Five New Members to be Sworn In at KBE Retreat

When the Kentucky Board of Education begins their annual retreat at the Berry Hill Mansion on May 13th in Frankfort, the first order of business wil be the swearing in of five new members.

The four members whose terms ended April 14th are David Webb of Edmonson County, Janna Vice of Madison County, David Rhodes of Montgomery County, and Bonnie Lash Freeman of Jefferson County. The resignation of Keith Travis brings to five the number of Beshear appointments on a board with 12 members.

There has been some chatter surrounding the legality of appointments starting with Republican partisan blogger Brett Hall claiming that Beshear waited too long to name new members; and the governor's office saying Hall doesn't know what he's talking about. Helen Mountjoy speculated that some members might be reappointed. Who was right? Well, Hall can ramp up the rhetoric and Mountjoy might want ot polish up her crystal ball...but the governor's appointees are:

Austin W. Moss, of Hopkinsville, will represent the First Supreme Court District. Since 1995, he has served as the Vice President of Human Resources at Jennie Stuart Medical Center. The appointment replaces Keith Travis, who has resigned. Moss shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term ending April 14, 2010.

Dorothy “Dorie” Z. Combs, of Richmond, will represent members-at-large. She previously served on this board from June 2002 to April 2006. Combs is a professor in the College of Education at Eastern Kentucky University. The appointment replaces Janna Vice, whose term has expired. Combs shall serve for a term expiring April 14, 2012.

Stephen B. Neal, of Louisville, will represent members-at-large. He is the executive director of the Jefferson County Teachers Association. The appointment replaces Bonnie Lash Freeman, whose term has expired. Neal shall serve for a term expiring April 14, 2012.

Billy Harper, of Paducah, will represent members-at-large. He is the president and chief executive officer of Harper Industries, Inc., and a member of the McCracken County Board of Education The appointment replaces David Rhodes, whose term has expired. Harper shall serve for a term expiring April 14, 2012.

Brigitte B. Ramsey, of Falmouth, will represent members-at-large. She is a public policy analyst for the United Way of Greater Cincinnati and a member of the Pendleton County Board of Education. The appointment replaces David Webb, whose term has expired. Ramsey shall serve for a term expiring April 14, 2012.

This from the KDE press release:

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – The Kentucky Board of Education will hold its annual retreat Tuesday and Wednesday, May 13 and 14, at Berry Hill Mansion in Frankfort.

No business will be conducted at the retreat.

The board’s goal during the retreat is to discuss a tactical plan/strategy for every school reaching proficiency by 2014.

Agenda follows.

KENTUCKY BOARD OF EDUCATION
MAY
13-14, 2008

MUSIC ROOM
BERRY HILL MANSION
FRANKFORT,
KENTUCKY

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

BUSINESS SESSION - FULL
BOARD
MUSIC ROOM
BERRY HILL MANSION
8:45 a.m. (EDT)

I. Swearing-in of new members

II. Call to Order

III. Roll Call

IV. Welcome and agenda overview

V. Comments from the commissioner

VI. Team building and role of state boards

Lunch
(Lunch provided for KBE members, invited guests and Commissioner's Planning Committee members only)

VII. Discussion:
What are we currently doing to get to proficiency?
A. Purpose and focus of the discussion for the next two days
B. Strategic Plan Progress Report Review

VIII. Discussion: What are our next steps to continue and to increase progress toward proficiency?
A. Commissioner's Task Force on Assessment and Accountability: Purpose and progress report on its formation
B. Blue Ribbon Panel on Interventions in Low-Performing Schools: Summary of work and recommendations

IX. Internal Board Business
A. Review of the KBE Policy Manual
B. KBE budget report
C. Review of 2008, 2009, and 2010 Meeting Dates
1. Whether to continue one-day meetings/purpose of these meetings
D. Review of Highly Skilled Educator selection process

Recess

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

BUSINESS SESSION -
FULL BOARD
MUSIC ROOM
BERRY HILL MANSION
9:00 a.m.
(EDT)

X. Discussion: What are our next steps to continue and to increase progress toward proficiency? (Theme continued from previous day)
A. Review of previous day's work
B. Future Direction
1. KDE's Current Work/Future Recommendations/KBE Small Group Work
2. Instruction & Balanced Assessment
3. Leadership
4. Low-performing schools

Lunch
(Lunch provided for KBE members, invited guests and Commissioner's Planning Committee members only)

X. Discussion:
What are our next steps to continue and to increase progress toward proficiency?
(Cont'd after lunch)
C. Future Direction (Cont'd)
1. KDE's Current Work/Future Recommendations/KBE Full Board Discussion
2. Legislation
3. KBE Recommendations

XI. Adjournment

Mountjoy says Board Members Could be Reappointed

The resignation of former Kentucky Board of Education chair Keith Travis brings to five the number of slots Governor Steve Beshear has to fill.

Will the governor replace members, reappoint members, or some combination of the two?

KyPolitics, a partisan blog, has argued that it's too late for the governor to do either. But the governor disagrees and plans to move ahead with appointments.

Dick Brown of the governor's media office recently confirmed to KSN&C that Governor Beshear has not had a change of heart since his earlier stated disappointments with the board and when asked if he plans to replace the four members said, "Yes, he does."

Education Secretary Helen Mountjoy apparently sees it differently.

There is some concern over the loss of experience to a board whose most experienced members will have served only four years. Given the complexity of the work the board is called to do, experience matters - even if it's not the only thing that matters.

Mountjoy told the Courier-Journal that the governor's office has been working on filling those seats -- which could include reappointments.

"We hope that those appointments will come through sooner than later," Mountjoy said, noting that there "certainly are some very challenging issues that need to be dealt with" by the board. Those issues include budget cuts; ongoing testing issues; developing more effective leadership in schools and finding the best interventions for chronically underperforming schools.

"The governor certainly wants to appoint highly qualified, highly committed people to the positions that are available on the state board…so we're going to take the time that is necessary to make sure that we have folks who both have the time and have the willingness to expend it on the issues surrounding elementary and secondary education," Mountjoy said.

Education advocates said yesterday that losing a veteran board member like Travis is troubling."(His) experience and historical knowledge will be missed on the board," said Bob Sexton, executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. "He was deeply committed to improving things for Kentucky kids."

Despite his merits, Travis had come under fire for his handling of the failed commissioner search involving Barbara Erwin and lost his leadership position as a result.

Commissioner Jon Draud told C-J that he is not "too concerned" about the loss of experience to the board and expressed confidence in Beshear to find dedicated replacements.

"I am sure he will appoint people who are interested and dedicated in helping us reach our proficiency goals by the year 2014," Draud said.

Current Board Chair Joe Brothers told C-J he hopes that Beshear will reappoint some of the members whose terms expire -- "to continue the progress we have made. …"

The four seats that expire April 14 are at-large seats that can be filled with people from any part of the state. Travis' seat must be filled with someone who lives in Western Kentucky.

Keith Travis Hangs It Up: Beshear to Replace Five

This from Toni Konz at C-J:

Member of state board of education resigns

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The former chairman of the Kentucky Board of Education has submitted a letter of resignation to Gov. Steve Beshear.

Keith Travis, who has served on the board for 10 years, recently sent the letter to Beshear. ...In his letter, Travis said he is resigning because of personal employment obligations

...Travis could not immediately be reached for comment, but has said in previous interviews that he felt he has taken most of the blame from fellow board members for last year’s controversial and short-term hiring of Barbara Erwin as state education commissioner.

Last May, the board voted 10-0 to name Illinois educator Erwin as the state’s next commissioner. But in July, after a series of revelations about her background, Erwin resigned three days before she was to begin the job.

A month later, the board voted not to reappoint Travis as chairman. Several board members acknowledged that the Erwin search and hiring played a role in the board’s decision to replace Travis.

...With Travis’ resignation, Beshear will soon have to replace or reappoint five state board of education members. The terms of four other members — Janna Vice, David Rhodes, David Webb and Bonnie Lash Freeman — will expire on April 14.

KyPolitics, a partisan blog written by Republican strategist Brett Hall , a former Fletcher adviser, recently claimed that

Beshear has failed to make timely appointments to the four positions on the board that have terms expiring in 2008, and now lacks the ability to have any late appointments confirmed in the General Assembly that is now in regular session.

KSN&C contacted the governor's media office and was informed by Dick Brown that according to the governors general counsel, "They're wrong."

KyPolitics responded, "They're wrong."

Brown said, "...we'll probably see those, easily by early summer, if not before hand."

To which they responded Nuh uh.

To which they responded Yah huh.

Budgetary and Legislative Complexities Confound Solutions for Kentucky Schools.

