system that mixes state and local resources? For that we turn to the Prichard blog where Susan Weston has posted some figures.

...the twelve districts with the most taxable property per student put in more local money and receive less state money than state average, yet all have total base funding within $400 of the average.

...the twelve districts with the least taxable property put in less local money and receive more state funds, yet all end up with base resources within $615 of the average.

Beshear calls for school reform

This from Pat Crowley at the Enquirer, photo by Patrick Reddy:

ERLANGER - Gov. Steve Beshear told a group of educators and business people Monday that Kentucky's 19-year-old education reform act needs a complete
overhaul.

The Kentucky Education Reform Act, commonly known as KERA, "was never meant to be a one-time fix," Beshear said Monday during a speech at the Boone County Education Foundation annual lunch.

"Instead, it was the start of a new commitment to education," Beshear said. "I'm determined, as we look toward the next two decades, that we seize the opportunity ... to take a top to bottom look at KERA both to see what is working and to see what needs improving.

"And I don't mean merely tinkering around the edges, but a frank and open evaluation of the fundamentals of our system," he said. "And I plan to create a task force to do just that. I want a vision for the future. I do not want a dissertation on the past."...

...Beshear said that graduation rates, content standards, college and university teacher preparation programs and remediation for college students who struggle as freshman must be evaluated...

Clear Thinking from the Daily Independent

This from the Daily Independent:

Revisiting KERA

Changing the 1990 education law

not the same as gutting it

Gov. Steve Beshear is right: After almost 20 years, it is time for a thorough review of the landmark Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990.

But taking another look at the law is not the same as gutting it.

In their rush to change things they don’t like about the law, legislators must be careful not to scrap the many good things KERA has done for public education in Kentucky.While far from being the perfect law, the positives of KERA outweigh the negatives.

KERA needs to be fixed, not abolished.

While his comments about KERA during last week’s State of the Commonwealth address were brief, Beshear’s call for the “thorough review” of the 1990 law have generated much interest from both KERA’s supporters and its opponents. The former see the governor’s comment as an opportunity to improve the law; the
latter see it as a chance to scrap the law.

But the governor has the right idea on KERA when he said, “Let us now bring education, business and legislative leaders to not only check our course and see if any corrective steering is necessary, but just as important to renew and re-energize our commitment to education.”

KERA came about because of a landmark Kentucky Supreme Court ruling that declared unconstitutional the state’s system of funding public education. The
state’s highest court rightly ruled that education cannot be equal in the state when the amount of money spent per student in poor counties is a fraction of what wealthier counties spend per student. Thus, the justices ruled, those born in poor counties are destined to receiving an education that is inferior to children born in wealthier counties.

However, in response to the ruling, the Kentucky General Assembly went far beyond simply addressing the problem of unequal funding. They used the ruling to revolutionize education in the state.

During its almost 19 years of existence, KERA has not been a stagnant law. It has been adjusted to meet changing needs.

It originally mandated ungraded primary classrooms, with all students in grades one, two and three bunched together. The only real requirement was that they would be ready for the fourth grade after three years.Well, we don’t know of any school in this part of the states that still has ungraded primaries. It was an experiment that didn’t work and was wisely abandoned — or at least made optional instead of mandatory.

Republicans in the state Senate now want to scrap the CATS tests, in favor of standardized multiple choice tests that would be taken in the final week of each school year. At least some senators believe that once the CATS tests have been completed in April, education largely ceases for the year. If that’s true, then that’s a problem with individual teachers and administrators, not CATS.

Just because tests have been completed doesn’t mean learning has to stop. Teachers should fully use every day of instruction. Those who don’t show a lack of commitment to education.

The CATS test is not the first statewide exam of the KERA era. It replaced KIRIS. In fact, Kentucky has been constantly adjusting its tests in an effort to more fairly evaluate what students are learning and to get the results to schools as quickly as possible.

If Senate Bill 1 is approved by the 2009 General Assembly, it will essentially return testing in Kentucky to the pre-KERA days — and that, in our book, would be a giant step backwards.

