Ky. improved faster than any other state on key measures of higher ed performance

This from KyForward:

Over the past decade, Kentucky has improved faster than any state in the nation on key higher education performance measures, according to a report issued by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.

“We are here today to acknowledge and celebrate the tremendous progress that has been made by Kentucky’s postsecondary system on key measures of educational performance. This kind of success would not be possible without the dedication of many leaders, educators and volunteers who made higher education improvement a priority,” Gov. Steve Beshear said. “Better education – and better access to education – are keys to sustained economic growth for our state. Investing in higher education is not only an investment in our students, but also an investment in our economy and future economic competitiveness.”

Council President Bob King said, “This progress validates the vision of HB1 [Kentucky Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997 ], which created a new set of expectations for postsecondary education tied to higher levels of degree production, economic growth and greater opportunity for all citizens.”

However, King said, “Kentucky still faces challenges that we will focus on over the next several years, including college and career readiness, achievement gaps, and better connecting the work of higher education with the state’s economic needs.”

The report’s key findings are described below.

Since the year 2000, Kentucky’s college attainment rate for associate degrees and higher among adults age 25 to 64 has improved by six percentage points – from 24.5 to 30.5 percent. The actual percentage change from 2000 to 2009 was the largest of any state in the nation.

The percentage of college degree-holders among younger adults has improved by more than six percentage points from 27.3 to 33.7 percent. The most notable change is in Kentucky’s state ranking from 44th in 2000 to 36th in 2009. Over this time period, Kentucky moved more positions in the positive direction than any state in the U.S.

The six-year graduation rates at four-year institutions, both public and private, improved nearly nine percentage points from 2000 to 2009. This is the largest percentage change of any state in the U.S., and Kentucky moved nine positions among the states – from 44th to 35th.

The three-year graduation rates at two-year institutions increased by roughly the same amount. It was the third highest percentage point change in the nation, and Kentucky moved from 38th among states to 16th.

Kentucky had the fifth highest percentage point change in total undergraduate credential and degree production (one year or more in length) of any state in the country. This is even more impressive considering that the states ahead of Kentucky (Arkansas, Florida, Nevada and Virginia) benefited on this measure largely because of shifting demographics.

The percentage change in the number of undergraduate credentials awarded per 1,000 adults with no college degree is the largest in nation. This is a measure of market penetration and shows how well states are awarding college credentials relative to the population in need. On this metric, Kentucky jumped nine positions from 45th among states in 2000 to 36th in 2009.

Faithless

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

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

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

This from the Herald-Leader:

Williams blames Beshear

for end of Bell Co. prayer at games

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reflections on David Williams' First Beer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Holliday seeks local support for state’s request to replace NCLB AYP with new system

Seeks “fresh start” for school progress efforts

with 2011-12 academic year

This from Brad Hughes at KSBA:

Education Commissioner Terry Holliday Wednesday called on school leaders to quickly and strongly back Gov. Steve Beshear’s request to replace federal No Child Left Behind progress standards with those in the state’s new accountability model “or you’ll be telling me that you support dual systems.”

Speaking in Lexington at the opening session of the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents summer conference, Holliday said opposition has begun to the waiver request that he and the governor made in a letter sent to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

“I need you all to come out strong that you support our waiver request. The push-back began this morning. Don’t let us get caught in a political issue here,” Holliday said.

“I’ve been telling you all year long I would request a waiver to eliminate AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress – the multiple measurements schools must achieve under NCLB) in Kentucky. Some folks in the General Assembly don’t think I’ve said that, but I’m on record many places.”

Almost since the passage of NCLB nine years ago, educators nationally have criticized the part of the law that requires schools and districts to reach every one of the student subgroups, or be labeled as failing. In Kentucky, the state accountability system, formerly known as CATS, created a second measurement that led to much confusion among parents when schools drew high ratings for progress under CATS, but received a “fails to meet” on the NCLB yardsticks.

“We could keep running two systems (but) I don’t know anybody in this room who was happy with AYP,” Holliday said. “If we continue and you don’t make real significant improvement, 82 percent to 87 percent of your districts won’t make AYP, 65 percent of schools will not make AYP.