I was just wondering. Is No Child Left Behind "just what you get" when liberals and neocons agree on something? ...a big-hearted, empty-headed power trip?

Maybe it was just the one thing Ted Kennedy and George W. Bush could agree on.

It's the right idea, (insisting on a quality education for every child) warped by a wrong idea (that student achievement can be coerced "on the cheap.") where the end is supposed to justify the means.

As a result, Kentucky schools, which were already examining the performance of all subgroups of students under Senate Bill 168, saw its attempt to build a performance-based, school-centered assessment system disheveled by the combination of NCLB's bad method and unrealistic targets.

And, none dare oppose.

The Climate of Reform

The most prominent strategy employed in the schools under NCLB has involved a climate of coercion; the assumption being that students weren't doing better because of racist (or perhaps, classist) teachers. To some unmeasurable extent, this must surely have been true. But in my experience, for the vast majority of teachers it clearly was not.

The situation called for leadership. What it got was top-down management.

A lot of good teachers got the implicit (sometimes explicit) message that if a student failed, it was their fault. Period. No excuses.

A (brief?) philosophical interlude

It used to be that if a student came into a teacher's classroom and was unprepared, unwashed, unfed, and undisciplined and uncooperative - it was a parent's or student's responsibility.

Theoretically, the school provided equal opportunity. It was up to the student to take full advantage of what the system had to offer and pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. The problem with this philosophy was that it produced a system of "good schools" and "bad schools" and it put little pressure on teachers to work harder to reach "difficult" students. There was genuine effort but inadequate funding and no system-wide "stick."

In NCLB, President Bush found a piece of hickory; and he did not spare the rod.

Under the new logic, all children can learn - and if one does not, it is because the teacher hasn't done enough. Any teacher perceived to NOT be "on the bus" is said to be "making excuses" - proof of one's lack of dedication...or racism...or classism...you name it. It's what some school administrators call motivation.

The philosophical shift from equality of educational opportunity to equity of student achievement outcomes is about twelve years old. Is it also on its last legs?

Results (writ large) fall short

What about the results? Well, most of the results of a quality education are unmeasurable. But using what does get measured, three different 2007 studies ranked Kentucky's student achievement at 34th or better. Not the penthouse, but out of the basement. Today's goals are skyhigh and not only include overall growth, but growth and excellence for every subgroup of students.

KSN&C reported in March,

This year, Kentucky Department of Education officials told the [state] board that fewer than 40 percent of the state's public schools are on target to meet those goals.

So what have Kentucky's educational leaders said about it?

Board members said the state needs to develop a "sense of urgency" to find a solution. "I think it's a doable task," [former state board Chair, Keith] Travis said. "That will be the main objective of whoever the new commissioner will be."

[Almost Commissioner Barbara] Erwin - drinking deeply from the Kool-aide - said she [thought] it [was] possible for every child to be proficient by 2014. "Absolutely," she said. "I believe it is our moral and ethical responsibility (to see) that all children can reach those goals."

A More Rational Approach Meets a Deteriorating Budget

Jon Draud, most recently named the commonwealth's education commissioner, took a more reasoned approach that acknowledged both the possibilities and the realities.

Draud's top priority is to assure that Kentucky students meet proficiency standards by 2014, as NCLB requires. "But that must become a goal for more than educators if it is to be reached," Draud told H-L.

"We have to create a sense of urgency, to have people concerned about this again, like they were in 1990 for Kentucky's education reform. The business community has to lead the way," said Draud."Most research says for education reform to work, the business community has to be involved. It takes collaboration and cooperation. Without getting all the stakeholders involved, we're not going to reach proficiency," he said.

Those comments were made at the time Governor Fletcher was touting a much rosier fiscal outlook. Now the state is predicting a tepid 2.4 percent growth in revenue for the first year of the next biennial budget. That's a sharp decline from revenue growth of more than 9 percent in 2005 and 2006.

The budget crisis throws a major shadow over future prospects. Having neglected education funding in the mid to late 1990s, when there was no crisis, the legislature now finds itself in a box.

The Casino Gambling Solution

Will casino gambling solve the problem? No, but it sure will help - if we're all very patient. Assuming Kentucky voters approve such a measure, it will take several years to realize the $500 million in annual fiscal support Governor Steve Beshear estimates.

What happens until then?

President Lee Todd informed the UK campus by Email Friday,

We will continue to make the case as strongly as we can that the state must support the UK Business Plan as the mechanism for achieving our statutory mandate to become a Top 20 public research institution and for making the gains we all want in education, health care and economic development for Kentucky.

Todd's laser-like focus on quality is commendable - and the only "right" position a top-notch university president can take. But if the state coffers are empty, and there is no retreat from the pursuit of excellence, then the only remaining option includes large tuition increases.

But tuition increases pose affordability problems for many Kentucky students who are operating in the same economic climate as the schools, and will keep the goal of doubling the number of college graduates out of reach.

Surely by next year - with the budgetary shortfall estimated at $525 million - cuts will bite into P-12 education, which has largely escaped, so far. But P-12 won't be raising tuition.

How deep will the P-12 cuts be? ...and for how many years? If NCLB goes down (while I don't advocate it, that's OK by me) and Kentucky reduces its financial commitment to reform, and the hickory stick is put away, how many more schools will fail to meet their 2014 targets?

Will poor fiscal stewardship at the state level spell the end of real education reform in Kentucky?

What now?

What happens in the long run depends on the people of Kentucky. It seems clear that Frankfort politicians advocating tax hikes will be as rare as hen's teeth. But clearly, some kind of taxation has to be a part of any real long-term solution. The alternative is the abandonment of reform - which would galvanize Kentucky into the bottom realms of state economies for decades to come.

Only a strong push to continue improving the quality of Kentucky's schools and workforce from the grassroots citizenry will provide the motivation our state leaders need to do right by our children. ...all of our children.

Building that support will require persistent leadership over time. Citizens need to be informed about the successes our schools have produced, the looming budget crisis and its likely impact on our future economy. Teachers need to wake up. Kentucky needs champions who will tirelessly dedicate the time it takes to travel the state and regenerate the kind of support for reform we saw in the late 1980s.

Draud has the right approach in mind. Drawing support from the business community is critical. Going community to community is critical. Building alliances is critical. Spending time is critical. His plan is reminescent of earlier State Superintendents Robert J Breckinridge and John Grant Crabbe who used the bully pulpit to rally support we need. It's what a champion does.

The people of Kentucky need an education on the value of investing in education.

The ultimate constitutional responsibility lies with the legislature. But in the end, Kentuckians will get the schools they support; the schools they insist upon. In that sense, Kentucians will get the schools they deserve.

Harlan "felt like doing a new high school" @ $23 million. Now costs doubled, KBE expresses concern.

"We felt like doing a new high school.

It's been over 40 years since we've had a school (built)."

- Harlan Superintendent Tim Saylor

Cost of Harlan school doubles Materials blamed for $27 million jump

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- State Board of Education members yesterday expressed shock and concern that the price tag of a high school under construction in Harlan County has more than doubled since the original cost estimate.

The 220,000-square-foot high school, which is expected to open at the beginning of the next school year, is now expected to cost $50 million, up from the original $23 million estimate.

"Where I work you can't run a business this way and stay in business, much less employed," said board member Joe Brothers at a board subcommittee meeting yesterday. "The surprise and shock factor of this is really frustrating."

The Harlan County school board estimates it needs about $8 million to $9 million to complete the project, but state school board officials warned not to come looking for a handout.

...A report issued by state Auditor Crit Luallen's office ...raised many questions, including:
Are overruns occurring in other school projects currently under construction?

Would the state legislature have approved $13.6 million in state funding if it had known the project was going to cost $50 million instead of $23 million?

Could Harlan County actually afford a project of that magnitude given its declining enrollment?

...[Former Board] Chairman Keith Travis said the board doesn't know if any of the projects currently under construction across Kentucky -- at a total cost of about $700 million -- are within their original budgets. He said he wouldn't have known about Harlan County's problem had a concerned citizen not brought it to his attention.

This from the Courier-Journal.

Board continues to prefer a Kentuckian for the job

This from CNHI's Ronnie Ellis in the Richmond Register:

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The chairman of the Kentucky Board of Education said 45 applicants are seeking to become Kentucky’s education commissioner, “the majority of them Kentuckians.”

The board, which went through an abortive hiring earlier this year only to see Dr. Barbara Erwin at the last moment decline the position after questions were raised by the media about errors on her resume and working relationships in previous assignments, has made no secret of preferring a Kentucky applicant for the position....

