Felner's Lame Explanation

"I'm not innocent because
I've done all these stupid things.
I know it. And I'm in some trouble."
--Robert Felner

At C-J, Nancy Rodriguez has been reading the transcripts of former UofL Education Dean Robert Felner's interview with federal authorities. Her report shows a desperate Felner looking to explain away the inexplicable - how houses in his name were really an investment; that sort of thing. It's hard to imagine any jury buying what he's shovelling.

Felner said he used grants

to build up company

Ex-dean spoke to investigators

Former University of Louisville education dean Robert Felner
told federal investigators last summer that he and an Illinois colleague [Thomas Schroeder] used federal grant money to invest in properties around the country because they were trying to build up a nonprofit company that they had created for educational research, according to a 320-page transcript of the interview...

In the June 20 interview...Felner acknowledged that he deposited into the Louisville account $450,000 in checks paid from a U of L federal grant that was intended to create a different center at U of L to help schools boost achievement under the No Child Left Behind law.

He also said he deposited payments made to the Illinois center from school districts in New York and other states for contract work he said he did.

Federal officials said during the interview that Felner later moved that money into investment and personal accounts, or made cash withdrawals. According to investigators, Felner also used the money to purchase four properties -- two in Florida and one each in Oldham County and Rhode Island.

They say he also used money from the accounts to have landscaping done at the properties, pay property taxes and mortgage costs and fix a home spa.

The properties are all in Felner's name, but he told investigators during the interview that they were bought as investments for the Illinois-based center...

"The reason we invested in the houses, the reason we brokered the account were to just to try to build something up so we could actually have the money to do the kind of work that we wanted to do," Felner told investigators during the daylong interview, which took place June 20, 2008, at U of L's College of Education and Human Development.

But that isn't allowed under regulations governing federal grants, according to James Tracy, vice president of research at the University of Kentucky.

When it comes to federal grants, the general rule is: "You personally cannot gain or divert federal funding to benefit yourself," Tracy said.

"You can take a salary from a grant, but you have to say that and you have to account for that at the university," he said, adding that what Felner said he was doing "doesn't sound reasonable."

Asked why he didn't file conflict of interest forms as required by the university Felner claimed that oversight on that matter was pretty much absent.

Nobody around here, I mean, I'm sorry, but nobody around here submits their
conflict-of-interest forms," Felner said.

Provost Shirley Willihnganz admitted previously that faculty had not always filed such forms, but that the university has since improved its monitoring.

Gov. Beshear appoints David Karem to the Kentucky Board of Education

FRANKFORT, Ky.—Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear today announced he has named David Karem, former state senator and current president of the Waterfront Development Corporation, as the newest member of the Kentucky Board of Education.

Karem, of Louisville, was a member of the Kentucky General Assembly from 1972 until 2004. During his 28 years in the state senate, he served as majority caucus chairman, majority floor leader and democratic floor leader.

Widely recognized as a chief author of the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), during his legislative career, Karem also served as a member the Senate Education Committee, the Education Reform Task Force and chair of the Legislative Advisory Council of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). He also served as treasurer of the SREB and is a member of the Partnership for Kentucky Schools. Karem was also instrumental in passing legislation that reformed the statewide school accountability tests.

“David will be a great Kentucky Board of Education member because his heart is in public education and his eyes are still firmly focused on the future,” Gov. Beshear said. “David has never been wedded to the past. He has always looked for better ways to do things. Kentucky students are very lucky that David will once again be working on their behalf.”

“In 1990, David was looking to the future as a Senate leader when KERA was passed,” said Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Sec. Helen Mountjoy. “In 1997-1998, he again looked to the future as he helped lead the General Assembly's review of school reform and helped craft major revisions to school laws. His expertise and vision will be a great asset to the board.”

A graduate of St. Xavier High School in Louisville, the University of Cincinnati and the University of Louisville School of Law, Karem currently serves numerous boards and commissions, including the Spalding University Board of Trustees; Board of Directors of the Louisville Fund for the Arts; and chairman of the education advisory committee for the Louisville Science Center.

During his nearly three decades in the General Assembly, Karem was twice selected outstanding State Senator in Public Interest by the Capitol Press Corps.

Karem and his wife, Anne, reside in Louisville and are the parents of two children, both of whom attended the Jefferson County Public Schools from grade school through graduation.

SOURCE: The Gov

Need Stimulus Spending Ideas? Think Early Childhood

This from Politics K-12;

Education Secretary Arne Duncan reminded states that stimulus funds can be used for early childhood programs when he joined representatives of an early-education think tank at a press conference today to talk about a report, The State of Preschool 2008.

The National Institute of Early Education Research noted that more than 1.1 million children attended state-funded preschool last year, an increase of 108,000 over 2007. State funding for pre-K rose to almost $4.6 billion, and 33 of the 38 states with state-funded programs increased enrollment...

Mark Hebert Leaves WHAS for UofL

In a significant coup, long-time WHAS political reporter Mark Hebert announced tonight that he will start PR work for President James Ramsey at UofL in May. This is potentially wonderful for The Ville which could use some experienced, professional help rethinking their public relations approach.

For those of you who haven't heard, I'm leaving WHAS-TV for a job at the University of Louisville. My first day at U of L is Monday, May 4th. I hate to leave WHAS-TV and covering politics but I'm extremely excited about the opportunity to work for Jim Ramsey, a guy who's been a terrific President at U of L. I'll write more of my thoughts and thank you's later.

Thanks.

Mark.

President Ramsey scores major points for luring to UofL the same guy who elicited the "anonymous crap" comment during the rollout of the Robert Felner scandal; still in progress. In that same interview, Ramsey told Hebert that even good people get “a little weak...violating the law now and then.”

Hiring Hebert would seem to represent a sincere desire for improved communications. If so, well done.

On a personal note, Mark's been a great guy for as long as I've know him - which goes back to the early 80's during our Jaycee days. He's always been trustworthy and professional. So congratulations, Mark! And thanks, in advance.

CATS- Episode 2009

By Penney Sanders

Now that the KY General Assembly has adjourned, it may be safe to venture a few observations about what happened to the CATS assessment.