“My choice as commissioner was to run two systems, and I didn’t think you wanted that. I thought you wanted me to move forward with one accountability system that was more fair and more balanced and we get a fresh start. That’s what I promised you. This coming school year is a fresh start.

“I need your voice to be unified in your community and in the state that you support our waiver request,” Holliday told the superintendents, adding he would be making the same request to KSBA, the Kentucky Association of School Administrators and other education groups.

KASS President Stu Silberman said he expected the superintendents at the conference would mull over the commissioner’s request, and determine whether to take action on Friday at the conference business meeting.

During his remarks, Holliday also confirmed that Kentucky will be applying for both segments of new federal Race to the Top funds. The Obama administration has allocated $500 million to support early childhood development programs and another $200 million for school innovation efforts – the latter eligible only to Kentucky and eight other states that were unfunded finalists in a much larger Race to the Top program last year.

“Kentucky will definitely compete. Those (early childhood) dollars could become available as early as January to coordinate statewide kindergarten readiness assessments,” Holliday said. “We’ll pull a team together to apply by September and we’ll be on a quick turnaround for feedback from your districts.”

The KASS summer conference continues through Friday morning in Lexington.

CCSSO Releases Roadmap for Accountability

This from Politics K-12:

Right on the heels of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's announcement that it might be time to consider, maybe, possibly offering a package of waivers to states on aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act, 40 states and the District of Columbia have announced a new "accountability road map."

The roadmap has been in the works for a year and a half, long before the department's announcement. It is basically a list of principles and parameters that state schools chiefs think should be included in accountabilty systems, ideally through the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.

These "next-generation" accountability systems would include the establishment of college-and-career-ready standards, the measurement of graduation rates, and a requirement that states help build district and school capacity to turnaround the lowest-performing schools. Schools would be given more detailed feedback than just making or not making progress under the law.

And if Congress doesn't act, the Council of Chief State School Officers says that states will begin proposing their own, new accountability models based on the roadmap.

The idea is basically to flood the department with a host of waiver requests that all fall along similar lines.

Right now, state waiver requests are "coming from different perspectives", said Gene Wilhoit, the executive director of CCSSO. "We're going to come to the department with a set of waviers that will come en masse ... under a [similar] set of principles." ...

Kentucky was first away from the gate.

Wilhoit said that folks should disabuse themselves of the idea that this is an attempt by states to wiggle out of accountability. He said the roadmap would "maintain strong accountability," which would actually be "at a higher level" than under NCLB.

"There's tremendous frustration in this field that we've about ridden this horse as much as we can ride it," he said of the current law.

Gov. Beshear Seeks Flexibility for No Child Left Behind Act

Governor, Education Commissioner want

Kentucky’s accountability model to be the standard

FRANKFORT,Ky. (June 20, 2011) –Calling state authority and autonomy critical components of educationimprovement, Governor Steve Beshear and Education Commissioner Terry Holliday today called on the U.S. Department of Education for flexibility in public school accountability under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.
The Governor sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan asking to replace the public school accountability portions of the federal law with Kentucky’s ownmodel. Kentucky is the first state to request the change.

“I believe that federal law should set high expectations for education goals, but grant power and judgment to states and districts with regard to the means of achieving those goals,” said Gov. Beshear.“Kentucky has been a leader in this area, as the first state to adopt the Common Core Academic Standards and in the Kentucky Board of Education’supcoming approval of a rigorous accountability model. I want this state to continue as a leader on the national level.”

Holliday agreed that Kentucky is in a position to provide more rigorous educational experience for its public school students because of its work in testing andaccountability.

“Providing us with the flexibility to use our own accountability model for NCLB purposes will support our focus of college and/or career readiness for all students,” he said.

The main component of Kentucky’s proposed accountability model is incorporated into state regulation (703 KAR 5:200), which was approved by the Kentucky Board of Education in April. The remaining elements will be considered for final approval by the board at its August 3-4 meeting.

The full model is a balanced approach that incorporates all aspects of school and district work and is organized around the Kentucky Board of Education’s four strategic priorities: next-generation learners, next-generation professionals, next-generation support systems and next-generation schools/districts.

Along with 42 other states,Kentucky is part of the Next-Generation State Accountability Systems Taskforce,which is supported by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).