...{Chairman Joe] Brothers said that “all things being equal, we would prefer someone from Kentucky. We’re particularly interested in somebody that understands KERA and how that has developed since 1990. And while we’re aware that people from outside the state may have some knowledge of it, people who have lived through it obviously should have an advantage.”

Brothers said the board will hire an outside firm to conduct background investigations on the applicants it considers, but the board itself will ultimately check into those to avoid the embarrassment of the Erwin situation. Her resume contained errors and other misleading information and some with whom she worked in Texas, Arizona and Illinois gave widely divergent evaluations of her performance. Those problems weren’t disclosed by a professional search firm hired by the board during the initial search...

...He said the board continues to shoot toward naming a finalist for the position by Nov. 13. He said the possibility of a new governor-elect by that time shouldn’t change the board’s plans to name a new commissioner as soon as possible.

“Obviously, we’d be interested in his thoughts,” Brothers said, referring to the possibility that Steve Beshear and not Ernie Fletcher might win the Nov. 6 election. “All governors can have input, but the bottom line is we’re an independent board and we’re not choosing someone on the basis of political affiliation. We’re looking at their credentials and the person who is best for the state.”

Schools across Ky see big jumps

Experts debate effect of changes

The numerous changes to the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System this year weren't supposed to have much of an effect on test scores for the state's 1,183 public schools.

But according to a Herald-Leader analysis, scores that were adjusted to accommodate the changes showed big jumps at nearly every level.

Across the state, the number of schools scoring between 90 and 99 between 2006 and 2007 went up 35 percent. The number of schools that surpassed 100 rose nearly 50 percent. And the number of schools that scored less than 60 decreased 63 percent.

The big jumps are part of a confusing maelstrom for educators and parents, as state officials try to bring the statewide test more in line with federal requirements. Scores were supposed to be released Sept. 26, but the changes -- in the test and in how it's graded -- resulted in a delay...

Quotes:

~

Skip Kifer, director of the Advance Study on Assessment at Georgetown College, quoted a famous maxim in testing circles: "If you want to measure change, don't change the measure," he said. "When you change so many things over the years, it's hard to know what you're comparing."

~

"It meets the technical expectations," said Susan Weston, former director of the Kentucky Association of School Councils and a testing analyst. "But you need public understanding and respect, and the public is struggling. I certainly hear the sounds of axles that really need some oil." ..."I can't tell yet whether we've got an equally difficult test and we're just grading it easier, or whether the test itself is easier," Weston said.

~

"You worry that it's an easier test," said Kati Haycock, president of Education Trust in Washington, D.C. "If you've got way more at the top, and way fewer at the bottom, either it's an easier test or a lower cut score."

~

Keith Travis, a member of the state board of education, said he's not concerned about the boost being a result of an easier test or altered scoring system. "Any time you change testing modes, there's always going to be a concern that you've diminished the rigor of the test to enhance the scores," Travis said. "That's a valid question and one that people ought to be asking."

~

"It's a little early to be panicking," said Sen. Jack Westwood, R-Crescent Spring, who said he received phone calls about the boost in scores. "I don't want to suggest at this stage that there is something amiss ... . On the surface, it seems a little disturbing to me. We need to make sure that the spike in the scores are in fact accurate examples of where our kids are."

~

Starr Lewis, a former associate commissioner with the Kentucky Department of Education and now a professor at University of Louisville, said she would advise parents to look at other data, such as National Assessment of Education Progress, or NAEP, scores, to see whether Kentucky is improving overall. "This is real progress, and it's not a matter of smoke and mirrors and changing performance standards on a state test," she said.

~

Bob Sexton of the Prichard Committee said "It's complicated every place because the nature of testing is that you have to change things as you go along because ... you have to respond to legislatures and the federal government," he said. "School systems have accepted the notion that accountability can drive change, so it's the state's obligation to help school systems understand the data. Right now they can't tell what it tells them."

This from the Herald-Leader.

Through the Looking Glass with Kentucky's Board of Education members

No plans to resign with so much to do

Kentucky School Boards Association Communications Director Brad Hughes got KBE members on the record about their job performance so far...and what lies ahead. I'm going to chat through this one.

Despite some calls for their resignation, the members of the Kentucky Board of Education say they aren’t going anywhere.

Truer words were never spoken.

Rather than being defiant, most say they understand concerns over the initial search for a new education commissioner but want to complete that and other tasks confronting the state’s K-12 policy-making body.

Oh good. They understand. Pay attention to what else they say. There may be a quiz at the end.

"I plan on staying; I took a job and I’m going to do it," said Joe Brothers, the new chairman of the state board. "We’ve been looking at including the ACT and norm-referenced questions in our CATS test and a whole litany of other things all the while we’ve been conducting the search.

OK...here we go...

"Our process has been one of due diligence, attempting to ensure that we are fair and equitable.

Pull the other one.

If there was another single issue that was more obviously lacking in the Barbara Erwin debacle than the board's outsourcing of its responsibilities for due diligence, I don't know what it might be.

The board not only gave it up, but later said it was not their responsibility to check candidate references - this while conducting their most important duty of all; selecting the next education commissioner.

Due diligence is not about being fair and equitable. One must always be fair and equitable. Due diligence is about stewardship of the public trust. It is the board's duty to conduct a reasonable amount of research and analysis before entering into any kind of business transaction. It's how a reasonable person exercises care - to avoid potential harm - to the children.

By and large, I believe people understand," said Brothers, a former Elizabethtown Independent school board member and KSBA president.

No. It would be much more accurate to suggest that by and large the people don't understand - but simply feel powerless to do anything about it ...all things considered.

After controversial candidate Barbara Erwin accepted and then withdrew from the commissioner’s job, Kentucky’s two largest newspapers, The Courier-Journal and Lexington Herald-Leader, published editorials urging Gov. Ernie Fletcher to replace the entire board. The board and its search were criticized in other Kentucky newspapers, radio talk shows and Internet blogs.

Deservedly so. It would have been better if the board had fired her for her application misstatements, rather than her resigning because folks complained about them. If they had, Kentuckians might have believed the board came to its senses. Now, we still have to wait to see how the board actually behaves. Talk is useless now.

"This is about continuity. We’ve changed 10 members in the past three years," said former chairman Keith Travis of Benton.

Is he suggesting there has been continuity - while pointing out evidence to the contrary? Or is he saying that continuity has been so lacking that - even though this board hasn't performed very well - changing members again would be worse?

"(Our) role can be a lightning rod for strong emotions, but sometimes folding the tent through issues such as we’ve faced is the wrong thing to do."

Huh? The role of a board member can be lots of things, including effective. Under this board - not so much. Strong emotions resulted when the public couldn't understand why the board was so completely unable to see the obvious, and then ignored public outcry, while continuing to follow the lead of their search firm. Suggestions that the board should resign came later.

Board member and nominating committee chairman C. B. Akins said the change in the leadership should not be mistaken as a reaction to criticism.

Why not? It's the only thing that softened calls for the whole board to resign.

"Our simple agenda is to do the best we can possibly do for 650,000 kids in Kentucky. Do we care about the opinions of adults? Yes, we do. Are we here to serve adults? Not really," said Akins, of Lexington.

Oh. So, the implication is that you know what's best for kids? Kentucky's adults don't. So you care about Kentuckian's opinions. But not too much because you already know what's best... and that was Barbara Erwin. Is that it? Where's the evidence for that?

"Innuendo and assumptions are designed to cause people to lose focus. We can’t afford to do that," he said.

But the hard facts that the award-winning nominating committee and the school board chose to ignore were designed to keep the board from embarrasing themselves and this state.

When errors were first discovered, the first effort was to contact KDE Communications Director Lisa Gross in an attempt to inform the board of what was discovered and avoid the mess we just went through.

The second call went to the press. Why the second call? Because as CB suggests, the egoes of board members and other adults should be respected, but in the end, it's the kids that matter. Whether these particular adults serve as board members, doesn't matter at all. There are lots of qualified Kentuckians - who arguably might have done better.

"Certainly the change was no reflection on Keith Travis, who has done a dynamic job at great personal sacrifice and all of us owe him a great deal of gratitude for his service."

Oh yes! Stupendous! That 1-10 vote was no reflection on him. Perhaps he should get an award too. That's the ticket.

Dr. Janna Vice, a board member from Richmond, said she and her colleagues are committed to serving "with great concern and competence.

"We have very serious educational issues ahead for the board. I think the board is hoping to bring the commissioner search to fruition quickly so we can get back to task," Vice said. "Our goal is really all about the children of Kentucky."

Great...all except that one word "quickly." Quality is better than speed. And competence would be a nice change.

Disapproval misplaced?
Vice believes some of the heat the state board is taking comes from its decision to step up and take full responsibility for the first round of the commissioner search.

