'Achievement Gaps: How Black and White Students in Public Schools Perform

This from Education Week:

'Achievement Gaps:
How Black and White Students in Public Schools Perform
in Mathematics and Reading on the NAEP'

Comments Schools have made modest progress in closing the achievement gap between black and white students in math and reading, though that narrowing varies by grade and subject and from state to state, according to a study from the National Center for Education Statistics.

In math, the achievement gap between the two groups has narrowed significantly among 9- and 13-year-olds since 1978 but has remained statistically unchanged since 1999. In reading, the gap was statistically level among 9-year-olds, but it has narrowed at age 13 since 1980. Since 1999, the reading gap has shrunk statistically among students in both age groups." ...

Hazing case closed, principal says

Well done, Anthony.

This from Jim Warren at H-L:

Officials at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School said they have completed their investigation of a hazing incident among some football players last week.

A freshman player was checked over at a Lexington hospital after being hit in the head by a 10-pound medicine ball Aug. 3. He was not seriously hurt.

Principal Anthony Orr said Tuesday that after reviewing the information gathered since last week, he's convinced that the incident was an intentional
case of hazing by upperclassmen against some younger players, not simply horseplay that got out of hand.

'I think there was a plan ... and an intent to run some kids through a process, if you will,' Orr said. 'I don't think it was just some silliness.'

Five players — all juniors — were dismissed from the team after the incident, which occurred in the weight room. Orr indicated Tuesday that the five
won't be reinstated." ...

The Set Up

Maybe social conservatives are different these days, and I'm just behind the times.

Maybe they really-o truly-o love diversity and would like nothing better than to see our tax dollars go toward lifting up the marginalized. Safe housing for the poor; better healthcare; close those gaps! Maybe they think in retrospect that Reganomics was a mistake for its undoing of LBJ's Great Society programs, which were helping close achievement gaps in the 70s. Maybe they are, but I'm just not hearing it.

Perhaps today's creationists have disavowed former claims of Biblical acceptance of slavery, former support for state's rights over constitutional rights and oppressive local decisions that created a social system of haves and have nots based on race. Perhaps today's social conservatives are sorry the achievement gap was deliberately created and perpetuated throughout the Jim Crow era. Perhaps they regret funding schools for blacks at one third those of whites throughout much of the past century. Perhaps they do, but I just missed it.

If that's true, then please accept my apologies, in advance.

Forgive me, I beg you, if by chance I have only heard the fringe few social conservatives who cry out against diversity and urge the disestablishment of the public schools in favor of a system of free-enterprise options. And forgive me if I missed hearing the mass social conservative movement that calls for justice in a divided world.

But if that's not the case, then the Bluegrass Institute's latest stunt is simply shameful. It is a set up.

This from BIPPS:

ACTION ALERT: Ask Kentucky’s new education commissioner to develop a plan to close longstanding achievement gaps in math and reading between white and black
students in Jefferson County Public Schools, Kentucky’s largest school district
(97,412 students).

SUMMARY: Efforts to improve education, especially for black students, have failed to produce anything close to acceptable results in Jefferson County. It’s time to take action!

ACTION REQUESTED: Please contact the new commissioner, Terry Holliday, and ask him to do what he did as superintendent of the Iredell-Statesville, N.C. school district between 2002 and 2009: focus on, and close, the gap. Please do the following today:

1. Call Commissioner Holliday’s office at (502) 564-3141 or e-mail: terry.holliday@education.ky.gov.
Politely ask him to:

•Do what he did as superintendent of the Iredell-Statesville, N.C. school district in less than seven years: Relentlessly pursue closing gaps in math and reading between Jefferson County’s white and black students.

•Require the districts’ highly paid leaders to develop and publicize their plan to close the gap.

•Convene a task force that will hold public hearings to gather input from all stakeholders in the district: students, parents, teachers, clergy, business and political leaders, teachers, objective researchers and taxpayers.

•Require the district to set a timetable and deadlines for closing the gap.

There is not a thing wrong with citizens expressing their opinions.

But this cynical advocacy favors rallying town hall refugees to pressure school leaders while BIPPS argues against adequate resources. It is disingenuous, at least, but probably worse.