SB 1/HB508 reflected much needed updating and modifications to KY’s assessment system-CATS. It was not the end of school reform as we know it, contrary to the comments of some. Most school people, especially classroom teachers, have known for several years that there needed to be revisions to the test. It was cumbersome, took too much instructional time, did not provide useful data, etc, etc.

However, up until March 2009, the voices calling for changes to CATS had been effectively rebuffed no matter how reasonable the concerns expressed. In the 2008 Session, a previous iteration of SB1 was introduced. In some ways it was quite similar to the bill filed in this session. However, the 2008 version was met with tremendous opposition and the bill did not move forward. It was politicized, polarized and ultimately pulverized

What was the difference this year??? The changes in CATS legislation are an excellent example of the “Tipping Point”. As described in Malcolm Glidewell’s bestseller of the same name, there is a point at which an issue (legislation), despite previous resistance, changes; there becomes significant support for or opposition to that which was once thought unchangeable and suddenly it “tips.” There are other examples of tipping points-popularity, elections or public issues.

Criticism of CATS began in 1995 with the publication of the OEA’s report from their national panel of testing experts who identified problems with the assessment, then called KIRIS. Many of those problems could have been anticipated because testing for accountability was in its infancy and Kentucky was at the forefront of attempting such a broad-based test.

Over the years the changes to KIRIS/CATS at best, were band aids and at worst, exacerbated the weaknesses. The needed revisions and updates did not occur because of the prevailing and pervasive belief that changing the assessment somehow undermined school reform.

Now there is the opportunity to create a Kentucky test that reflects the best current thinking in psychometrics, revisit Kentucky’s instructional standards and implement a useful assessment.

Transforming the test to one based on individual student accountability and improvement from year to year reflects the current thinking in assessment and may prove to be a more accurate measurement of a school’s progress.

If significant numbers of students fail to make progress each year, then it is obvious something is wrong. On-demand writing may prove to be less cumbersome and time-consuming than portfolios.

Such a “Value Added” approach will encourage significant focus on what is occurring in the classroom and less on peripheral issues.

A second phenomenon was also present in the history of SB1/HB538 –the “argumentum ad homenum”-loosley translated it means attacking the man, not the argument. It is the lowest form of disputation. However, we have seen years of attacking the messenger rather than focusing on the merits of the message.

Throughout the 2009 session, until its last days, the voices that have been critical of CATS for several years were once again subjected to the attacks on their person. In my mind the low point, was the continued criticism and allegations from some that revising CATS was part of a right-wing attack on education led by those “rascal” Republicans. With the House vote of 93-0 and support from KEA to abolish CATS in its current form and to develop a new assessment, it is ridiculous to continue to pretend that somehow any opposition to testing must be rooted in ideology or political partisanship.

Kentucky has a wonderful opportunity over the next three years to create an assessment that reflects Kentucky’s academic standards. Additionally, it can be an assessment that is a useful diagnostic and instructional tool.

Furthermore, as we move forward to discuss and legislate other important issues, let us remember some of the lessons learned from KIRIS/CATS-that voices of criticism are not necessarily those of opposition but rather of different perspectives. As we undertake the comprehensive KERA review, the focus must be on the merits of the arguments rather than attributing motives and motivation to personalities and politics.

The Governor has created a unique opportunity to bring diverse voices and perspectives to this important discussion so that we can create the best possible education system. It is, hopefully, a new day and an opportunity that cannot be missed or misused.

Self Congratulations Doesn't Faze C-J

This from C-J:

The General Assembly session about which legislative leaders and Gov. Steve Beshear have been bragging was, in fact, largely a failure. In some instances, lawmakers did the wrong thing -- for example by relaxing school accountability. In others, they did too little -- for instance, by adopting a pitiably small revenue package while claiming to exhibit political courage.

It's true that, during the 2009 session, there was less partisan bickering, but then Speaker Greg Stumbo and Senate President David Williams shouldn't expect praise for behaving themselves. Nor did it take much grit for members to stop a 4-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax increase, thus producing more money with which to spread blacktop among their constituents.

Some important issues simply didn't get addressed.

C-J laments the failure to pass House Bill 433, which would have let Jefferson Community and Technical College spend up to $10.5 million of its own funds to improve its outmoded, overcrowded downtown Louisville campus, some of which is dilapidated.

I'll take their word for it.

But if there is one glaring omission from Kentucky's legislative agenda it is the legislature's aversion to tackling comprehensive tax reform. Until that heavy lifting gets done, we're going to have this same conversation over and over again.

Does the Tight School Budget Threaten Experienced Teachers?

Budget constraints appear to be leading some superintendents and principals to non-renew more experienced teachers in favor of cheaper, less experienced teachers. Given the volume of data underscoring the relationship between highly trained teachers and student achievement, this is a concern.

And the councern has reached the ears of some members of the state board of education.

I have been very pleased that over a 31-year career in Kenton and Fayette Counties, most of that as a principal, I was never once encouraged to hire a less qualified "cheaper" teacher. So such rumors, if true, are bothersome - particularly if they indicate a trend that leads to Kentucky children being taught by less capable folks.

It could also mean that Kentucky is leaning into a punch that's yet to be delivered.

In an effort to run down this rumor, KSN&C contacted KEA President Sharron Oxendine to see if she had received any such complaints. Oxendine reports,

“In the last three or four years we’ve heard this, particularly in eastern Kentucky.” A number of teachers are being let go “at the end of their fourth year” to save money.

This comes at a time when researchers are warning of a tsunami of baby boomers about to retire. USA Today reports that,

More than half the nation's teachers are Baby Boomers ages 50 and older and eligible for retirement over the next decade, a report says today. It warns that a retirement "tsunami" could rob schools of valuable experience.

The report by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future calls for school administrators to take immediate action to lower attrition rates and establish
programs that pass along valuable information from teaching veterans to new teachers.

"We face a tsunami in the shift of the future of the teachers' workforce," says Tom Carroll, president of the commission, who co-wrote the report. "Over the next five or six years, we could lose over a third of our teachers." ...