"We decided to take the high road and not use the search firm as a scapegoat," she said, "so we’ve been criticized for the actions of the (consultants)."

Ahhhh. So incompetence is the high road?!

Somebody ought to look up the word "scapegoat." When somebody is not at fault, but they get blamed anyway...that's a scapegoat {an object of irrational hostility}.

But in what way was Ray & Associates NOT at fault?

And if the Board is responsible for the children's best interests, why all this hand-wringing over the reputation of the search firm? They are arguably the only group who faired worse than the board in the whole mess.

As for taking responsibiltiy...I DO think I heard the board express that - once.

But what I hear from the board with much greater frequency are excuses, blaming the press, bloggers and concerned citizens - anyone except themselves...and their precious search firm, who they declined to use a second time.

Doug Hubbard of Bardstown said, "The importance of the problems with the search have been exaggerated somewhat.

Protecting adult egoes again? C'mon Doug. You're the one member who knew better.

It (hiring the new commissioner) all has to do with reaching proficiency by 2014 and that’s what we need to get back to doing."

That is the reason the board hired a consultant in the first place, according to David Rhodes of Mount Sterling. "We went with a national search firm so the board would have time to continue working with our staff on that goal of proficiency by 2014," he said. "We’re going to continue with that focus along with searching for a new commissioner."

So...remind me...how'd that work out?

David Webb of Brownsville said, "Obviously, some mistakes have been made, but we’re picking up and moving on.

Obviously.

I have confidence in the other board members that we will attack the leadership problem in a very aggressive manner."

Despite the criticisms, Louisville board member Jeanne Ferguson is "delighted everyone is so concerned about education. That’s why we’re staying; that’s the hope of the future."

...springs eternal.

Beyond the search

Several KBE members point out that the state board is working on issues besides the commissioner search – from integrating the ACT test into the CATS school accountability process to setting school funding priorities for consideration in the 2008 legislative session.

"The commissioner search is one of the most important things that we are doing because our decision will leave a legacy for all of the children and students in Kentucky," said Bonnie Lash Freeman, another KBE member from Louisville, "but we do have a lot more to think about (and) a lot more to contribute."

Judy Gibbons, a board member from Lakeside Park, echoed Freeman on the board’s to-do list.

"I’m not sure that people realize the extent of the work that board members put into understanding the issues and focusing on what needs to be done to advance education in Kentucky," she said. "There are some weeks when it’s a full-time job. There is an unbelievable amount of material to understand. We always try to think, ‘Is this the best for all students? Is this fair for all students?’"

Kaye Baird, a former Pikeville Independent board member prior to her state appointment, said she and her colleagues "are ready to move on to other things.

You gotta know that's true.

"We are a group of very conscientious people. We were trying to do the right thing (in hiring Erwin), but things did not unfold in the way we thought they would," Baird said. "We need to get on with the business of the education of children. That’s what we are all about."

And, I'm sure that's true as well.

But as the board goes on with its important business...maybe they might lighten up on the excuses. They don't accept excuses from school personnel. Why should Kentuckians have to listen to excuses from them?
~

Photo: Newly-elected KBE Chairman Joe Brothers (center) and re-elected Vice Chairwoman Bonnie Lash Freeman at the August state board meeting. Interim Education Commissioner Kevin Noland is at left.

C-J dreams a little dream in today's editorial

Today's C-J editorial on the Kentucky school board correctly sees the Travis ouster as atonement for past failures, but not full accountability.

Accountability is a dream of things not to come.

But, somebody had to pay.

And all evidence suggests that Travis deserved what he got.

When information about Commissioner candidate Barbara Erwin came out, and piled up, Travis did his best to ignore it and wish it away. His leadership was to tell the rest of the board to believe the search firm's "sales job" and it would all be OK. As Joe Brothers correctly points out - they all bought it; they all own it.

The whole bunch, with the possible exception of Doug Hubbard, ought to have resigned - or been fired by any governor who valued integrity, competence in public office, and accountability when that competence was proven to be lacking.

Travis lost his leadership spot because somebody had to pay.

All things considered, the board's 10-1 vote probably takes some heat off the rest of the board members. By ousting Travis, maybe folks will quit calling for the rest of the board to quit as the Herald-Leader did recently.

The thing about Ray & Associates

When things go badly, it's good to keep ones head. I can fully understand the board's current notion of running as far away from Ray & Associates as possible. Once burned; twice shy.

But any search requires a lot of grunt work. Advertising. Correspondence. Compiling. Scheduling. Ray & Associates says they have a no refund policy on the botched search - but they guarantee two-years of continued assistance for boards that are unhappy with the results and promise to help "in any way we can to help them find the best candidate for the job."

The board of education needs many of the services a search firm can provide right now, and maybe that's one way Ray & Associates can repay Kentucky.

I think we should use them. I just don't think we should trust them.

Once candidates have been organized, paperwork collected and interviews scheduled...Ray & Associates should be thanked and sent away - while the board conducts a real investigation.

You don't outsource judgment.

A new Commissioner

I love the fact that the Chairman Brothers held discussions of the process and timeline the board would follow in hiring a new commissioner in open session yesterday. That's good leadership and a big step in the right direction. I hope it signals a return to the required public openness on the part of the board.

I'm much less thrilled by the timeline itself.

In the school business there is a hiring season - and this isn't it.

We don't need a commissioner quickly so much as we need a commissioner who is excellent. All of the top folks who were considering moves this past year are presently geared up for the start of the new school year wherever they are. The folks who are ready to change positions in October are largely leftovers. Any superstars who were willing to move have already done so.

In January, the political picture in Kentucky will be a settled issue and there will be a whole new crop of potential candidates who are looking ahead to the next year. To the extent Kentucky's leaders, including the board of education, can convince candidates that Kentucky is still a great place to be, that crop will be improved. That's the time to start anew.

Evidence suggests that the governor will use all of this term to do what he started out doing - placing Republicans in state positions. The thought that his appointees will resign in January - if the polls hold true and Beshear is elected governor - may be what C-J wants, but that's a dream that won't come true. Public accountability is for school folks - not the board of education.

I've got an alternative idea. If board members are not going to hold themselves accountable, can the members of the search committee at least give back the plaques they were awarded by Travis in June for the outstanding job they did in selecting Erwin?

The Board of Education at 30,000 feet

A few years ago, every school leadership conversation began with someone saying we had to get the right people "on the bus." This was a theme from Jim Collins' bestselling book, Good to Great. Unfortunately the idea was being used by some folks that weren't even good yet. Too frequently it was the leader that needed to be thrown under the bus. But, I digress.

I was amused by the conversation at the June board of education meeting when one member asserted to the group that he was operating at 30,000 feet. Not having been in required pubic school professional development sessions for a few years, I hadn't heard this one used quite this way before.

But, I get it. State board of education members should look at the big picture. Babysit the process, not the projects (As Harvard Business Review was reporting in 2003). Leave the details to the professionals (in other words, don't bug the staff). It caught my attention because the board chair in St Charles, Illinois (Barbara Erwin's prior school district) was using the same language at the same time. It made me wonder if Barbara Erwin imported this reconstruction.

I chuckled again as the next speaker said she was operating at 35,000 feet.

Uh oh. The competition was on. She talked about big picture issues and assured the group that she was on-board.

A few minutes later a third member came in at 40,000 feet and I laughed out loud.

But the competition ended when a vendor told the board that his view was from 100,000 feet. Smiles faded as members began to realize the newest cliche had just run its course.

Look. The idea of maintaining a leadership perspective that focuses more on process than projects is the right way to go. And if thinking one is in an airplane while doing it helps - fine. But let's not forget the little dots on the ground...the ones we can't quite make out. Those are the students who must be cared for, and that means they must be seen. The mile high club notwithstanding, I don't think love works very well when one loses sight of their beloved.

And the particular sin in the failed commissioner search was the board's steadfast refusal to look into the detailed evidence presented them. That's where the devil was. The business literature argues that management needs to be attentive and flexible, ready to swoop in at the first sign of real trouble.

Somebody forgot that part of the equation.

~

This from the Courier-Journal:

Old faces, new seats

Two things come to mind in the aftermath of the Kentucky Board of Education's vote to sack its chairman, Keith Travis.

First, given that Mr. Travis cast the only vote for his retention in a 10-1 rout, he may not have been any better at assessing his political strength with his colleagues than he was in conducting a search for a new state education commissioner.

That exercise was a debacle from start to finish.

The Iowa search firm retained to screen and recommend candidates, Ray and Associates, failed to examine the record of Illinois educator Barbara Erwin carefully enough to illuminate her troubling and controversial professional background.

That fumble was compounded by the board's unwillingness simply to cut bait.