The public schools in Kentucky would exist on greatly reduced funding if the Bluegrass Institute had its way. Vouchers for private religious schools would abound if the Bluegrass Institute had its way. The Kentucky Education Association would not exist if the Bluegrass Institute had its way. If the Bluegrass Institute had its way, I suspect they'd put the system on life support and monitor the the schools using every measure available....if only to know when the patient was dead.

I've got an idea. Call Jim Waters, director of policy and communications for the Bluegrass Institute, at (270) 782-2140 and tell him we'll believe his new found concern for the achievement gap when he speaks out in favor of adequate funding for each and every Kentucky school child; that he opposes any move to teach any specific religious views, including intelligent design, in the public schools; and that the Bluegrass Institute will support healthcare options for all American citizens .

Prefer to email him? Try this, jwaters@freedomkentucky.com.

SOURCE: BIPPS Action Alert

Brown Hangs it Up

Surprising news out of Warren County today as former Superintendent of the Year and Commissioner candidate Dale Brown announces his retirement. Hummm.

This from the Bowling Green Daily News:

Warren County Schools Superintendent Dale Brown made the surprise announcement at Monday night’s school board meeting that he plans to retire effective Sept. 1.

After nine years supervising a district that has exploded with growth, Brown said “it’s time for a change.”

“I’ve always been told that when it’s time for a change, you know it,” he said. “And I feel I need to move on and pursue other opportunities in education and that’s what I intend to do. I’m going to take some time, but I always want to work in education. It’s been my life.”

The superintendent would not specify his future plans, but did tell the board there was “no plan B” when jokingly asked if he would reconsider.

Brown has spent the past 29 years of his life in public education, beginning as a speech pathologist in the Hart County school district in 1980 and touring the county as a head teacher, principal and director of gifted and special education.

In 1990, Brown became the assistant superintendent in Carroll County public schools before moving to Warren County as the director of finance and personnel and assistant superintendent in 2000.Almost nine years to the day since he was appointed superintendent on Aug. 14, 2000, Brown said he will miss the students, staff and administrators of Warren County the most when he leaves.“

Anything that has taken place in Warren County schools has been the result of teamwork and everyone working together for the community and the good of the child,” he said. “And that’s what I’m most proud of.” ...

Most Ky. juniors aren't ready for college, ACT results show

Are our 4-year olds ready for 1st grade? College readiness is an important issue for Kentucky, but when I was high school junior, I wasn't ready for college either. I'm just sayin'.

Here some background on the ACT from KSN&C:

Skip Kifer's pieces - To Predict or Not to Predict and A Narrow View of Student Potential

Ben Oldham's piece - Adding Understanding to ACT Scores

And my little rant - What the Bluegrass Institute Doesn't seem to know About the ACT

Susan Weston Spanks the ACT's PLAN test here and CPE President Robert King here.

This from the Herald-Leader:

Kentucky's public high school juniors improved their math scores slightly on the ACT this year, but scores on the test in other subjects remained flat or fell slightly.

The 2009 ACT scores also show that less than half of public high school juniors in Kentucky are ready to do college-level work in English, algebra and other subjects...

Overall, state ACT scores changed little from 2008. The report suggests no dramatic overall trends, because this is only the second year that all juniors in Kentucky public schools have been required to take the ACT. The test assesses students' ability to complete college work and is considered the most widely accepted college entrance exam.

Kentucky is one of only a handful of states requiring the test, which assesses English, reading, mathematics and science skills. Each subject is scored on a scale of 1 to 36. The test is administered statewide on the same day.

Monday's ACT report drew a variety of responses from educational experts around the state.

Richard Day...said that with only two years of scores, it's too soon to declare a trend. Even if a trend were spotted, Day said, it would be tough to assign a meaning.

"What would you attribute that to? The ACT curriculum is not what Kentucky teaches," Day said.

Rather, Day said, the ACT is one of several measures for evaluating student performance, designed to distinguish "between good students and very good students." ...

...Lisa Gross, spokeswoman for the state education department, said the relatively low level of college preparation might reflect that many juniors hadn't taken upper-level courses yet.

Robert King, president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, said that the state's educational bureaucracy is trying to figure out how to align high school curricula so that students will arrive at college better prepared. The step is one of several educational changes required under legislation passed by the General Assembly this year.