More than 40% of Kentucky's teachers are over the age of 50.

To make matters worse, retention rates for young teachers is pitiful. Schools lose about a third of their youngest teachers. A sufficient number of teachers are recruited at colleges and universities, but many leave the field within five years, Carroll says. "We're trying to fill a bucket with a hole in the bottom, and we have been for decades," he says.

Oxendine also says she's concerned about rumors that in Fayette County this year, special education students “are being moved into collaboration and instructional assistants are being used to monitor” IEPs.

If true - this too would be bothersome. If fewer teachers are hired, in favor of more instructional aides who would work under the direction of regular classroom teachers, it's hard to imagine an improved situation for the district's neediest students. In addition, "are being moved" sounds like a district intervention rather than an independent decision made by each ARC.

FCPS spokesperson Lisa Deffendall told KSN&C that the rumor is "not true."

But that's not to suggest that the district is satisfied with the state of affairs in special education. Perhaps this is what lead to the rumor Oxendine heard.

Deffendall says that some other districts seem to be doing a better job with special needs students than Fayette County. To find out why, several schools have sent principals and teachers to study how other schools are achieving higher results. Many of those districts seem to be collaborating more than Fayette.

"If people are moving students to collaboration, it's kid by kid," Deffendall said. Regular education teachers are still responsible for developing, implementing and monitoring the students' Individual Education Plans.

The Cost of Teacher Turnover

When teachers leave their schools and districts, new teachers must be recruited, hired, and trained. NCTAF created a calculator to help estimate the cost of teacher turnover to a school or district.

There are two versions of the calculator; one for the general public and the second for school and district personnel, who may have specific data on teacher turnover and its costs.

Plug in some numbers. Read 'em and weep.

MRSA confirmed at Model Lab

The Herald-Leader reports a case of drug-resistant staph has been confirmed at Eastern Kentucky University's Model Laboratory School in Richmond.

The school learned late in the day Monday that a student had been infected with MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, said James Dantic, director of the school...

School officials consulted with the health department and cleaned areas where the student had been.

Eastern Kentucky University Health Services offers guidance to students as does the Centers for Disease Control.

Hey Kids! Watch this...

This from the Mercury News:

Joking deckhand chokes to death on bait

in front of elementary school kids

LONG BEACH - A deckhand on a charter boat choked to death after he accidentally swallowed a bait fish in front of elementary school students on a fishing trip along the breakwater, authorities said Tuesday.

Jeff Twaddle, 54, of Huntington Beach was a deckhand on the Gale Force, a charter boat that operates fishing trips out of Rainbow Harbor and San Pedro, said Capt. Dan Salas, the boat's owner.

Los Angeles County Coroner's Lt. Fred Corral said Twaddle's death was ruled accidental. "It's a tragic freak accident," Salas said. "We're all so saddened by this."

The accident happened Friday when Twaddle was on a fishing trip along the breakwater off Long Beach with a group of about 20 elementary school students from the Los Angeles Unified School District, said Long Beach Fire Department Battalion Chief Frank Hayes.

"It sounds like he was trying to be light-hearted and make the students laugh when he put the fish in his mouth," Hayes said.

The fish became severely lodged in Twaddle's throat and he quickly lost consciousness, Hayes said. Crew members, lifeguards and paramedics tried to dislodge the fish and perform CPR with no luck...

Kentucky Receives $2,8 Million Grant for Longitudinal Data System

The Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) Grant Program, as authorized by the Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002, Title II of the statute that created the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), is designed to aid state education agencies in developing and implementing longitudinal data systems. These systems are intended to enhance the ability of States to efficiently and accurately manage, analyze, and use education data, including individual student records.

Kentucky was among twenty seven states that were awarded grants in March.

The data systems developed with funds from these grants should help States, districts, schools, and teachers make data-driven decisions to improve student learning, as well as facilitate research to increase student achievement and close achievement gaps.

These competitive, cooperative agreement grants extend for three years and range from one and a half to six million dollars per state. Grantees are obligated to submit annual reports and a final report on the development and implementation of their systems.

Kentucky' s grant application called for support for

a multi-agency project which builds upon the success of the K-12 statewide longitudinal data system and the systems that have been developed independently by the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) and the Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB).

Other agencies such as the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority and the Department for Workforce Investment will be included in the planning phase of the proposed initiative.

The proposed initiative will provide, for the first time, a seamless view of the P-20 educational landscape in Kentucky which will serve to facilitate the analysis and research necessary to improve student academic achievement and close achievement gaps.

Kentucky will link data from preschool, P-12, educator preparation and certification programs, career and technical education, postsecondary and adult education, workforce, facilities and other sources. The agencies involved in this new initiative represent the three key state educational entities, each of which collect and store their own data. Under a P-20 Governance structure each agency will individually control what data is shared, what analytic functions use that data, and who has access to data.

The project is designed in three phases, each 12 months in duration. The first phase encompasses critical initial planning activities and the inclusion of additional data into the KIDS warehouse. In the second phase data collected by EPSB and CPE will be merged with P-12 data to generate a more holistic snapshot of education. Finally, in the third phase an interface and process for external and agency researchers to access the de-identified data for analysis purposes and to extract information that can be used in studies and to create reports on P-20 related issues will be developed...

SOURCE: NCES

College applications now an open (Face)book

This from the L A Times:

For a generation of students who share every detail of their personal lives in text messages, MySpace pages and other online postings, the college admissions chase is offering a lesson that some things are best kept private.

Last December, when Brown University's early admission decisions were released online, students in one classroom at North Hollywood High’s highly gifted magnet program could be heard applauding. In another, there was silence, followed by the sound of someone crying...

UMass to put papers of W.E.B. Du Bois online

This from the AP:

BOSTON (AP) — The University of Massachusetts in Amherst said Friday it would scan, catalog, digitize and put online papers of civil rights movement pioneer W.E.B. Du Bois.