The Council of Chief StateSchool Officers established the Next-Generation State Accountability Taskforce in summer 2010 to solidify the commitment of states to building public schoolaccountability systems focused on college and career readiness. Kentucky hasbeen an early participant in this work and is the first to adopt a next-generation accountability model that can serve as a prototype for other states.

This taskforce is focused on furthering states’ leadership in promoting college‐ and career‐readiness for all students by developing and implementing improved accountability systems. Today, CCSSO released a Statement of Principles to which states involved in the taskforce have committed for designing school and district accountability systems:

· Align performance goals for all schools anddistricts to college‐and career‐readystandards.
· Make meaningful annual accountabilitydeterminations for all schools and districts.
· Focus initial determinations on studentoutcomes, including status and growth.
· Continue to disaggregate data by group, forreporting and accountability.
· Report timely, actionable, accessible data toall stakeholders, including outcomes and richer data to drive continuousimprovement.
· Promote deeper diagnostic reviews, asappropriate, to better link accountability determinations to meaningfulsupports and interventions.
· Build district and school capacity for sustained improvement.
· Target specifically lowest-performing schools for significant interventions.
· Promote innovation, evaluation and continuous improvement in accountability systems over time.

While states agree to adhere tothe principles outlined above, each state will design its own accountabilitysystem that is valid, useful and legitimate in each state's individual context.

The taskforce has designed a comprehensive Roadmap on Next‐Generation State Accountability Systems, written by states for states to guide building accountability systems centered on preparing all students for success in college and career. The guide will assist states in building accountability systems that adhere to the principles developed by the taskforce while alsoconforming to each state's unique context.

As NCLB (also known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) nears reauthorization, CCSSO has asked the U.S. Congress to codify the principles of next‐generation accountability systems, while leaving discretion to states to design the details of the systems and to promote continuous improvement over time.

NCLB was passed in 2001 and requires states to test students annually in reading and mathematics.

The results of these tests are reported in terms of the percentages of students performing at proficient orhigher levels, and those percentages (along with other factors) are used to determine whether schools and districts have made adequate yearly progress (AYP). Under NCLB, schools and districts funded by the federal Title I program may be subject to consequences if they do not make AYP.

SOURCE: The Gov's Press Release

Gov. Steve Beshear vetoes most provisions of Medicaid bill

This from the Courier-Journal:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top 20 Rankings in Education

This from the Guv:

“In a state that pays close attention to basketball rankings this time of year, it’s thrilling to see Kentucky in the Top 20 of another set of national lists. The Prichard Committee’s new report, showing our state among the nation’s leaders in 4th and 8th grade reading, is cause for real celebration. Not only are we seeing significant and consistent improvements in reading skills, but we’re also on track to break into the nation’s Top 20 in 4th grade math, AP college credit, and pursuit of higher education within the next decade.

We know we still have many areas that need improvement on the long journey of increasing education for every Kentucky student, and I am committed to continuing that effort. The Transforming Education in Kentucky (TEK) task force, which I formed a year ago, will provide valuable guidance to shape the future of education in our state. However, it’s great to know that our hard work thus far is paying off.”

Read the Prichard Committee’s report. Consider it an executive order.

How EduJobs Saved Senate Bill 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Problem solved.

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

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

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

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

~

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

September 23, 2010

The Honorable Steven L. Beshear
Governor, Commonwealth of Kentucky

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

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

Dear Governor Beshear, President Williams, and Speaker Stumbo:

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

We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

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

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

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

This from the Gov:

Kentucky to Receive Millions to Support Education, Teachers

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

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

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

And from The Governor's BLOG – who knew?

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

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

Kentucky Groups Promote Educator Survey

Now more than ever before in the history of the Commonwealth

it is crucial to listen to teachers about what they need

to be effective in the classroom.

TELL Kentucky will give us the information we need

to ensure that teachers across the Commonwealth

work in schools that give them every opportunity

to be successful with all our children.

- --Governor Steve Beshear

Today, at the Capitol Rotunda, a Coalition of Partners formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) Kentucky survey.

Set to launch in March 2011, the TELL Kentucky survey is designed to document and analyze how teachers and other educators view their teaching and learning conditions, so that educators, stakeholders and policy-makers can make evidence-based decisions on policies and practices that will improve student achievement.