As things stand now, King said, Kentucky students can do everything that's asked of them in K-12 and not be competitive in college. The goal, he said, is for colleges to communicate what they expect incoming students to know, and for Kentucky's elementary and secondary education system to teach it...

...Yvonne Baldwin, an administrator at Morehead State University, cautioned against putting too much stock in ACT results.

"Relying on the ACT as the sole measure of college readiness is a trap, because it gives too much power to the test," Baldwin said. "I think we need to go back to teaching high school in high school, and college in college. ... The national trend data says that a rigorous high school experience is the best indicator of college success. And I don't think that's happening for a lot of students."

ACT RESULTS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL JUNIORS RELEASED

Overall results from the 2009 administration of the ACT to Kentucky’s public school juniors show a small improvement in mathematics, but minor drops or flat scores in other subjects.

As mandated by KRS 158.6453, all of Kentucky’s public school juniors participate in the ACT, which assesses English, reading, mathematics and science and is scored on a scale of 1 to 36. The cost of the exam is paid for by state funds. In spring 2009, 43,511 public school juniors took the ACT.

KRS 158.6453 mandates that Kentucky’s public school students participate in the Educational Planning and Assessment System (EPAS) from ACT. The state assesses public school 8th graders using the EXPLORE test, public school 10th graders with the PLAN test and public school 11th graders through the ACT.

Senate Bill 1, passed in the 2009 session of the Kentucky General Assembly, mandates that ACT results be included in school and district accountability results in the 2011-12 school year.

ACT provides information about high school students who take recommended core courses, which include four years of English, three mathematics courses, three social studies courses and three science courses over the four years of high school. Students who indicate that they are taking the core courses or more generally score at higher levels on the ACT.

2009 KENTUCKY JUNIORS’ COURSE-TAKING PATTERNS/ACT COMPOSITE SCORES

ACT developed College Readiness Benchmarks in English, mathematics, science and reading, with research indicating that students who reach those have a 50 percent chance of obtaining a B or higher or about a 75 percent chance of obtaining a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college course. The benchmark scores are:

§ 18 or higher on the ACT English Test
§ 22 or higher on the ACT Mathematics Test
§ 21 or higher on the ACT Reading Test
§ 24 or higher on the ACT Science Test

For the Kentucky public school juniors who took the ACT assessment in 2008 and 2009:

Score information for schools and districts may be found here.

SOURCE: KDE press release

This Isn't Nothing

Just stumbled across this strong endorsement while looking for Sharron Oxendine's email address.

This from the KEA:

KEA Applauds Selection of Dr. Holliday

as New Commissioner of Education

The Kentucky Education Association applauds the Kentucky Board of Education on its selection of Dr. Terry Holliday as our new commissioner of education. KEA believes he was clearly the best choice among the four finalists. Dr. Holliday has a proven track record of pushing for excellence and for collaboration with all who care about children’s learning and public schools. He comes highly recommended by leaders of the North Carolina Association of Educators, KEA’s sister organization.

Dr. Holliday initiated a conversation with KEA leaders prior to his interview with the KBE, to solicit educators’ views of the most important issues facing our schools and our children. Such reaching out to partners is typical of his work throughout his outstanding career in North Carolina.

KEA looks forward to working with Dr. Holliday as we all fight for the same thing – high levels of learning for all Kentucky children.

New Priorities

Well boys and girls, it's time to start a new semester - always a busy time - but this year, something's different.

Since retiring in 2004, after 31 years in Kentucky public schools (25 of those as an administrator), I began an new career as a "young" academic. I taught at UK and Georgetown College for a few years before settling in at Eastern Kentucky University. Working under one-year contracts, I spent much of my time preparing teacher leaders and future principals while learning and teaching about the history of education in Kentucky, and I started this blog.

This fall marks a change for me as I have accepted a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations at Eastern. I have been very happy working with the students and faculty at EKU and see this as a very good opportunity. But with my new position comes new responsibilities for scholarly writing - as opposed to blogging. I was also elected to the Faculty Senate.

The upshot of this is that I will continue blogging, but the amount of time I can commit to it will have to be reduced. I'm not sure how this will play out, but I intend to keep Kentucky School News & Commentary relevant and timely.

KSN&C is one of a handful of reliable destinations for education news in Kentucky. But it is unique for its independence.