The university's W.E.B. Du Bois Library has an estimated 100,000 diaries, letters, photographs and other items related to Du Bois, who helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"What we're looking to do is spark conversation about difficult issues in race, inequality, class and all these things are things that concerned Du Bois," said Robert Cox, director of the special collections at the library...

Minn Lawmakers Debate Charter School Accountability

This from the Twin Cities Pioneer Press:

Analysis finds that pay and credentials vary widely

Milo Cutter is a pioneer. She helped start the nation's first charter school, City Academy, in St. Paul in 1992 and still runs it. Her salary as director is $34,000, and she gets additional pay for teaching.

Terry Tofte is a former superintendent brought in to launch the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists in 2005. He manages operations but is not directly involved in the classroom. He's paid $124,200.

The number of charter schools is growing. After a slow start, there are 152 in Minnesota. Six more have been approved for next year. Their success is often determined by who is chosen to lead them.

The Pioneer Press reviewed the contracts that 44 east metro charter schools have with their directors and found they are not created equal. There is a wide variation not just in salary — with Cutter and Tofte at the low and high ends — but also in benefits and credentials.

Among the findings:

• The average salary for directors was about $78,000.
• Eight make more than $100,000.
• Directors receive an average of 27 days of personal time (including sick, vacation and personal days).
• 31 of the 44 charter schools are led by people with no superintendent's license or principal's license.

Charters are public schools and set their own terms with their directors. Many view that independence as their chief strength. But 32 such schools in Minnesota have failed since 1992. And considering charters get more than $225 million in state aid each year, some officials are saying it's time for new standards...

KIPP Teachers in Bid to Expel Union

This from the New York Post:

Charter-school teachers to their union: Butt out.

The educators, at two city charter schools, have filed for permission from the state to cut their ties with the United Federation of Teachers.

The action, at KIPP Academy in The Bronx and KIPP Infinity in Manhattan, came after the UFT recently tried to meddle in the schools' business without consulting the staff first, teachers at both schools told The Post.

"The union was interested in a more active part of the way our school operates, and at KIPP Infinity we unanimously believe that what works for us best is 100 percent open communication lines between staff, administration, parents and students," said Rachel Heuisler, 30, who has taught at the school for three years.

KIPP, the Knowledge is Power Program network, operates 66 charter schools nationally, including four in New York City...

The ultimate student meal

I've never been to England, but I'm yet to hear anyone brag about British cooking. Is this what they're talking about?

This from the London Daily Mail:

Introducing the doner kebab

flavoured Pot Noodle

Bring together two of the most reviled food creations of Britain's culinary history and here you have it - the Kebab Pot Noodle.

Undaunted by the warnings about kebabs being high in fat and calories, the makers of the Pot Noodle have decided to harness its appeal to Britain's student population.

Family wants tougher laws

This from the Enquirer:

Jessica Logan's nude cell-phone photo - meant for her boyfriend's eyes only - was sent to hundreds of teenagers last year in at least seven Greater Cincinnati high schools.

The 18-year-old Sycamore High School senior was then bombarded with taunts: slut, porn queen, whore.

On July 3, Jessie hanged herself in her bedroom.

She was Albert and Cynthia Logan's only child.

"My only baby that I will never be able to touch again," Cynthia Logan said through tears. "I will never have grandchildren. I will never be able to hand down my heirlooms. I'm just devastated by these parents that allow their children to do and say anything they want."

Now, Jessie's parents are attempting to launch a national campaign seeking laws to address "sexting" - the practice of forwarding and posting sexually explicit cell-phone photos online. The Logans also want to warn teens of the harassment, humiliation and bullying that can occur when that photo gets forwarded.

Cynthia Logan and Parry Aftab, an attorney and one of the leading authorities on Internet security and cyberbullying, plan to attach Jessie's name to a national campaign to educate teens about the dangers of sexting.

Aftab, based in New York, is the catalyst for a network of volunteers working to stop cyberbullying. She operates two Web sites: wiredsafety.org, the world's largest and oldest cyber safety organization, and stopcyberbullying.org.

"Schools need to understand our kids are targeting each other and how technology is being used as a weapon," Aftab said. "None of them (the schools) know what to do. Many of them ... think it's not their problem. They want to close their eyes and put fingers in their ears, saying it's a home issue."

Quick Hits

Empower teachers to deal with unruly students - Don't spare the rod: Overwork, large classes and poor pay are issues that worry new teachers. But according to a recent Australian Education Union survey of teachers across Australia, the other issue at the forefront of their minds is classroom behaviour. (The Age -Australia)

Autistic boy's arrest at Oregon school fuels debate on discipline for disabled: Cindy Gaspard knew something was different about her son, Dylan, when he was 6 months old. Dylan, a sixth-grader enrolled in a special-needs program in Sumner County schools, was recently handcuffed, arrested and put in juvenile detention after an outburst in school. He was charged with two counts of assault for biting and scratching teachers. (The Tennessean)

Notre Dame sticking with Obama for commencement: The University of Notre Dame is sticking with its invitation to President Obama to speak at its May 17 commencement despite criticism from some Roman Catholics that his views on abortion and stem cell research run counter to Catholic teachings. (Chicago Tribune)

Transparency Time For Vouchers?: Aiming to "restart" the dialogue on accountability for publicly funded voucher programs, a Washington think tank argues in a new report that voucher proponents need to “wake up—and catch up to the educational demands and expectations of the 21st century.” (Ed Week)

California College students get $2-a-day lesson in poverty: A group of students at Point Loma Nazarene University is learning firsthand what Third World poverty can feel like – at least for a few days. From Wednesday through today, about 25 students are living on $2 a day: sleeping in a shanty village outside the campus gym, boiling their drinking water and eating only what their pooled dollars can buy. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Historian John Hope Franklin Dies: John Hope Franklin, who was a pioneer in chronicling African-American history and worked on the nation's landmark school desegregation case, died March 24 in Durham, N.C., of congestive heart failure. He was 94. In 1947, the historian wrote From Slavery to Freedom, which is considered a seminal text on the black experience in the United States. (Ed Week)