Instead, it forged ahead and hired Ms. Erwin despite false claims in her résumé and allegations that she ran roughshod over teachers and administrators in three states where she served. The appointment unraveled just three days before she was to start work, after her personnel file mysteriously went missing.

Second, however, the board's decision to put itself under new leadership and to acknowledge how badly it botched the search is better than what might reasonably have been expected.

In other places and at other times, the board's vote could be dismissed as a case of very little, very late. But this is the Frankfort of Gov. Ernie Fletcher, and the board members are his appointees. Gov. Fletcher's administration was investigated for criminal acts in the merit-system scandal, and only a blanket gubernatorial pardon averted multiple prosecutions. Yet, the Governor sees himself as an innocent victim.

Given that context, the school board's action seems a vigorous act of accountability.

That said, Mr. Travis' replacement should make Kentuckians feel slightly better only about the past -- not about what lies ahead.

The board and its new chairman, Joe Brothers of Elizabethtown, are still committed to hiring a new education commissioner.

The Erwin debacle cannot be blamed entirely on Mr. Travis. Other board members could have asserted themselves and reopened the search for a better candidate. Mr. Brothers properly acknowledges that the entire board must take responsibility for voting to bring Ms. Erwin to Kentucky.

It's hard to feel confident that this same group can do a better job the second time around.

A better course would be to recognize that a gubernatorial election looms.

If the voters decide to give Gov. Fletcher a second term, then there can't be serious quarrel with allowing his appointees to choose a new education commissioner. But if his Democratic rival, Steve Beshear, is elected, the new governor should have a major role in filling such a key position.

Such an outcome would require more than just Mr. Beshear's victory. It would also take the resignations of at least a majority of the board, so that Mr. Beshear could replace them.

That would not be Kentucky politics as usual, to be sure. But it would be real accountability -- and it would be an act for the common good.

More on the politics of Joe Brothers KBE Chairmanship

Mark Hebert give the political perspective in his post...

Travis Out, Brothers In
at State Board of Education

In a stunning rebuke to its chairman, the Kentucky Board of Education has replaced Keith Travis as chairman, voting 10-1 for Joe Brothers to take over the chairmanship.

The only vote against Brothers was by Travis who said he wasn't opposing the new leadership, just casting a warning signal for the state school board to maintain its independence from outside interests. That appeared to be a shot at Governor Fletcher, though Travis wouldn't say what interests he was talking about.

Fletcher told reporters he was pulled in to the board's decision to oust Travis by other members of the board who called him "asking if Joe Brothers would be a good chairman." Fletcher told them he would, giving the blessing for his appointees to the board to vote for Brothers instead of Travis.

Fletcher says he didn't campaign for Brothers but would always expect to play some role in such an important decision made by a board filled with his appointees. Brothers was originally appointed by Fletcher. Travis has been on the board 10 years, 3 as chairman, and was originally appointed by Gov. Paul Patton.

Brothers appeared to be trying to pull the fractured school board back together in his remarks at today's board meeting. He said his only agenda is helping Kentucky kids. He called Travis "one of my favorite people" and asked the audience to give the outgoing chairman a second round of applause, which they did.

But a couple minutes before that the room was icy as Brothers and Travis got up to switch seats, Brothers taking over the chairmanship. The two didn't shake hands and only spoke briefly to gather their belongings and nameplates.

Travis' tenure as chairman began to unravel after he pushed through the hiring of Barbara Erwin as Kentucky's new school commissioner. Erwin never started her job, withdrawing from the post after questions about her resume, dealings with former school boards and a criminal investigation of her personnel file, which was stolen from her former school district in Illinois. The question now is whether Travis was set up for failure by Fletcher or fellow board members and whether Brothers can do any better to try and restore the school board's lost credibility.
~
An expanded story from the Courier-Journal:

Education board replaces chairman

Action follows failed search for state commissioner

...Several board members acknowledged yesterday that the failed search for a new commissioner played a role in the board's decision to replace Travis.

"We had gone through a very difficult time in which we became divided, and maybe this will give us an opportunity to move forward together easier," said Doug Hubbard, a board member from Bardstown.

Travis said he was "a little surprised" that he did not receive a nomination to return as chairman for a fourth year.

"Obviously, when you go through a challenging period, it has implications," Travis said. "I knew there were some concerns."

Travis and other board members have criticized the search firm involved in the failed attempt to find a new commissioner, but some board members also said that a lack of board leadership was partly to blame.

Last May, the board voted 10-0 to name Illinois educator Barbara Erwin as the state's next commissioner. But after a series of revelations about her background, Erwin resigned three days before she was to begin the job.

Critics say Ray and Associates, the Iowa search firm the board hired to produce a list of candidates, should have vetted Erwin more closely and targeted problems more quickly.

But they also say that board members failed to do their job, ignoring concerns raised by the media and the public over Erwin's resume, which contained an award she hadn't won and a presentation she never made, and her reputation for running roughshod over teachers and administrators when she was a superintendent in Texas, Arizona and Illinois.

Brothers said he "detected a need for someone to step forward" after Erwin's resignation and expressed an interest in the chairmanship post.

"It was a tough decision for me, because I have the greatest degree of respect for Keith," Brothers said. "But … sometimes you need to make a change (in order) to move on to the future and that is what we are trying to do here."

Asked if Travis was being punished for the failed search, Brothers said no.

"As a board, we all have to take responsibility for voting to bring (Erwin) here," he said...
~

And this from the News-Enterprise.

ELIZABETHTOWN — Joe Brothers says years on the Elizabethtown Independent School’s board will help as he advances to the chairmanship of the Kentucky Board of Education.

Among his new duties is conducting a search for a new education commissioner. “It’s obviously a big responsibility,” Brothers said.

Brothers, who only joined the state board last year, was elected Wednesday as chairman by a 10-1 vote. The only dissent was cast by the displaced chairman, Keith Travis.

Travis, who served on the board for a decade, including the last three years as chairman, said he was “maybe somewhat surprised” by the board’s decision to oust him.

“There’s an end to every leadership activity, so those things happen,” Travis said.

The board is recovering from the controversial hiring and eventual resignation of Barbara Erwin as education commissioner. The Illinois educator quit three days before she was to start after questions arose about her resumé and a police investigation at her former school district.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher said he was “very pleased” with the board’s decision to install Brothers, whom he appointed to the board in February 2006, as chairman. Board members had approached Fletcher with Brothers as a potential candidate, Fletcher said, and he supported him.

“I think I should be involved in that. We appoint the board members, we’re responsible for 58 percent of the budget, at least,” Fletcher said. “Yes, I’m going to have a hand in those decisions, absolutely.”

Board member Doug Hubbard, who publicly was hesitant about hiring Erwin, said he thought that episode factored into the panel’s decision in favor of Brothers.“We had gone through a very clear time in which we had become divided, and I think that maybe this gives us an opportunity to move forward easier together,” Hubbard said.

David L. Webb, a board member from Brownsville, said Brothers is driven by what is best for children.“I have all the confidence that Mr. Brothers will do an outstanding job as chairman,” he said.

Webb said hiring a commissioner is the biggest task facing the board, and he feels Brothers will work with board “aggressively” to do so. In addition to finding a commissioner, Brothers said his other primary goal for the board is to achieve student proficiency in all schools by 2014.

Brothers, whose term runs through 2010, said he decided in the last couple of months, he would be willing to serve as chairman“I had to do a lot of thinking about it,” he said because of the responsibility the position entails.

Brothers is local plant manager for Gates Corp. He was an EIS school board member for about 19 years.Brothers said his years as an EIS board member serve as excellent training for his service on the state board, which develops regulations for public schools and directs the Kentucky Department of Education.Knowing how local boards work, as well as people he has met during his stint on the EIS school board, helps him serve on the state board, he said.

The board has 12 voting members; 11 of whom are appointed by the governor. Seven represent the state Supreme Court districts, four represent the state at large and the president of the Council on Postsecondary Education is a nonvoting member, according to the KDE Web site.

More photos from Ky.gov here.

C-J: Chairman of the Kentucky Board of Education ousted

This from Antoinette Konz at the Courier-Journal.

The Kentucky Board of Education ousted chairman Keith Travis this morning, replacing him with Joe Brothers on a 10-1 vote.

Travis was the only member opposing the change in chairmen.

The vote comes in the wake of the aborted hiring of Illinois educator Barbara Erwin, who quit three days before she was to begin the commissioner's job after a series of revelations about her background.

Travis has criticized the search firm involved in that process, but other board members said that a lack of leadership was partly to blame for the flawed search.

Bonnie Lash Freeman, who led the search committee for a new commissioner, will continue as vice chairman of the board.