We hope you continue to find KSN&C to be informative and thought-provoking. Let's agree, or disagree respectfully. Let's look for the humor in life. Let's use our voices to build better schools for Kentucky's children.

Thanks for stopping by.

Richard Day
Moderator, Kentucky School News and Commentary

Best Thing to Come out of the Fletcher Administration

Special thanks to fellow blogger Andy Hightower of the Kentucky Club for Growth for hosting a lovely wedding shower for Rob and (our) Lizzie at his home last night. Thanks also to the Brandstetters, Fryes, Hudgins and Milligans. Hightower is so great that at the end of the party, he even arranged for somebody to shoot off fireworks at nearby Commonwealth Stadium. That was you, right?

And another shout out for yet another blogger in attendance, head of External Affairs at UK Healthcare, Mark Birdwhistell.

Rob and Lizzie are running on the same slate this November.

No News is Good News

It's now been several months since the Herald-Leader's open records request to evaluate the spending habits of Superintendent Stu Silberman and the Board of Education. In the wake of the Airport Board scandal, in May and June H-L made open records requests and poured over district expense records.

In the meantime, revelations from H-L of excesses have come forth from the League of Cities, the Lexington Public Library and the Kentucky Association of Counties. Good coverage of bad stuff. Strippers, escorts and lawyers!

But no story has emanated on the Fayette County Schools.

A source told KSN&C that the superintendent put expenses related to a board trip to San Francisco on the district credit card but that board members had reimbursed the district for their shares of the expense - which is pretty standard and totally appropriate. Not much else to talk about - so, no news.

Unless the Herald-Leader tells us otherwise, it would seem that the school system got a good look, and looked good.

Charter schools should be eliminating segregation

Unchecked, charter schools tend to worsen

already high levels of racial and economic segregation.

The Obama administration holds up charter schools as the hope of reform for the educational system. But charter schools could be doing much more to change problems that go beyond academics in American education, write two researchers from the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School. Charter schools should be tools to reverse the isolation of student groups affected by segregation and income inequalities, they write.

This from Education Week:

A review of research measuring the promise of charter schools against what actually happens to children in real classrooms strongly suggests that it is unrealistic to expect that charter schools, alone, will reverse the vast and growing educational inequalities in the United States. In fact, there is no solid evidence that these schools—just by virtue of being charters—do any better for students than traditional public schools. As a rigorous and, unfortunately, widely misrepresented 2009 Harvard/MIT study on Boston showed, some charters do better than the city’s regular public schools. Some do not. This is a common finding. But another finding—that in some places, charters generally do worse than their traditional counterparts—is also commonly recorded. A recent Minnesota study, for example, showed that students in charters either did less well than similar students in public schools or the same as those students. A report released in June by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes featured similar findings.

Commish Visits the Troops

This from Terry Holliday:

It’s great to be in Kentucky! I am truly honored and proud to be your commissioner.

Today, I began making my way around the Tower, over to OET and out to School and Community Nutrition in order to meet all of the Frankfort-based personnel. It has been wonderful interacting with folks so far. In the near future, I will be visiting KSB and KSD.

As I have shared in my visits, the work you do is the most important in this state because it supports the education of Kentucky’s kids. Kids are what we are about in this agency!

I look forward to working with all of you.

SOURCE: KDE Communication

Pride

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You

That is...assuming you're near Richmond.

EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS
Second Edition of the course reader for EDF 203: Schooling and Society
Eastern Kentucky University

ONLINE EDITION

“Students” From Becoming a Teacher By Parkay, Forrest W., and Beverly Hardcastle Stanford,Pearson Education: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2010. With additional material from Powell, Sara Davis, An Introduction to Education: Choosing Your Career Path. Pearson Education: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2009. And additional material by Richard Day

“The Legal Basis for Education and School Law” From Teaching in America, 4th EditionBy George Morrison, Chapter 8

“Philosophical Foundations of US Education” From Becoming a Teacher By Parkay, Forrest W., and Beverly Hardcastle Stanford,Pearson Education: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2010.

“Education in the Ancient World: Greek Contributions to Education (500 – 168 BC)”From Historical Foundations of Education: Bridges from the Ancient World to the Present, Tehie, Janice B. Pearson: Upper Saddle River NJ, 2007.