200 educators meet, discuss cyberbullying: A Chula Vista principal is falsely portrayed as a racist on a phony MySpace page created by a disgruntled student. A Carlsbad girl is forced to switch schools after a falling out with friends prompts threatening text messages and harassing phone calls. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

State Consortium to Update Standards for New Teachers: The Council of Chief State School Officers announced last week that its Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium will convene a committee to revise its core standards for what teachers should know and be able to do. The rewritten guidelines are expected to reflect new information about how students learn, media and technology literacy, the greater diversity in the student population, the growth of testing, and "21st-century skills," the Washington-based organization said. (Ed Week)

Colorado professor wins wrongful-firing suit: A jury ruled Thursday that the University of Colorado wrongly fired the professor who compared some 9/11 victims to a Nazi, a verdict that gives the professor $1 and a chance to get his job back. (Herald-Leader)

K-12 Taking Primacy in States' Targeting of Stimulus Dollars: Many states are targeting the new education aid at elementary and secondary schools, rather than toward higher education. (Ed Week)

Campus security bills for speakers challenged: When a UC Berkeley student group invited a speaker known for his hard-line pro-Israel stance, the university feared clashes with Palestinian supporters and billed the group more than $3,000 for police protection. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Stimulus Providing Big Funding Boost For Early Childhood: Advocates are betting that the billions of dollars for programs like Head Start are just a “down payment” on future expansion. (Ed Week)

Many college students face mountain of debt once they graduate: College costs are rising and students are borrowing heavily. And after they graduate, they're saddled with loan payments imposing a significant impact on their lives for many years. (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)

Study questions use of drugs on children with A D D: Provoking a heated debate, data indicate drug treatment of children's hyperactivity doesn't help as much as once believed. (Miami Herald)

Arizona Voucher Programs Lose in State's High Court: Programs for students with disabilities and those in foster care violate a state ban on aid to private schools, the Arizona Supreme Court said. (Ed Week)

Dispute over state funds leads to closure of voucher school: A Milwaukee military-style academy could become prominent in a debate on rules that have allowed participants in Milwaukee's school voucher program to avoid making any kind of public report on student performance or academic activity. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Portland School Board denies renewal of popular charter school: The Portland School Board didn't renew the contract of three-year-old Leadership and Entrepreneurship (LEP) Charter High School on Monday night. But, after hours of discussion, board members encouraged officials at the popular school to file an appeal and keep strengthening the school's budget. (The Oregonian)

Schools Take Steps to Defuse Anti-Gay Group's Protests: Faced with demonstrations by anti-gay extremists, administrators at schools in the Baltimore and Washington areas worked with law-enforcement officials and took other steps in advance to maintain a peaceful environment for students and faculty members last week. Members of Westboro Baptist Church, classified as a hate group by the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center, picketed on roads near but not on school property at Fairfax High School in Fairfax County, Va., as well as on roads near Towson High School in Towson, Md., on March 30, denouncing those schools’ gay-straight alliances and diversity groups. (Ed Week)

Connecticut School Bans Physical Contact: East Shore M.S. Outlaws "High-Fives," "Hugging" And Horseplay Of Any Kind; Violators May Face ExpulsionMILFORD, Conn. A Connecticut middle school principal has laid down the law: You put your hands on someone -- anyone -- in any way, you're going to pay. A violent incident that put one student in the hospital has officials at the Milford school implementing a "no touching" policy, according to a letter written by the school's principal. (CBS News)

Court Upholds Little Rock Desegregation Order: A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a judge's ruling that the Little Rock School District has met terms of a long-standing desegregation order. "The judgment declaring the Little Rock School District to be completely unitary is affirmed," the court wrote. (Ed Week)

Deasy's former district Board Votes to Close 8 Schools: Eight Prince George's County schools, most of them inside the Capital Beltway or in the southern part of the county, will close next year under a revised plan the Board of Education approved last night, saving the school system nearly $6 million in a tight budget year. (Washington Post)

Parents lobby to spare gifted program: They were promised local control and better schools. But the new district's plans to pare down an Accelerated Learning Program (ALPS) for gifted elementary students has parents feeling blindsided and questioning the administration's commitment to excellence. (Salt Lake Tribune)

Private schools scramble to help families pay tuition: School administrators say everybody’s working overtime to keep children in school. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Admitting Top 10% to college has proved solid public policy: As they've done since 1996, when Texas' Top 10 percent rule became law, there is a drive in the Legislature to undermine the automatic admission to any public university for the top 10th of each high school graduating class. (San Antonio Express-News)

New ethics code would cover charter schools: Charter-school administrators would be barred from using school funds, school credit cards, or lines of credit for personal gain under a new ethics code being released today. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Behind the boom in AP courses: Participation in AP courses has skyrocketed in recent years as many school districts have adopted open-enrollment policies, allowing any student willing to take on the work a chance to try the college-level courses. (San Antonio Express-News)

Public money for private schools?: “You're damn right I'm hurting public education, because public education is hurting our kids,” S.C. State Sen. Robert Ford said. Ford is putting a new face on the long-running fight over whether to spend public education dollars to pay for private schools. To the dismay of his African American colleagues, the Charleston Democrat is hawking a bill that would give students a publicly paid scholarship or tuition grant to go to a private school. (Charlotte Observer)

More students get subsidized lunches: The number of Massachusetts families seeking free and reduced-price meals for schoolchildren is rising as economic hardships extend to school lunchrooms. (Boston Globe)

NYC Teachers Misbehaved in Record Numbers in '08: They watched porn on work computers, falsified records to pad their pockets, faked doctors' notes to go on vacations abroad. And they all worked for New York City schools. Misconduct accusations against teachers and other Department of Education employees hit a record high of 2,886 last year, according to a Special Commissioner of Investigation. (New York Post)

Education's Ground Zero by Nicholas Kristof : Michelle Rhee, the chancellor of schools, has high aims in Washington, D.C., including setting an example for education reform across the country. Education reform could be the most potent antipoverty program in the country, and Ms. Rhee represents the vanguard in this struggle to try new tools to revive American schools. Unless we succeed in that effort and get more students through high school and into college, no bank bailout or stimulus package will be enough to preserve America’s global leadership in the long run. (Washington Post)

Texas Education board's vote a mixed bag for evolution

This from Breitbart:

Texas science teachers will no longer be required to teach weaknesses of scientific theory, including evolution, under new curriculum standards tentatively adopted by the State Board of Education on Thursday.