The Coalition of Partners has committed to support the TELL Kentucky survey statewide and communicate the importance of hearing from every educator in the state by helping inform teachers and administrators during the coming months.

More details about the survey are available here.
See the survey here.

“Our teachers know what is working in the classroom,” said Gov. Steve Beshear. “Their firsthand experiences help us differentiate between the theoretical and the practical, and they can tell us whether we are truly headed in the right direction. The TELL Kentucky survey gives our teachers a loud, undeniable voice in that process.”

“This survey is a powerful tool and part of our comprehensive and collaborative plan for improving public education in our state,” said Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday. “Understanding and improving the working conditions in our schools will help us realize our vision of every child, proficient and prepared for success -- that is, college- and career-ready when they graduate.”

Beshear and Holliday joined others in the Coalition of Partners today as the group’s members signed the MOU. The coalition includes:

Office of the Governor, Kentucky
Kentucky Board of Education
Kentucky Department of Education
Education Professional Standards Board
Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education
Kentucky Education Association
Kentucky Association of School Councils
Kentucky Association of School Administrators
Kentucky PTA
Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
Kentucky School Boards Association
Kentucky Association of School Superintendents
Jefferson County Teachers Association

Other partners include the Legislative Research Commission, Office of Education Accountability, Partnership for Successful Schools, Spalding University, legislators, teachers, principals and superintendents.

In March 2011, the TELL survey will be administered to all Kentucky certified educators employed in the state’s 174 school districts. There will be questions about facilities and resources; instructional and planning time; decision-making; school leadership; community support; and more.

The survey will be administered by the nonprofit New Teacher Center (NTC), a national organization dedicated to supporting the development of a high-quality teaching force. NTC has conducted similar surveys in other states and provides induction and professional development for teachers and principals across the country.

The TELL Kentucky survey will be administered online, and all responses will remain anonymous. Results from the teacher responses will be aggregated and reported by NTC no later than June 2011. These reports will be a compilation of educator responses to all questions and presented as bar charts for the school (if at least 50 percent of educators respond), district and state.

Kentucky to Share as Two State Consortia Win $330 for National Test Development

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education awarded $330 million to two coalitions of 44 states and the District of Columbia for the design of new assessment systems aligned to the recently developed common-core standards. The tests are intended to measure whether students are on track for post-graduate success.

The grant money will be divided almost equally between the two applicants in the competition, which is part of the federal Race to the Top program spawned by the federal economic-stimulus law.

Kentucky is a member of both groups.

At least 12 states—Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina—participated in both the SMARTER Balanced and PARCC consortia. “My assumption is that they’ll have to choose one,” said Gary W. Phillips, a vice president and chief scientist at the American Institutes of Research in Washington.

A third group of 12 states that applied for a smaller, $30 million pot under a separate but related competition to support specific exams at the high school level, failed to win an award. That group intended to adapt the kind of board-examination systems that other countries use and align them to the common-core standards. Federal reviewers said that approach did not merit an award at this time. Kentucky was a member of that group too.

Those three were the only applicants that the department deemed eligible for the competition.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan told Education week,

“As I travel around the country, the number-one complaint I hear from teachers is that state bubble tests pressure teachers to teach to a test that doesn’t measure what really matters,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a press release. “Both of these winning applicants are planning to develop assessments that will move us far beyond this and measure real student knowledge and skills.”

The highest rating by a panel of peer reviewers went to the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, which consists of 26 states. It was awarded $170 million. Meanwhile, the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium, which includes 31 states, will receive $160 million.

Some observers caution that plenty of questions, and challenges, remain as the winning consortia move from getting awards to designing and implementing new assessment systems.

One issue, said Scott Marion, the associate director of the Dover, N.H.-based Center for Assessment, is that the states do not fully understand the future uses of the assessments.

“You’re designing an assessment system when you’re not really clear on what the use is yet, and that’s a huge challenge,” he said, noting that Congress is well behind in reauthorizing the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which likely will have a lot to say on the use of tests.

Governor Steve Beshear released a statement on the news:

Governor Steve Beshear joined Education Commissioner Terry Holliday today to announce that Kentucky will benefit from $330 million in grants awarded today from the U.S. Department of Education for efforts to improve education assessments...