“Life and Education During the Roman Empire (168 BC – AD 476)” From Historical Foundations of Education: Bridges from the Ancient World to the Present, Tehie, Janice B. Pearson: Upper Saddle River NJ, 2007.

“The Middle Ages (AD 476 – 1200)” From Historical Foundations of Education: Bridges from the Ancient World to the Present, Tehie, Janice B. Pearson: Upper Saddle River NJ, 2007.

“The Renaissance: New Consciousness and Love of Learning (1150 – 1517)” From Historical Foundations of Education: Bridges from the Ancient World to the Present, Tehie, Janice B. Pearson: Upper Saddle River NJ, 2007.

“The German Reformation: Social Enlightenment and Reform (1517 – 1537)” From Historical Foundations of Education: Bridges from the Ancient World to the Present, Tehie, Janice B. Pearson: Upper Saddle River NJ, 2007.

“Reformation and Education in Tudor England (1534 – 1625)” From Historical Foundations of Education: Bridges from the Ancient World to the Present, Tehie, Janice B. Pearson: Upper Saddle River NJ, 2007.

IN HARDCOPY

“Each Child, Every Child” Adapted from Each Child, Every Child: The Story of the Council for Better Education, Equity and Adequacy in Kentucky’s Schools. By Richard Day.

“The Land” From The Partisan Spirit: Kentucky Politics, 1779-1792 By Patricia Watlington, pp. 3-11 (Atheneum)

“The People of Kentucky and their Educational Beginnings” From The Gates Open Slowly: A History of Education in Kentucky By Frank McVey, pp. 3-16 (University of Kentucky Press, 1949)

“The Saga of Wildcat McKinney” From History of Kentucky By Lewis and Richard Collins. Reprinted in From the Fort to the Future: Educating the Children of Kentucky, pp. 9-11 (Kentucky Images, 1987)

“A Slow Start for Kentucky’s Children,” Part 1 From Each Child, Every Child: The Story of the Council for Better Education, Equity and Adequacy in Kentucky’s Schools. By Richard Day, pp. 27-39

“Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for 1853, Legislative Document No.7” By Robert J Breckinridge Reprinted in From the Fort to the Future, pp. 84-91

“Reconstruction, Readjustment, and Race, 1865-1875” From A New History of Kentucky By Lowell Harrison & James Klotter, pp. 234-239 (University of Kentucky Press)

“A Slow Start for Kentucky’s Children,” Part 2 From Each Child, Every Child: The Story of the Council for Better Education, Equity and Adequacy in Kentucky’s Schools. By Richard Day, pp. 39-57

“Traditions of Popular Education” From The Transformation of the School: Progressivism in American Education, 1876-1957By Lawrence Cremin, pp. 3-22 (Knopf)

“The Schools of the Mountains”, by Mattye R. Sewell, in From the Fort to the Future: (Kentucky Images, 1987)

“Puritan Life: Education in the New England and Virginia Colonies.” From Historical Foundations of Education: Bridges from the Ancient World to the Present, Tehie, Janice B. Pearson: Upper Saddle River NJ, 2007.

“A Plea for Lady Teachers,” by Sallie S. Armstrong in From the Fort to the Future: (Kentucky Images, 1987)

“Julius Rosenwald” and “Black Education in Kentucky” From Rosenwald Schools in Kentucky 1917-1932 By Alicestyne Turley-Adams (Kentucky Heritage Commission, 1997)

“The Trustee System” From The Thread that Runs so True By Jesse Stuart Reprinted in From the Fort to the Future, pp. 224-229 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky 1974; New York, Charles Scribner & Sons, 1949)

“A Slow Start for Kentucky’s Children,” Part 3 From Each Child, Every Child The Story of the Council for Better Education, Equity and Adequacy in Kentucky’s Schools. By Richard Day, pp. 57-71

The Young Folks: Education” From Kentucky: Portrait in Paradox, 1900-1950 By James Klotter, pp. 144- 167 (Kentucky Historical Society)

“The Minimum Foundation Program” From Each Child, Every Child: The Story of the Council for Better Education, Equity and Adequacy in Kentucky’s Schools. By Richard Day, pp. 72-84

“The Pride and the Shame,” by Bert T. Combs in From the Fort to the Future: (Kentucky Images, 1987)