Supporters of evolution hailed the vote but were critical of amendments adopted by the board that they said could create new paths to teaching creationism and the similar theory of intelligent design in public schools.

If given final approval in a vote expected Friday, the new standards will drop a 20-year-old rule that requires both "strengths and weaknesses" of all scientific theories to be taught. Critics say the requirement is used to undermine the theory of evolution in favor of religious teachings.

The new standards, which would be in place for the next decade, govern what appears on standardized tests and material published in textbooks. As one of the
largest textbook purchasers in the nation, Texas has significant influence over the content of books marketed across the country...

Disputed article, editorial printed in school paper

This from the San Diego Union-Tribune:


Ban on writings had spurred suit

FALLBROOK — A special edition of Fallbrook High School's student newspaper has published an article and an editorial that the principal and school district had killed, resulting in a lawsuit.

The two pieces were killed by Fallbrook High principal Rod King, who had concerns about possible inaccuracies and the tone of the editorial. Scheduled for publication in May 2008, the editorial criticized abstinence-only sex education. The news story, written in late 2007, was critical of former Superintendent Tom Anthony.

In November, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the Fallbrook Union High School District for violating the free speech of students. The lawsuit has not been resolved.

Superintendent Dale Mitchell said the two pieces were printed last week in The Tomahawk because of new articles that ran with them that explained the controversy. He said the district is interested in resolving the lawsuit without going to court.

“It's a victory for free speech that the district finally lifted the ban on publishing the article and the editorial,” said David Blair-Loy, legal director of the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial counties. “It should not have had to take a lawsuit and motion to do it.”

The article alleged that Anthony, whose contract the district bought out in early 2008, was slow to evacuate the high school during the October 2007 wildfires. It said Anthony had met with fire and law enforcement officials and was advised to immediately declare an evacuation. The article didn't give the source of the information or include any comments from the people who were allegedly in the meeting. The district said no such meeting occurred.

King said he doubted the editorial was written only by students, and said it lacked pertinent information. A fact box in last week's edition notes that Fallbrook High teaches about contraceptives and abstinence.

The writers of the disputed pieces have since graduated, and the school is no longer offering journalism as a class..

This from the Student Press Law Center:

Adviser removed at Calif. high school

after challenging principal's censorship

CALIFORNIA — Administrators removed a journalism adviser from his position at Fallbrook High School after he defended students against two instances of censorship.
The Tomahawk, the student newspaper at the Fallbrook, Calif., high school, was first censored in November when it was covering the removal of former superintendent Tom Anthony by the Board of Trustees. Principal Rod King required the paper to remove the story, said David Evans, the adviser.

The paper was again censored in May, while it was preparing its final issue of the year. A student wrote an editorial that was critical of federal support of abstinence-only education. In an e-mail to Evans, King said he was "not at all comfortable" with the editorial, saying it was "one-sided" and controversial.

"You have done such a great job with the paper this year, to end it with such a one sided controversial piece would not do justice to all the great accomplishments," King wrote.

But both instances of censorship were in violation of the California Education Code, which states that censorship is legal only if the content is "obscene, libelous, or slanderous" or incites danger or a substantial disruption of the school, wrote Adam Goldstein, attorney advocate for the Student Press Law Center, in a letter to Evans.

Goldstein wrote that the justifications given for censorship of the editorial by the principal don't meet applicable legal standards.

"Nothing in the law cares about the principal's comfort level or permits censorship of controversial topics," Goldstein wrote...

Black Texas principal singles out black students to improve test scores

This from the Dallas Morning News:

...Grand Prairie High School principal Joseph Showell took a calculated risk. He called 60 black students into a meeting and challenged them to do better on their TAKS tests.

All of them were on the bubble. They had either narrowly failed or barely passed the exam last year.

Showell theorized that he could motivate the students to do better this year by explaining that their performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills is important to the school's overall academic rating and reputation.

Such is the high-pressure world of TAKS testing, which plays out in March and April. Bad scores in a single subject by just one student subgroup – blacks, Hispanics, whites and the economically disadvantaged – can torpedo a school's academic ranking or sink a principal's career.

Some students appreciated his candor. Others were offended and felt singled out for criticism because they are black.

"I said [to the principal], 'How can you call us stupid and not expect us to get mad," said Ashanti Rose, one of the black students called into the meeting last month.

At Grand Prairie High School, the black student subgroup had dragged the school's rating down in 2006 and 2007. Showell, who is black, decided in 2008 that it was time for a straight talk with the black students. He says he never called them stupid or demeaned them.

"It's not about being mean with the kids. That's not what I do," he said. "But you want to have the kids understand exactly where they are academically, because for a lot of them, this is the first time this information has been explained to them this way."

No one really knows, but the talks may have worked. In 2008, black student scores improved and the school moved from academically unacceptable to acceptable.

To some, a principal talking to students about racial subgroups in the TAKS system seemed unorthodox. But Showell believes his detailed explanation of the testing system could mean the difference between passing and failing.

"These are students that are not achieving, but they have the ability," Showell said. "These are not students that necessarily need remediation ... but just more motivation." ...