The board's nominating committee met at 8 a.m. and went into closed session for about 20 minutes before returning with the recommendations. Board member David Rhodes, who serves on the nominating committee, said there were no other recommendations to consider.

At the beginning of the board's regular meeting at 9 a.m., Brothers took over his new role.

Travis, who had served as chairman for three years, is in his 10th year on the state board of education. He said he was “a little surprised” that he did not receive a nomination to return as chairman for a fourth year.“I did not solicit or poll members,” he said. “So I really didn’t know how they would vote.”

Travis said the failed search for a new commissioner likely played a role in the board’s decision not to re-elect him.

Board member Doug Hubbard has said in previous interviews with The Courier-Journal that he felt a new chairman was needed.

Travis said he accepts responsibility for the “circumstances the board engaged in” with regards to the commissioner search.

Brothers applauded Travis’ work as chairman shortly after he took over the role. “I greatly respect the opportunity to serve,” he said. “I have no agenda, other than the kids of Kentucky.”

In terms of looking for its next commissioner, Brothers said, “This board will leave no stone unturned until we find a commissioner that is worthy of our state.”

Gov. Ernie Fletcher said he supported the board’s decision.“I know Joe Brothers. … He’s got a great reputation of being passionate about education and a good record on leadership,” Fletcher told reporters as he left the Capitol for a speech in Bowling Green.He noted that he had appointed both Brothers and Travis to the board.The governor commended Travis for his service as chairman. Asked if he believed the board wanted a change after Travis’ oversight of the failed search for a commissioner, Fletcher said, “I think the change is a natural progression. You’re going to change the chair every so often.”

The governor said he was contacted recently by some board members and asked if he thought Brothers would be a good chairman.“I said, of course, Joe Brothers could do a good job,” he said.

New KBE Leadership: Joe Brothers and Bonnie Lash Freeman

The Kentucky Board of Education Nominating Committee has recommended Joe Brothers as the new Chair and Bonnie Lash Freeman as Vice-Chair.

Doug Hubbard moved, and the board affirmed the new leadership.

Former Chair Keith Travis vowed to support to the new leadership but voted "No" on the motion.

"I will register my opposition by indicating that I vote no. They have my support, but I will not offer my... vote of yes in that regard," Traivs said.

Travis went on to thank the Board for the opportunity to serve, appreciation to his family aned other board member's families, expressed his pleasure with Bonnie Lash Freeman calling her a "rock of stability" in difficult times, and the KDE staff...

He stepped down to the sound of a standing ovation.
~
The results of KSN&C Flash Poll #2 confirm the board's action where Joe Brothers garnered a margin greater than 4:1 over Keith Travis.

The race for the Kentucky Board of Education Chair is on

It's Joe Brothers vs. Keith Travis for State Education Chair

Mark Hebert is reporting that Keith Travis has picked up competition in the fight to keep his chairmanship of the Kentucky Board of Education.

"Board member Joe Brothers of Elizabethtown says he's telling fellow board members that he's interested in chairing the board."

The state board is scheduled to elect its officers at a meeting next Wednesday.

The board has been sharply divided since a sloppy commissioner's selection process chose Barbara Erwin who withdrew under pressure. Travis strongly supported the process and the candidate.

Mark says, "Travis expressed an interest in seeking the commissioner's job" but withdrew and "helped push the selection of Barbara Erwin."

Now board member Joe Brothers is trying to round up the votes to unseat Travis, who is seeking reelection to the chair.

But Brothers may have an uphill fight. Members of the nominating committee were all appointed by Travis.

Doug Hubbard, Travis's most vocal critic thinks the board's nominating committee may only present Travis' name to the full board for consideration.

Brothers is a former member of the Elizabethtown school board, and the former president of the Kentucky School Boards Association.

Sounds like it's time for FLASH POLL #2...

Board of education keeps discussion of "options and strategies" secret

The central purpose of the Open Meetings Law is to ensure that all meetings of public agencies where public business is discussed will be open to the public. Lately the board appears to be ignoring the law in favor of a higher priority - saving face.

But it's not working.

Still reeling from the recent flight of Barbara Erwin, their preferred candidate for Education Commissioner - one they defended to an unreasonable extent - the Kentucky Board of Education continues to spend extended time in closed session these days.

If the board actually did something, those actions taken in closed session might become reversable upon complaint. But the fact is, we don't know what the board is talking about, except for when they tell us. Yesterday they were discussing "options and strategies."

By refusing to discuss the selection process in public and by changing their minds on a month-to-month basis, citizens are left to wonder - Does the board really have a plan to move Kentucky forward?

Apparently the board is still trying to figure that out for themselves. Apparently they don't want the public to see their deliberations, or perhaps, their divisions.

Considering human nature, that's understandable.

But is it legal?

Two weeks ago the board voted to keep Kevin Noland as interim commissioner, but with the intention of hiring a new interim person quickly.

"We left that meeting thinking that was the best route to go but we came back today and, after discussing options and strategies, we decided to refocus," board Chairman Keith Travis told the Courier-Journal after yesterday's 2 1/2-hour closed-door meeting.

Discussing "options and strategies" is not listed among the legal exceptions to the Open Meetings Law.

On July 11th the board met in a closed session for about an hour to discuss its expectations of then commissioner-select Barbara Erwin, despite an objection from the Courier-Journal that the private discussion was in violation of the state's Open Meetings Law. "Your objection is noted," Keith Travis said. "There are some things we want to discuss that are personal in nature."

"Personal in nature" is not listed among the legal exceptions to the Open Meetings Law.

But the board chair shrugged it off.

The board of education also shrugged off Leon Mooneyhan. After his seduction and abandonment, some wonder if Travis lacked the board's backing when he entered into negotiations on behalf of the board? WHAS TV's Mark Hebert opined, "...it's clear board chairman Travis led Mooneyhan to believe he was getting the interim job. And Travis was either A) powerless to make it happen or B)politically and professionally inept in his dealings with Mooneyhan."

Mooneyhan, currently the chief executive officer of the Ohio Valley Education Cooperative, told the Courier-Journal he was "...concerned about the decision because the board has a tarnished reputation in terms of the feelings of the public," he said. "And I believe it could have acted in a more proactive way."

Mooneyhan told Hebert:

"I've never been subjected to a more unprofessional set of circumstances in all my life." Mooneyhan says the way the board muffed the hiring of Barbara Erwin and fumbled his candidacy "undermines my view of the board's ability to find a good commissioner for the children of Kentucky." And he agreed with a C-J editorial, Mooneyhan saying " the governor may need the board to resign. They are dysfunctional."

Travis said the decision to ask Noland to remain did not result from disagreement among board members about hiring Mooneyhan.

Board member Doug Hubbard told C-J, "What it really came down to is that because we're pressing forward in the search for a permanent commissioner … it might not be best to go to a new interim."

So, where are we now?

• Kevin Noland continues as interim.
• Applications are being accepted for the permanent position.
• There is no ending date to the search process on the KDE posting.
• Travis says the board will be aggressively pursuing a permanent Commissioner.
• The board plans to meet again on August 8.
• At that meeting, the election of new board leadership will be on the agenda.

What else?

• Is the board coasting until August?
• Is there a search committee?
• Is the board acting as a committee of the whole?
• Is there some process that board members understand?
• Is anyone advertising, reviewing applications, checking references and screening candidates for the board?
• Does the board expect so few applicants that they will now be choosing from among a handful of candidates rejected (and perhaps not even interviewed) during the search that produced Erwin?
• Does yesterday's change of direction indicate that the board already knows who they want "to apply?"
• Can this board walk and chew bubble gum at the same time?

The only clues came from Travis's comments to the press: "There's a Web site advertising (the post). And certainly we're going to explore the need to be advertising more heavily," he said. "But obviously … this search has been quite visible probably nationwide."

Unfortunately, the nationwide publicity Kentucky has received lately isn't likely to attract anyone. And because everything is being discussed behind closed doors - it's not clear who on the board, if anyone, is working on it. And Travis's description of what the board is doing is...well...something less than awe-inspiring.

This is no way to reclaim the public trust.

~

On another matter, Martin Cothran would like us to know that he does not always speak for the Family Foundation, and that the Family Foundation has not taken a position on the Penny Sanders nomination. I said as much, and was apparently confused by his vere loqui post: "Penney Sanders for State School Commissioner."

When he speaks for the Foundation, and when he doesn't is a little unclear, so he lets' me off the hook a bit saying, "Although I often post official press releases and other relevant things from The Family Foundation, my blog is not an official organ of the organization. It is my opinion only. I used to have a disclaimer on this blog somewhere, but I guess I have taken it off. Maybe I need to put it back up again."