“The Achievement Gap” From Each Child, Every Child: The Story of the Council for Better Education, Equity and Adequacy in Kentucky’s Schools. By Richard Day, pp. 283-305

“Kentucky Landmark” From Final Test: The Battle for Adequacy in America’s Schools By Peter Schrag, pp. 62-72 (The New Press)

Gay-friendly online high school believed to be first of its kind

This from TwinCities.com:

The Maplewood-based program has
applications from students across the country
and faculty from around the world

Brooklyn Suchy was in sixth grade when she wore her Gay Straight Alliance shirt for all to see: "GSA, like it or not, I am what I am."

It was at a restaurant in Newport where her shirt drew the ire of a group of girls. They called her names. They shoved her. And then they locked her in the restaurant's bathroom.

"Others don't accept people who want to be who they want to be," said Brooklyn, now a ninth-grader at Crosswinds East Metro Arts & Science School. The 15-year-old Landfall girl considers herself bisexual.

Those were the kinds of stories that prompted one local educator to begin an online high school catering to students like Brooklyn. Named the GLBTQ Online High School, it is based in Maplewood and believed to be the first of its kind. (GLBTQ represents gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning.)

Other online schools exist, as do bricks-and-mortar schools that serve gay students. But the Minnesota program is the first to combine the two features, according to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.

It is the brainchild of David Glick, the first online learning coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Education.

He has received applications from students across the country and from faculty around the world.

"We may not bring people closer physically — but we will in every other way," Glick said. "We want to make them feel more confident about who they are."

The online nature of the school allows it to reach young people wherever they have Internet access — especially in rural areas, whose smaller populations makes a physical version of his school impossible, Glick said.

It also removes gay students from potentially hostile school environments and places them in what he touts as a "safe and welcoming educational community." Instead of facing bullies every day, students would be learning with other students who understand their concerns.

But some fear this arrangement would further alienate teenagers already at risk...

The curriculum will differ from that of traditional schools, he said, in that it will be more "GLBTQ-friendly." That involves abolishing negative messages and highlighting gay, bisexual and transgender people in history.

Teachers will interact with pupils and provide instruction through videos, chats, graphics and other multimedia, as well as occasional phone calls. Some portions of a course will occur in real time, but for the most part, students work at their own pace, year-round.

While gay, bisexual and transgender high school students are the target audience; people of any age and sexual orientation can enroll.

"There's no other school we can look to as a model," Glick said. "People ask us, what's the research behind this? We are the research."

BY THE NUMBERS

$5,900 - Cost of one year's tuition, in dollars

$520 - Cost per course, in dollars

50 - Minimum enrollment for school to launch

24 - Student applications to date

100 - Staff applications to date

Ky Board Webcasts

The August 5 and 6 meeting of the Kentucky Board of Education was webcast, and that has now been archived. Follow the links below for video/audio or audio-only versions of the meeting.

8/5/2009 Video and audio

8/5/2009 Audio only


8/6/2009 Video and audio

8/6/2009 Audio only

Jefferson County Wins a Round

This from C-J:

Heyburn's ruling

In a decision that provides certainty for parents as the school year begins, U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II has upheld a key component of the Jefferson County Public Schools student assignment plan. Following a hearing Tuesday, the judge said the portion of the plan that affects some 7,000 kindergarten students is not unconstitutional and does not assign children based on race.

The school district is back in court only two years after the U.S. Supreme Court lamentably (and most narrowly) set aside the previous assignment plan, one that used race as a primary factor in determining the school a student could attend. Interestingly enough, Judge Heyburn had (correctly in our view) upheld the earlier plan, noting that race was a factor in assignments, but that other things also came into play. His ruling was affirmed by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, only to be reversed by the high court, led by Bush appointees...

It's Been a Century. Time for Another Whilrwind Campaign

Beshear planning education initiative in the fall

Will name task force on KERA,

tour the state for comment

This from Ronnie Ellis in the Daily Independent:

Gov. Steve Beshear is apparently planning a statewide tour this fall to discuss what’s next in education reform after the General Assembly this year passed Senate Bill 1 to revise Kentucky’s academic standards and testing.