Quick Hits

NKU sorority suspended for hazing: Northern Kentucky University administrators have suspended the school's chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. for hazing its pledges.
Three students were subjected to "repeated and severe paddling," school officials said in a statement released Friday. They sought medical treatment for injuries including blistering, infections and fractures. The alleged incidents happened over several days in the first week of March at an off-campus house. (H-L)

KCTCS College faculty gives no confidence vote to regents: The faculty at Southeast Community and Technical College voted overwhelmingly to give the system's board of regents a vote of no confidence Friday in light of the regents' move to eliminate tenure for future hires.Instructors at the three campuses of that branch of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System voted 68-30 with seven abstentions, said Roy Silver, a sociology professor at Southeast's Cumberland campus. (H-L)

UK, state colleges try to absorb cuts while bracing for more: At this week's town-hall style meeting with students, University of Kentucky President Lee T. Todd Jr. told the 25 coeds gathered in the Cats Den that the university would have needed a 6.5 percent tuition increase next year just to keep up with rising costs. Instead, UK kept to the Council on Postsecondary Education's 5 percent tuition increase cap for the 2009-2010 year.Todd said UK officials hope to shield cash-strapped families as well as academic programs from as much of the financial burden as possible in tuition, room and board. "But the budget and the national situation is really ugly," he told them. Todd followed that up with an e-mail to faculty, students and staff alerting them that UK employees won't get raises for the second consecutive year. (H-L)

Catching Up on Robert Felner

I'm a few stories behind on the Robert Felner scandal at UofL, so to catch up...

In March, UofL released its audit of the College of Education and Human Development in the wake of the Robert Felner saga.

PageOne Kentucky reported UofL failed to follow its own internal processes regarding a personal service contract involving grant funds suggesting that the university can't effectively audit itself. The university's audit disagreed.

By the end of the month the court held a hearing to determine if comments Felner made during the interview preceeding his arrest could be used against him in a criminal trial.

This from C-J:

During a six-hour-plus interview with federal investigators last summer, former University of Louisville education dean Robert Felner went from being described as confident by investigators and a colleague to saying he was "freaked" and asking if he could go to jail.

"I'm starting to feel like I'm getting thrown under the bus," Felner said in a tape-recorded conversation with investigators that was played in court today during a hearing to decide if comments he made during the interview can be used against him in a criminal trial...

UofL Police Sgt. Jeffrey Jewell and U.S. Postal Inspector Jason Tatum... maintained ... that Felner did not invoke his right to a lawyer.

Recordings of the interview include Felner asking the investigators on several occasions whether he needed an attorney. At one point, Jewell responded: "That's your decision ... I won't talk you into it and I won't talk you out of it."

Cox also asked Jewell and Tatum if they told Felner that he could leave the interview at any time and had the right not to answer their questions. Both men said they did not tell Felner that, but Jewell said he repeatedly told Felner he was not under arrest.

During questioning by Cox, Jewell said he felt that Felner was "being deceptive in his responses."The tape includes segments where Jewell appears to put pressure on Felner to talk. Jewell tells Felner he plans on getting his IRS files, and that he knows Felner has "criminal problems."

"I don't want you to get caught up in lying to me OK?" Jewell said. "I can help you."

Cox has argued that Felner did not know he was free to leave because he was escorted to and from the bathroom and his car, and in at least two instances during the interview was asked to sit down.

In a tape-recorded exchange with Jewell at the end of the interview, Felner acknowledged he knew he was not under arrest, but said he did not know he had the option of leaving or not talking to the agents.

"I felt like I was escorted everywhere. I couldn't go anywhere. If I made a move to get up and leave, then I was in trouble," he said to Jewell. "... I didn't feel like I could leave the premises."

Finally, in an apparent abundance of support, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Edward C. Halperin, dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Louisville equated the Felner affair to the Duke Lacrosse scandal warning in C-J:

In view of the controversy swirling around former Dean Robert Felner and Thomas Schroeder, their recent indictments on mail fraud, money laundering conspiracy and income tax evasion, and the collateral accusations made regarding oversight procedures at the University of Louisville, I would like to offer some lessons I learned during the Duke lacrosse episode that might be of use to others:

Don't rush to judgment...no one has been convicted of anything. All citizens are innocent until proven guilty. We have no idea whether, in reference to the grant money in question, there is a "scandal of substantial depth and magnitude" until all the facts are made available and the matter has been addressed in the courts...

Fair enough. We look forward to reading his next letter to the editor when the court has ruled.

Hat tip to PageOne.

A Day at the Races

Max Gilpin was in distress at practice, father says

This from the Courier-Journal:

Max Gilpin had heat stroke, died

Five to eight minutes after Pleasure Ridge Park High School senior Antonio Calloway collapsed while running drills during an Aug. 20 football practice, someone pointed out to Jeff Gilpin that his 15-year-old son, Max, appeared to be cramping as the team continued to run, according to court documents filed this week.

In written answers to questions from lawyers for former PRP football coach David Jason Stinson, Jeff Gilpin said his son was in distress but kept running, trying to finish drills Stinson was using to punish the team, telling them "we are going to run until someone quits."

Max, a sophomore lineman on the varsity team, collapsed of heat stroke at the practice and died three days later at Kosair Children's Hospital, after his body temperature had reached 107 degrees.

Gilpin said Max never moved and was not conscious when the ambulance arrived at the practice field....

Massillon Alexander Cassidy

In Judge Charles Kerr's 1922 History of Kentucky, Massillon Alexander Cassidy's leadership in the Lexington schools is described as comparing favorably "with those of any other city in the country" and his innovations were frequently replicated "in various other sections of the country which have realized the value of elevated educational standards."

Cassidy was born August 22, 1856 at Morristown Tennessee the son of Martha Matilda (Jackson) Cassidy and Jeremiah Alexander Cassidy. Cassidy's father was an educator of some note from Virginia.

The descendants of M A Cassidy tell a story from his youth that they say shaped his character and influenced his later life as one of Kentucky's most influential educators during the progressive era.

During the Civil War, when Cassidy was still very young, he served as a Confederate soldier. One day he came home to see his mother. Union soldiers were patrolling in the area and came to her home in an attempt to find him. His mother, Martha Matilda, saw them coming and had Massillon climb down into the family's well with the cedar wooden bucket and windlass to hide. When they had finished searching, the Union Captain asked Martha for a drink of water.

Massillon's mother said, "On one condition. Provided that I can have the first bucket load."

When they drew the first bucket up with Massillon in it, the Captain said, "Madam, I am a man of my word. You can keep the first bucket load."

Cassidy was spared by kindness and the meaning of a man's word.