“We are pleased to be part of this significant grant, and we will immediately invest these dollars into education, ensuring that our students are ready for life outside of high school, whether that involves college, vocational or technical school, or a full-time job.”

“Kentucky has been deeply involved in developing a student assessment system that is tied to the Common Core Academic Standards,” said Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday. “These funds will enable Kentucky and the other consortium states to move forward in an efficient, cost-effective manner to help students achieve 21st-century skills and become college- and career-ready.”

The work of these consortia also will help Kentucky meet the mandates of 2009’s Senate Bill 1, which calls for a balanced student assessment system and a focus on college and career readiness.

SBAC will utilize using (sic) “open source” technology that will allow all 31 member states to share common, state-of-the-art exams for students. The tests will evaluate how students are progressing and evaluate their readiness for college and career. The online system will track progress on all students, and will make that information available to teachers, who may then use the results to modify their instruction if needed.

PARCC assessments will use multiple tests throughout the year to monitor student progress in reading comprehension, research projects, public speaking and utilization of digital media. These multiple assessments will provide a steady stream of progress updates for teachers.

The assessment systems are closely tied to the Common Core Standards. Kentucky was the first state to adopt these standards in March 2010. These standards are intended to provide a national guideline for K-12 in English language arts and math.

Kerri Richardson, a spokeswoman for Beshear told the Courier-Journal she did not yet know how much money Kentucky would receive from the grants.

High Anxiety

Following his assessment of the federal Race to the Top competition, Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday was very clear. No charters - and the chances of Kentucky winning $175 million would drop like an anchor.

During round one, Kentucky's pitch came up empty. To offset the lack of a charter school law - and the lack of the 32 points that went with it - the Kentucky team argued that our school councils were allowed to ask for waivers of state regulations. But the feds didn't buy it. Perhaps that’s because there are no shining examples to point to. Or if there is such an example among the 20 schools that have been awarded waivers by the state board of education, it's apparently a secret.

But this was a second opportunity, and while waiting for word of the state's effort during phase II, several of us engaged in a little wishful hoping. Expressions of optimism, based on little evidence, revealed the hope that the feds might buy the school council argument the second time around. Or if we didn't really believe that, perhaps other factors like Kentucky's early adoption of common core standards might make Kentucky a sentimental favorite and cause reviewers to fudge Kentucky’s points skyward. But that didn't happen. Others were selected. Kentucky was not.

Holliday explained to KSBA why he had been optimistic, along with his ultimate disappointment - and the target of his disgruntlement was US Education Secretary Arne Duncan. He pulled no punches about the impact a lack of charter schools had on Kentucky’s application and questioned Duncan’s candor about the relative importance of charter schools in the RTTT process.

“We scored 412.4 points (on a 500-point scale) this time. We improved five points (from the initial review); however, losing 32 points on charter schools, I’m certain, kept us out of the funding,” Holliday said.

“I think it speaks highly of our reform agenda that Kentucky got this far in spite of a 32-point handicap.”

Every finalist funded in both rounds of RTTT has charter schools. Asked if the Obama Administration’s bottom line is “No charters, no money,” Holliday said, “The numbers sure indicate that, don’t they?

“I think the secretary…misled states,” the commissioner said. “What the secretary said and what the secretary actually did are two different things.” When he announced the RTTT Round Two finalists last month, Duncan downplayed the importance of charter schools as a critical reform factor.

And during a press conference Tuesday, Duncan said: “There's no one factor that helped make or break a state” in the competition.

Yet, the two states that won in the first round of the competition and the nine states and the District of Columbia that won in round two all have charter schools.

Duncan said the winners were chosen because they outlined the boldest plans for shaking up their public school systems.

A spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Education said Tuesday that charter schools “were just one part of the equation.”

“Everyone had multiple opportunities to win points and put their best foot forward,” said Justin Hamilton with the education department. “Winning states were those who put forth the most competitive plan and that took advantage of every point possible.”

Governor Steve Beshear told C-J that while he was disappointed the state did not secure the funding, he's “confident that the steps we are taking in education will significantly improve the education experience for Kentucky's students.”