News of a major initiative came from Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Secretary Helen Mountjoy at Wednesday’s Kentucky Board of Education meeting.“The governor is looking to launch an initiative to draw attention back to education,” Mountjoy told the board.

“The governor plans to travel the state to re-energize people about education and to re-ignite that spark of enthusiasm.” Mountjoy wouldn’t say afterward what form that imitative might take except to say she will meet with Beshear Friday to discuss his initiative.

During his 2007 gubernatorial campaign Beshear called for a “top to bottom review” of the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act. But the passage this year of Senate Bill 1 went a long way toward revising KERA, requiring new accountability standards and a new testing system.

New Education Commissioner Dr. Terry Holliday said he plans to accompany Beshear on the tour and expects the governor to seek comment on Senate Bill 1. In addition to the new standards and test, Senate Bill 1 requires the department and the state’s public universities to align curriculum and standards to prepare high school graduates for college work.

Beshear’s spokesman Jay Blanton said the tour will follow the announcement by the governor of a KERA Task Force in the fall.“We are hoping to unveil the task force and charge this fall and initiate some statewide discussions about this next critical phase of education reform,” Blanton said...

Board Agrees to 4-Year Contract for Holliday @ $225 K

At its regular meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, the Kentucky Board of Education took action and heard presentations on a number of items.

The board agreed to approve the contract of Education Commissioner Terry Holliday, who was selected for the position in July. His salary has been set at $225,000, and the contract is for four years.

The board’s Nominating Committee presented a slate of candidates for the positions of chair and vice chair. The board also agreed to add an additional vice-chair seat. Joe Brothers was re-elected as chair; C.B. Akins was re-elected as vice chair; and Dorie Combs was elected as vice chair. All votes were unanimous.

During a presentation on the work surrounding Senate Bill 1, Education Commissioner Terry Holliday encouraged the board to express its support for Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) staff’s efforts to meet state and federal mandates, specifically, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. The board did so and advocated for strong communication between KDE, school districts and education partners to help them strategize and plan.

The board took the following actions:

* approved the appointments of Adam Hicks, a teacher at Bryan Station High in Fayette County, and Judy Whitson, principal of T.C. Cherry Elementary in Bowling Green Independent, as members of the Kentucky Writing Program Advisory Committee

* approved the FY10 unmet education technology need of $132 million for school districts
gave final approval to 704 KAR 4:020, the state regulation governing school health services (The new regulation includes technical changes, addition of a requirement for training of school personnel and addition of a requirement for a dental examination or screening for 5- and 6-year-old children entering school for the first time.)

The board heard presentations on a variety of items:

* facilities and budget issues at the Kentucky School for the Blind and Kentucky School for the Deaf
* the 2010-2012 biennial budget
* model Extended School Services programs
* the in-school GED program
* Kentucky Content Literacy Initiative Grants

The board’s next regular meeting will be October 7 and 8 in Frankfort.

SOURCE#: KDE Press release

One Last Appeal?

In the midst of the Petrilli trial the Fayette County Schools received news that the Kentucky Court of Appeals would not grant the board of education a rehearing on the $3.7 million judgment granted Carol Lynne Manor.

The last chance for the board to overturn the judgment would come in a motion for discretionary review by the Kentucky Supreme Court.

If that request is made - and denied - it will be time for the district to issue a public statement about the 30-year old case and to assure the public that procedures and safeguards now exist to prevent any reoccurance of these despicable acts.

This from H-L:

Fayette school board's request for rehearing denied

in Maner civil suit

The Kentucky Court of Appeals on Monday denied the Fayette County school board's request for a rehearing in the $3.7 million judgment in favor of Carol Lynne Maner.

In 2007, a Fayette Circuit Court jury found that in the late 1970s and early 1980s, school officials ignored allegations that Maner was sexually abused by four teachers, a guidance counselor and an assistant principal at Beaumont Junior High School and Lafayette High School. The jury's verdict in the high-profile trial is one of the largest awarded in Fayette County.

The school district appealed the verdict, but the Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld the decision May 22. The school board then asked the appellate court last month to reconsider that decision.

The appeal process can be "frustrating, and sometimes it's nerve-racking, but we're still winning," said Charles Arnold, one of Maner's attorneys.

The school board must file a motion of discretionary review with the Kentucky Supreme Court if it wants to appeal the case further, Arnold said...