More on today's KBE meeting, Mooneyhan questions board's process

"The way that I’ve been dealt with in this situation,

I don’t see any Kentucky educator

that would want to apply for the job."

--Leon Mooneyhan

This from the Herald-Leader:

The Kentucky Board of Education has decided to continue with Kevin Noland as interim commissioner of education so it can focus instead on finding a permanent commissioner.

The board made its decision after meeting for nearly three hours in closed session on Saturday.
Noland, a deputy commissioner and legal counsel for the state board, has been serving his third stint as interim state commissioner. He had stated in the past that he did not want to continue as interim and wasn’t interested in the permanent position.

”I told the board of education at its meeting two weeks ago that I would prefer not to continue,” Noland said. “One full time job is enough for me. But at the same time … I would do whatever they needed me to do to maintain stability as they pursue an aggressive search for the commissioner of education.” ...

...“We decided that there wasn’t a need for an interim” other than Noland, said board chairman Keith Travis. “We had dialogue with Mr. Mooneyhan. We appreciate his willingness to support us and to serve should the need be there.”

Mooneyhan said he wasn’t offended by the board’s decision but has questions about the commissioner search process.

“The way that I’ve been dealt with in this situation, I don’t see any Kentucky educator that would want to apply for the job,” Mooneyhan said. “We have a board that has had a failed search, and so they need to take some positive steps in how they are going forward, and I think their decision today doesn’t support that.”

Mooneyhan thought the board would have laid out a clear plan on the commissioner search, but it has yet to do that...

...“Every time Kevin has been the interim, I think he’s done an admirable and in some cases a remarkable job … it’s always been under very difficult circumstances,” said Wayne Young, executive director of the Kentucky Association of School Administrators. “Given the complete unsettled atmosphere, with there being some apparent internal conflict, it would strike me as sensible to go with a known quantity.“

There has been some talk about tension on the board as a result of the botched commissioner search. At the Aug. 8-9 meeting, the board will elect new officers. Some board members indicated there may be a movement to name a new chairman to replace Travis, who has held the post since 2004. The board has 11 members, six of whom were appointed by Gov. Ernie Fletcher in April 2006. Travis has said he would be interested in continuing to serve as chairman, if re-elected.

Despite these problems, the board is now committed to finding a permanent commissioner, Travis said.

“That’s where we’re going to focus our efforts,” he said. “We don’t have a firm time schedule as such, we are aggressively pursuing it.”

KENTUCKY BOARD DECIDES TO FOREGO INTERIM; CONTINUE SEARCH FOR PERMANENT COMMISH

Following the Courier-Journal's recent questioning of the way the Kentucky Board of Education interprets the Open Meetings Law, I wrote to KDE Communications Director Lisa Gross, "As I read the two statutes that govern closed sessions in Kentucky, I’m not sure there is a valid basis for the wholesale closure of Saturday’s meeting as appears to have been planned."

I cited the law and asked for an interpretation.

The statutes: the Open Meetings Act, http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/061-00/810.PDF, and a section of the Open Records Act, http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/061-00/878.PDF, which is encorporated by reference.

She responded, "The closed session is only part of the meeting, not wholesale. The board will begin the meeting in open session, then, at some point, entertain a motion to go into closed session. "

That "point" came immediately after roll call. The board went into closed session...and emerged somewhere around 12:40PM; whereupon Chairman Keith Travis made the following statement:

"The board came to a consensus this morning that in our present search for a permanent commissioner, there is not a need to secure the services of an interim commissioner. (We have asked) Mr Noland to continue on, and we will continue our search, as such, and we will reconvene August 8th and 9th at our full board meeting and continue our deliberations on this important item.

Then the board immediately adjourned.

So the evidence is that in addition to whatever discussions were held regarding personnel, that are specifically excluded under the Open Meetings Act - there was also some amount of discussion about the process the board would follow.

Whether that discussion should have properly been held in closed session is much less clear.

This from KDE press release:

BOARD AGREES TO CONTINUE SEARCH

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) - At a special-called meeting today, the Kentucky Board of Education came to a consensus that, in its aggressive search for a permanent commissioner of education, there was no need to secure the services of a new interim commissioner.

The current interim commissioner, Kevin Noland, will continue to serve in that capacity until a permanent commissioner of education is selected.

The board did not set a specific timeline for the selection of a permanent commissioner, but agreed to continue deliberations at its regular meeting August 8 and 9 in Frankfort.

C-J's take on Erwin Selection Process: Criticism flies over school chief selection

A terrific article from Antoinette Konz in today's Courier-Journal:
~
Barbara Erwin's resignation just days before she was to take over as Kentucky education commissioner was the capstone to what critics say was a botched search that should have eliminated the controversial superintendent long before she was offered the job.

The Iowa search firm hired by the Kentucky Board of Education to produce a list of candidates should have vetted Erwin more closely and targeted problems more quickly, the critics argue.

And they say board members failed to do their job, ignoring concerns raised by the media and the public over Erwin's resume, which contained an award she hadn't won and a presentation she never made, and her reputation for running roughshod over teachers and administrators when she was a superintendent in Texas, Arizona and Illinois.

"There is no shortage of places where it went wrong," said Bob Sexton, executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. "The board found out all sorts of things about Erwin too late. But in the end, it was the board's responsibility to make sure that the best person for the job was named commissioner, and that didn't happen."

The board's chairman, Keith Travis, acknowledges mistakes but says the search firm, Ray and Associates, failed to inform the board promptly of Erwin's reputation and dismissed her resume errors as "minor."

"If we had known, I think the board would have taken a different approach," Travis said.

Ray officials counter that the firm did its job, checking everything it was asked to check.

"Our reputation is on the line here. We feel we conducted a solid search, brought them good candidates and they made a choice," said William Newman, national executive director of Ray and Associates.

The cost to taxpayers?

More than $50,000 for a failed search, and the prospect of months more without a permanent commissioner, whose job is to oversee the state Department of Education and implement policies for the state's public schools and their 660,000 students.

Board chooses search firm

The hunt for a new education commissioner began last September when Gene Wilhoit announced he was resigning to become executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, a Washington-based education advocacy group.

The school board interviewed three search firms, settling in December on Ray and Associates, which specializes in searching for school executive leadership and has been recognized as one of the top search firms in the county by The School Administrator, a publication of the American Association of School Administrators.

The contract with Ray called for the firm to identify suitable candidates and screen their qualifications and eligibility. The firm also was to meet with the board's search committee, prepare written recommendations and evaluations for each candidate and "assist the board with a statement of qualifications that the candidates will be expected to meet," according to a copy of the contract obtained by The Courier-Journal through an open-records request.

The board agreed to pay Ray a base fee of $32,000, plus expenses and fees, not to exceed a total of $50,000.

The board also appointed five of its members to a search committee, naming Bonnie Lash Freeman of Louisville as chairwoman.

Newman said Ray and Associates gave the search committee files on 20 to 30 potential candidates in mid-March. On March 28, the committee met in closed session to review those applications and discuss interview questions for the semifinalists.

The files given to the search committee consisted of each candidate's application, resume, letters of reference and a summary report written by the firm, Newman said, with the summary based on interviews conducted with "various sources."

Erwin's file included her application, resume, a reference sheet with eight names, a summary sheet from the firm and 16 letters of reference from former school board members, teachers and principals, according to a copy obtained by The Courier-Journal through an open-records request.

None of the letters, nor any information in the summary report, contained criticism concerning Erwin's tenure.

Newman said the firm did not provide the board with any negative comments regarding Erwin because "there were not any negatives we had a real concern about."

"Any time you are in a top position, you will have people who will support you and you will have people who oppose and criticize you," he said.

The search committee privately interviewed five semifinalists on April 1-3, and then narrowed the field to three finalists. The finalists were brought to Bowling Green April 15-16 to interview with the full board.

The finalists' names were not initially released to the public.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher wrote to the board on April 17 asking it to release the names, and the board complied that day.

Travis said the board had planned on releasing the names all along.

"We just wanted to interview the finalists first and make sure that we still wanted to consider them," he said. "We didn't see a point of naming them when we hadn't even met or interviewed them."

The finalists were Richard La Pointe, deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education; Mitchell Chester, senior associate state superintendent with the Ohio Department of Education; and Erwin, superintendent at St. Charles, Ill.

Criticism starts to emerge

With the finalists named, Freeman said the board waited several days for public feedback.

That's when it began to hear criticism of Erwin, she said -- some questioning her leadership style in Scottsdale, Ariz., others raising concerns about her tenure in Texas. Freeman said she couldn't remember the specifics. (KSN&C sent brief candidate summary to KBE on April 24 which - KDE's Lisa Gross confirmed - was read and discussed before the board voted.)