Kentucky Education Association President Sharron Oxendine said, “Not getting the Race to the Top funds will slow down our ability to implement Senate Bill 1… at a time when the Kentucky General Assembly has not seen fit to provide adequate state funding for our schools — will make it even more difficult for Kentucky teachers to assure that all students reach their potential,” Oxendine said in a statement.

As for charters, Kentucky scored 8 points for "Enabling LEAs to operate other innovative, autonomous public schools" out of 40 points available in the category. -32 for no charter school law = $0. Kentucky's second round score was 412.4.

In their analysis, the Kentucky School Board Association took the position that the lack of charter schools in Kentucky was not the fatal blow.

Kentucky’s lack of charter schools meant the state wasn’t eligible for 32 points on the U.S. Department of Education’s (USED) 500-point Race to the Top scoring rubric. That news led many people to conclude that the charter school issue cost the state $175 million in critical federal funds.

But a KSBA eNews Service analysis of the USED review panel scoring of Kentucky’s application found several other factors that cost the state an additional 55.6 points, almost twice as many points needed to have put Kentucky among the winning states.

Perhaps more importantly, even if the 2010 General Assembly had passed charter school legislation, the federal panel’s scoring of other state Race to the Top applications seriously calls into question claims that having charters would have guaranteed federal funds for Kentucky…

Kentucky’s overall score of 412.4 represented a loss of 87.6 points from the six major scored sections. That included 24.8 points from the “Great Teachers and Leaders” section (138 possible points) and another 17.4 points (125 possible) on the “State Success Factors” section. Other sections of the Race to the Top measurements cost Kentucky a total of 13.4 points. …
Ohio was the last state funded with a total score of 440.8 points, meaning Kentucky needed at least another 28.4 points to match the Buckeye State…

KSBA points out that,

None of the proposals that won funding … received the total possible 32 points for charter schools. Scores ranged from a high of 31.8 for the District of Columbia down to 21.8 points earned by Maryland. All of those states have charter schools, calling into question whether Kentucky could have earned the full 32 points based on having a brand-new law but no actual charter schools.

And

The average charter school-related score of the 10 proposals that won funding was 27.42 points. So even if Kentucky had been able to earn the average score of those other finalists, its overall score still would have fallen short of Ohio’s 440.8 score.

KSBA makes an interesting argument. And I read the reviewers comments in much the same way they did. But the logical extension of that argument is that Kentucky’s application wasn’t as strong in other areas as the state was led to believe – a curious position for KSBA to take – but perhaps it’s true.

Federal reviewers lauded Kentucky for its recent history of education reform and the subsequent gains in student achievement. Specifically noted were KERA, SB 168, SB 1, improved dropout rates, postsecondary enrollment and the use of technology to enhance educational opportunities in rural areas of the state. Kentucky was praised for the broad support for the state's plan and particular mention went to the Kentucky Education Association for its overall support of the state plan. Kentucky was commended for the specific support shown by higher education, but concern was expressed that while the state has multiple alternatives to certification, the overall approach to assuring that highly effective teachers reach the school where they are most needed is relatively passive.

Kentucky’s application and scores here:
Application PDF (2.00M)
Appendix PDF (94.3M)
Score sheet PDF (113KB)
Reviewers' comments and scores PDF (5.25M)

Reviewers were concerned that Kentucky might not be able to reach its ambitious improvement goals, particularly in math. The changes made to CATS in 2007 made it difficult for reviewers to confidently gauge more recent progress and the feds complained that Kentucky's team failed to explain how and if the scores are comparable since that time. One Race to the Top judge wrote, "This lack of analysis of the data raises questions as to the depth of the capability to use the data to make important policy decisions."

Moreover, the reviewers were concerned by the persistent achievement gap but were more concerned that the state was unable to articulate what caused Kentucky’s successes and failures, and therefore, the judges wondered whether Kentucky could learn from either.

Senate Bill 1 has already mandated a new test for Spring 2012. The prime motivation of the original Senate Bill 1 was to drive a stake through the heart of CATS, which old-school opponents of public schools have never liked. The version of Senate Bill 1 that passed in 2008 was a different bill. The question now is whether Kentucky can muster the funds to implement the plan.