Remember the “Lake Wobegone Effect”? That was the name critics gave standardized tests where all the children — like those in Garrison Keillor’s fictional Lake Wobegone — were deemed to be “above average.”Standardized tests have the advantage of being easy to grade and of accurately and consistently presenting children’s scores. However, multiple choice tests reward guessing and tell us nothing about whether students can apply their knowledge in practical ways.

That’s what CATS tries to do, and while grading takes longer and is somewhat arbitrary, the results tell us a lot more about what students are actually learning than the standardized tests.

Former Gov. Wallace Wilkinson and legislative leaders actively sought the advice of business executives — including then Ashland Inc. Chairman John Hall — and received their private support of KERA. That same sort of input should be sought this time around. After all, employers should know as well as anyone how well Kentucky’s public schools are preparing young people for the workplace and they have a vested interest in quality schools.

An entire generation of young Kentuckians have been educated under the edicts of KERA. That makes it an ideal time to take a closer look at both the strengths and shortcomings of the law.But it need not be done before the end of this legislative session. Instead, the governor and legislators should create a task force of educators, business leaders and legislators to review the law and recommend changes to be considered by the 2010 General Assembly.

That’s the right approach.

Engaged citizens make a difference

This from David Jones in the Courier-Journal:

The Prichard Committee at 25

This year marks an important milestone in Kentucky's struggle to create world-class schools -- one that reminds me of the critical role that engaged citizens must play if our state is to move forward.

Twenty-five years ago, a group of concerned business leaders, parents and advocates came together to form the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. Their purpose was to wage a war for the improvement of an educational system that had languished for years in the nation's cellar.

First, here's a snapshot of the reality of the early 1980s. Kentucky's failing education system was ensuring a future of poverty, unemployment and low achievement for many children. Frustrated parents battled political power structures that ran the schools in many communities. State leaders were unwilling or unable to make any improvements, particularly those that cost more tax dollars. Compared to the nation, we were 46th in per pupil spending; we were equally behind in most other measures of educational accomplishment.

Just at the same time, however, the nation was becoming more aware of the relationship between education and a strong economic future. Kentucky's Council on Higher Education created a commission to make recommendations for the future of higher education in the state. The commission's report was widely praised by business leaders, educators and the media, but also widely ignored by elected leaders.

This prompted the members of the group, in 1983, to reorganize themselves as an independent, nonpartisan citizens committee that assumed the name of its first chairman, attorney Edward F. Prichard Jr.. The group decided to focus on improving elementary and secondary education for all Kentuckians, and to encourage other concerned citizens to voice their hopes for first rate public education.

The nonpartisan, independent nature of the committee remains unchanged today. Fortunately, however, other aspects of Kentucky education have changed -- and largely for the better.

The landmark state Supreme Court ruling in 1989 and the subsequent passage in 1990 of the Kentucky Education Reform Act are considered among the most significant events in the history of our state and its schools. But there have been many opportunities for KERA's changes to run into a ditch. It has been the tenacious, focused efforts of committed Kentuckians -- particularly the hundreds who have volunteered their time with the Prichard Committee -- that have kept school improvement on course.

That course has moved Kentucky up from the cellar and is pointing us toward the higher echelons of the nation. In just one generation, the state has moved from a 43rd place ranking among the 50 states to 34th on an index of indicators developed by the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center. The index shows that national test scores, dropout rates and the number of high school and college graduates show improvement across the board.

In addition, state tests of student achievement are up for every group of students in every subject. College enrollment has increased dramatically, and thousands more 3- and 4-year-old children have access to preschool.

Kentucky is, at long last and after much hard work, moving steadily in the right direction.

Yes, much remains to be done. The work will continue to demand the time and attention of dedicated Kentuckians who refuse to accept the status quo of mediocrity and worse -- an apt description of the members of the Prichard Committee.

I hope all Kentuckians will join me in commending and congratulating the committee on its 25th anniversary and in supporting its continuing campaign to ensure another 25 years of progress for Kentucky's schools.