"We began receiving all sorts of phone calls and e-mails about the candidates," Freeman said. "Some of it was good; some of it was bad. I forwarded the concerns to the search firm and asked them to look into those things."

Newman said his firm looked into the claims by calling people who knew of Erwin's tenure as a superintendent in Allen, Texas, and Scottsdale.

In a follow-up report given to the board -- obtained by The Courier Journal through an open-records request -- the firm said it had spoken to Worley Stein, a former school board member and board president in Allen, who said "there is absolutely no truth to the negative claims regarding Barbara Erwin's tenure of the district."

No other person was mentioned or interviewed in the Texas follow-up.

Newman said the firm was not able to contact Nancy Cantor, a woman who had criticized Erwin's tenure in Scottsdale. Newman said he spoke with David Goldstaub, a former school board president who was familiar with Cantor.

"We were advised to disregard whatever she (Cantor) says because, inexplicably, she had it in for Dr. Erwin, along with a few of her friends," the follow-up report said.

Cantor could not be reached for comment.

Erwin named top choice

On April 25, the Kentucky Department of Education sent out a news release saying board members had reached a consensus, based on their interviews.

"The board is very pleased to identify Barbara Erwin as its top candidate," Travis said in the release, adding that the board was "most appreciative of the professional services provided by Ray and Associates."

In a recent interview, Travis said the board selected Erwin as its top choice because of her self-confidence and aggressiveness.

"She interviewed extremely well," Travis said. "We looked at the numbers (data) she presented, and it showed that she took large school districts from (scoring at) an average level to a higher level of performance in a very short period of time."

But within days, newspapers around Kentucky began publishing stories detailing Erwin's troubles in her previous jobs.

For example, Eric Kurland and Bob Bernier, the president and vice president of the Scottsdale Teachers Association, told The Courier-Journal in a story published April 26 that Erwin did not work well with teachers and "ruled by intimidation." Kurland said that during Erwin's tenure, the Scottsdale district lost a lot of good teachers, principals and administrators.

"She was like a cancer. She took the life out of our district," Kurland said in the story. "We are now just starting to recover."

Erwin never responded to the claims made by Kurland and Bernier.

On May 1, The Courier-Journal reported that Erwin's resume contained an award she didn't win. The resume she gave the state Board of Education stated that she was named Texas superintendent of the year in 1997 and 1998. But the agency that gave her the award, the Texas Association of School Boards, said she received the top honor only once, in 1997. (First confirmed by Richard Innes at the Bluegrass Institute)

Erwin acknowledged the mistake but said it was simply a "typo."

Travis said the newspaper reports caught board members by surprise. He said he and other board members expected Ray and Associates to alert them to "some of the issues that may have existed with the candidates."

"It would have been nice to know if there was any controversy so that we could have addressed it in the initial interview," he said.

Freeman agreed.

"We wanted a balanced view on what each of the candidates were about, and we really didn't get that," she said.

In response to the news reports, Freeman said she had the search firm check out the errors on Erwin's resume and the firm "admitted there were items they missed and went back to her and asked her for a clarification."

Newman said the search firm checked the inaccuracies and decided they were "minor."

"We took those things very seriously and looked into them, but in the end we felt they were more like misunderstandings," Newman said.

Board looks into concerns

The board decided to continue pursuing Erwin for the job, announcing it would hold a meeting at its annual retreat to ratify an employment contract.

But by that time, board member Doug Hubbard of Bardstown had changed his mind, calling for Erwin to withdraw because of growing concerns about her background. Hubbard said her credibility was suspect.

"The last nine days have been one revelation after another revelation, and I think there is a perception that she cannot overcome," Hubbard told The Courier-Journal in an article published May 5.

The rest of the board continued to support Erwin, with Travis stating publicly that she remained the best candidate.

"I haven't seen any evidence that changes my mind," Travis told the newspaper.

During its May 9 retreat in Bowling Green, the board called an executive session to talk with Erwin about some of the issues that had been raised.

"We went over a lot of the concerns that had been raised, item by item," Travis said in a recent interview. "It was a very stressful, challenging time. She brought in documentation and files with her and answered our questions to the satisfaction of the board at that time."

During a break in its four-hour executive session, the board was informed by The Courier-Journal that Erwin's resume contained a second mistake -- listing a presentation she hadn't made. (KDE, the Courier-Journal, the Herald-Leader and WHAS TV had been informed of the error by Kentucky School News and Commentary during the meeting!)

The resume said Erwin had conducted presentations on school improvement, Advanced Placement and superintendent search processes in 2004 and 2006 during the Illinois Association of School Boards Triple I Conference in Chicago. But an official with the association said Erwin wasn't listed as a presenter for the 2006 conference.

But when board members reopened the meeting, they voted 10-0 to approve a four-year contract with Erwin. Hubbard was traveling and couldn't vote.

Freeman said the board decided to give Erwin the benefit of the doubt and agreed to pay her a base salary of $220,000.

"We felt comfortable with the items and materials she brought in to justify the inaccuracies," Freeman said.

More problems revealed

In June, more inaccuracies on Erwin's resume became public, including an error in the number of years she served on the board of directors for the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce. Her resume also listed her membership on the executive board of the American Association of School Administrators from 1991 to 2000, when she was actually a member of the association's executive committee from 1999 to 2002. (Discovered by the Bluegrass Institute)

In addition, Erwin said in her application for the commissioner job that she had never been involved with pending litigation. However, Erwin was named a defendant in a court case filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix in 2004. (Also discovered by KSN&C.)

Christine Schild accused Erwin and lawyers for the Scottsdale Unified School District of violating her right First Amendment rights by preventing her from speaking on some agenda items at school board meetings. A federal judge dismissed the case; Schild eventually was elected to the school board.

In June, the Illinois state attorney's office cited the St. Charles school board for violating the open meetings act when it met in private on April 11 to vote to give Erwin an additional 85 sick days for every year of her contract since 2005.

Travis and Freeman said the Kentucky board did not become aware of the additional concerns until after they were published in newspapers.

"It seemed like the longer people dug, the more problems that were found," Freeman said. (Incluidng possible fraud.)

Then on July 11, the same day Erwin attended her first board meeting in Frankfort as Kentucky's commissioner-select, The Courier-Journal and other media outlets reported that Illinois police were investigating the disappearance of Erwin's personnel file, which was reported missing July 3 from the St. Charles school district. The investigation is continuing.

Newman said his firm did not know about the missing file until it was reported in the media. But Travis said it was the "icing on the cake."

On July 13, Travis said he spoke to Erwin in the morning about board concerns about her past and that she might not be able to do her job because she would be "so immersed in other issues."

A few hours later, Erwin submitted her letter of resignation, just three days before she was to begin her new job, citing "overwhelming and acute scrutiny" and "continued noise by the media."

Critics, board assess blame

With Erwin's resignation, critics more vigorously questioned whether the school board had failed to properly check out its choice, while board members began pointing fingers at the search firm.

Richard Day, a former Kentucky principal and an education instructor at the University of Kentucky and Georgetown College, blogged frequently about the flawed search process.

"I believe it was perfectly proper for the board to get a firm to assist in the search, but they should have done their own diligence once it got down to the final candidates," Day said. "Even after she was named, there was a quantity of folks out there who were telling them about all these problems surrounding her, but they did not want to listen."

Hubbard said the search firm was partly to blame, and he has called on Ray and Associates to refund the money it was paid. But he also criticized the board leadership, which he said allowed Erwin to be selected.

"We have had a completely chaotic situation for almost 90 days and we need someone to get us out," Hubbard said in an interview. "If the current leadership led us into this problem, we may need someone else to get us out."

Freeman said she does not blame Travis for what happened.

"We expected to get all of the information (about the candidates) from the search firm," she said. "If we had gotten all of the information from the firm, we would have never named (Erwin). We would have named someone else."

Travis said he accepts responsibility for the "circumstances we engaged in," but said he doesn't believe it was the state board's job to double-check resumes and references.

"That was what we paid the search firm to do," he said. "I expected that the further a candidate goes in the process, the more scrutiny there should be. That includes credit history, education verification and, obviously, looking at the resume and making sure that everything checks out."

Newman agreed that that is the search firm's responsibility, and he believes his firm met that duty. He said his firm does not give refunds, but he offered a two-year guarantee and promised to assist the board "in any way we can to help them find the best candidate for the job."

That isn't likely, Travis said. The board's preference is "not to use that firm again."

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Erwin Timeline from KSN&C provides evidence that disputes some KBE claims.

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The State board meets at 10AM today in Frankfort,