The state was commended for SEEK’s (the Kentucky funding formula) ability to deliver equitable funding to local school districts, but reviewers complained that, within each district, funding is essentially distributed on a per-pupil basis and was therefore non-responsive to equity issues within districts. This has been true…forever.

Kentucky received praise for its commitment to standards and early progress toward the creation of a longitudinal assessment system which reviewers think will have a high probability of providing the state with the reliable data it needs to improve the concerns mentioned above.

Education Week reported a few common threads among the 10 victorious Round Two applicants. These included their promises to take bold approaches to turning around low-performing schools, and in evaluating teachers.

The New York Times noted that “Of the dozen states that have won major grants to date in the two-part grant contest that is the Obama administration’s signature education initiative, 11 are east of the Mississippi and most hug the East Coast, including Florida and Georgia in the South and New York and Massachusetts in the North. Among the winners, Hawaii is the lone geographic exception.”

Education Week reported that the second-round loss was a serious disappointment for a number of states. That includes Kentucky where the grousing has already begun. Once the news broke, and Holliday's “no charters – no money” warning came true, it was not hard to find politicians and pundits who were willing to point fingers.

For a couple of years now, Republican legislators have been floating bills that would pretty much throw open the doors to anyone wanting a charter school. Those bills met with silence. Republican leaders in the legislature wanted Kentucky’s application to include charter schools. Democratic were slow warming to the idea.

In May, with the clock ticking on RTTT Phase II, Gov. Beshear brought lawmakers to Frankfort for a special session on the budget. Democratic Rep. Harry Moberly of Richmond was among lawmakers urging Beshear to add charter schools to the agenda, “Which would get us about $175 million, not to mention the $300 or $400 million that’s available through private foundations,” Moberly said.

But the governor balked, saying there was no general agreement on the issue.

At the urging of Commissioner Holliday, Rep Harry Moberly filed a bill anyway; one that would have allowed charter school authorization by local school districts. That bill, died on a tie vote in the Senate education committee. Casting the deciding vote against charter schools was Republican Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr of Lexington who told WFPL FM “I just felt like it was time that we didn’t need to be looking into which districts were going to come onboard with this, and which ones were not,” said Kerr.

I have no idea what she meant by that.

Senate President David Williams expressed disappointment with Kentucky’s failed effort, and said he plans to keep fighting for charter schools.

“In extremely difficult economic times that money would have been very useful in implementation of Senate Bill 1 – and in order to make sure that we address some of the pressing education issues that we have in the state,” said Williams.

Williams was more direct is his comments to the Daily Independent. Williams said Beshear should have shown more leadership in persuading House opponents and teachers’ groups to support the measure.

“He’s wasn’t for charter schools, he’s never been for charter schools,” Williams said.

But Sharon Oxendine of the Kentucky Education Association has no regrets over the group’s opposition to charter schools. She says Kentucky schools already include charter school concepts, thanks to the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act. “They’re autonomous,” said Oxendine. “They’re in charge of their own hiring. They’re in charge of their own budgets. Teachers are certified. They are accountable. So, we think site-based council rule, or governing, in the State of Kentucky is far better than charter schools.”

Martin Cothran of the Kentucky Family Foundation declared, That little horned creature with the pitchfork whispering into the left ear of state lawmakers that they should vote against charter schools is the KEA…”

Daviess County Public Schools Superintendent Tom Shelton told the Messenger Inquirer that Kentucky addresses the issue, but not in ways that Race to the Top scorers found adequate.
"Kentucky already has a level of charter schools in the fact that we have site-based decision making at our schools. Therefore, you have parents and teachers who are the policymakers for their schools, decide the curriculum, assign the teachers and are responsible for the scheduling," Shelton said. "It's my opinion that if the state legislature and the federal government would remove the layers of regulation and bureaucracy from public school districts, we could create our own charter schools. We've evidenced that with what most people call alternative schools. That's what it's really about, personalizing education to meet the needs of students."

But again, that argument fell flat in DC.

Oxendine told H-L the loss of Race to the Top funds will make it less likely Kentucky will approve charter schools.

"There's no reason to change the system of public schools we have now," she said. "What we have to do is find the proper funding for our schools, especially to implement Senate Bill 1."

House Speaker Greg Stumbo issued a short statement: “It’s a shame that we lost an opportunity.”

Congressional support for a third round of Race to the Top funding is questionable, and without federal prodding, small, rural states like Kentucky may be less inclined to approve charter schools.

So, is the charter school issue dead in Kentucky? “I don’t think so,” said Beshear. “I think that’s an issue that will be discussed in the future. And as I’ve said, I think if it’s used properly, it can be a useful tool.”

State Rep. Brad Montell, R-Shelbyville, who filed charter schools legislation earlier this year, told the Herald-Leader he will file another proposal next year. "Until we have charter schools in Kentucky, we will continue to fall behind other states who receive funding through 'Race to the Top,' which will have a long-term negative impact on our children and our economy," Montell said.

Phil Moffett has made the drive for charter schools in Kentucky a centerpiece of his Republican gubernatorial campaign.

Robert Sexton, executive director of the Prichard Committee on Academic Excellence, said passing the charter school legislation would have been "pretty much a no-cost way to get $175 million."

Although his group favored the charter school legislation, Sexton said "It's hard to imagine that [charters] alone would drive these decisions on a federal level, and if it did it's just a shame and a serious mistake on the part of the U.S. Department of Education, because it's such a minor part of accomplishing what they're trying to accomplish in Race to the Top," Sexton said.

State Sen. Julian Carroll, D-Frankfort, said the loss makes the challenge of education funding "even greater for the General Assembly in the legislative session next year."

Tom Shelton, who is also the President of the Council for Better Education told the Messenger Inquirer that his own opinion on Race to the Top is less than positive.

"To me, dangling money out there like a carrot to get you to implement policy is in my mind, almost blackmail," Shelton said. "I think real change has to take place when our communities and our public step up and say, 'This is what we expect from our schools.' "Shelton said federal involvement of this sort is counterproductive, considering how little influence the federal government has in education otherwise.

"We have to continue to look to where education should be funded -- the state government, and not the federal government. It's not the federal government's role to fund education, and it never has been. It's always been up to the state," Shelton said. "It's disheartening to me. We only receive 8 percent of our funding from any federal source. It's hard to believe the federal government is trying to drive what education should look like."

Shelton said a large-scale change in education must focus on each student. That is already possible in Kentucky's schools, and charter schools simply for the sake of charter schools will not be a magic bullet, he said.

"Public schools and public education are the base of democracy, one of the basic strengths of who we are as a country. If all we do is privatize education, it might sound like the right thing to do because of the free enterprise system, but the reality is we will have no consistency. Some people will be highly educated, others inadequately educated," Shelton said.

The mandates expressed in Senate Bill 1 were never given the proper funding because of the state's financial problems. The state was counting on Race to the Top funds to make it happen, but that is clearly not happening now, Holliday said.

"The quick scenario I paint is, we're asking every classroom teacher in Kentucky to implement these rigorous standards. We're asking them to do it without any money for textbooks, no additional funds for interventions or additional resources," Holliday said. "Teachers are not going to be able to do this without support. It's now back into the ball court of the General Assembly. You have two choices, take existing dollars and redirect them into Senate Bill 1 or find new dollars."

Over at Prichard, Susan advises us to, “Keep calm and carry on.”

But amid all this local anxiety, one supposes things could be worse. Consider the situation in New Jersey where their 1000+ page application package for a potential $400 million included an error on page 261. State officials used the wrong years in describing funding levels for schools, a mistake that cost the state five points. Turns out that New Jersey scored 437.8, just behind Ohio’s 440.8 - the 10th and final state that qualified for funding.

NJ Republican Gov. Chris Christie, whose office submitted the application, said his administration took responsibility for the mistake. But it didn’t sound like it as he blasted the application reviewers—and the Obama administration directly—for not being willing to overlook what he called a "clerical error" and seek the correct information from the state. "If you are a normal, thinking, breathing human being, you pick up the phone and say, 'Hey, you sent this one wrong paper, can we get the information?' Does anybody in Washington, D.C., have a lick of common sense? Christie asked.

Governor's TEK Talk Draws a Crowd

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

Beshear: "That's good."

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

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

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

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

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

Let the governor know what you think:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The scene at BCTCS:

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

Back stage before the show.