Cassidy gained his primary education in private schools and graduated from the Reagan High School for Boys in Morristown and later received a Master's Degree from UK. He taught briefly in Tennessee, studied law in Knoxville, passed the bar and practiced for two years before becoming a journalist.

He was elected Superintendent in Fayette County in 1885. Cassidy was "so popular and successful" that he was reelected to five successive four-year terms, and for four of those years, he held joint superintendency of the county and city schools.

On June 4, 1899, the Lexington Leader reported that a "Cassidy Club" was formed to advance his candidacy for Superintendent.

The friends of the candidacy of Mr. M A Cassidy for the Democratic nomination of State superintendent of Public Instruction met last night in the Circuit Court room and organized a Cassidy Club, having for its object the furtherance of his interests regardless of the governor's race.

In 1901, Cassidy resigned from the county position and remained superintendent of the city schools. During his tenure, he increased enrollment "from a few hundred pupils to about 7,000." Kerr writes,

"The City of Lexington has long enjoyed the reputation of having one of the best administared and most up-to-date systems of schools found anywhere in the country ... and was one of the first cities in the United States to reorganize its schools on the 6-3-3- plan."

Cassidy also implemented:

• "open air schools"
• the penny lunch
• a community center with a swimming pool and auditorium
• manual training
• "domestic economy"
• restrooms,
• "opportunity classes ... for irregular children"
• junior high schools
• "kindergarten in all white schools adn some of the negro schools"
• laundries in the basements of schools for both children and parents"
• "moving picture apparatus"
• opened building for community use
• clean and well-kept buildings

Cassidy

• condemned nearly every school in the county as his first act as superintendent
• held the first county graduation ceremonies in Kentucky
• employed teachers who were college graduates
• authored Golden Deeds which served as the text for a character education program in Lexington
• formed the Fayette County teachers' Normal Institute in 1887
• was described in the Lexington Leader as "familiar to every teacher n Kentucky"
• appointed a Catholic school trustee in 1896
• formed the Fayette County Colored Teachers' Institute in 1901 with Prof J H Johnson.
• removed the colored board of trustees for not reporting school census
• was regarded as the father of Kentucky's progressive school laws form 1993 - 1905.
• served as President of the Kentucky Education Association and was active with the NEA.
• served as President of the Southern Association
• authored numerous articles and was recognized by the American School Board Journal and St Nicholas Magazine
• was a member of the Democratic Party, the Masons and the Presbyterian church
• Called for tax increases to better suport the schools on several occasions
• died December 22, 1928.

A memorial in tribute to Cassidy was erected at the Lexington Cemetry in October, 1930.

Cassidy School Gets a Face Lift

The Herald-Leader ran a short piece this morning on the renovation of my old stomping ground, M A Cassidy School in Lexington. Renovation of the building had been on the planning board for about a decade without sufficient funding to get the job done. That changed last year when Stu Silberman pushed through a local "nickle" tax to allow for better care of facilities in Fayette County.

An $11 million renovation and expansion has begun at Lexington's M.A. Cassidy Elementary School. Four portable classrooms are being used right now, and additional portables are being placed near the rear of the building for use next fall.

The school was built in 1935 and named for Massilon Alexander Cassidy, who was superintendent of Lexington Schools from 1885 to 1928 and was among the most prominent educators in the state.

Cassidy circa 1949.

In 1956 Cassidy School underwent a major expansion project with the addition of ten classrooms, a gymnasium and cafeteria.

In 1976, Cassidy students were briefly moved to the Old Picadome School while the building was remodeled.

In 1988, four more classrooms were added.

Cassidy circa 1991.

Duncan: Mayors Need Control of Urban Schools

This from the Chicago Tribune:

WASHINGTON - Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Tuesday that mayors should take control of big-city school districts where academic performance is suffering. Duncan said mayoral control provides the strong leadership and stability needed to overhaul urban schools. Mayors run the schools in fewer than a dozen big cities; only seven have full control over management and operations. That includes Chicago, where Duncan headed the school system until joining the Obama administration. Speaking at a forum with mayors and superintendents, Duncan promised to help more mayors take over.

"At the end of my tenure, if only seven mayors are in control, I think I will have failed," Duncan said...

Citing that Baltimore had seven different superintendents iun the past decade, Duncan asked,

And you wonder why school systems are struggling," Duncan said. "What business would run that way?"

Duncan told the Associated Press that urban schools need someone who is accountable to voters and driving all of a city's resources behind children.

"Part of the reason urban education has struggled historically is you haven't had that leadership from the top," he said. "That lack of stability, that lack of leadership is a huge part of the reason you don't see sustained progress and growth," Duncan said.

It is unusual for a Cabinet secretary to weigh in on local matters. Yet Duncan has been emphatic on the subject, calling for mayoral takeover of Detroit public schools and for New York lawmakers to renew the law giving Mayor Michael Bloomberg control over his city's schools.

Duncan said it's impossible to have a great city without great schools that provide a skilled work force to bring and keep jobs.

It remains to be seen how Duncan's message will be received this weekend when he is scheduled to address the National School Boards Association, which represents local school boards that control districts across the country and opposes mayoral control.

Mayoral control is worth considering in about 400 of the biggest school districts, said Kenneth Wong, a Brown University professor who studies the issue. Those districts enroll about a third of the nation's 50 million school children.

Minorities, mostly Hispanics, flock to suburban schools

This from USA Today:

Minority enrollment in suburban school districts has exploded since the early 1990s, and Hispanic students account for most of that growth, a report released Tuesday finds.

But the data show that while districts outside urban and rural areas have seen remarkable gains in black, Hispanic and Asian students from 1993 to 2007, schools within some of those districts have grown more segregated.

"In spite of the rapid demographic changes at the level of the school district, when you actually look at the schools kids attend, there still might be issues of racial and ethnic balance," says Richard Fry, a senior research associate for the Pew Hispanic Center and author of the report.

The findings come as enrollment in suburban schools has increased by 3.4 million during the past decade and a half. Meanwhile, the number of white suburban students slipped by 1%, reflecting a shift in the once largely white enclaves that defined suburban schools...

New Search Firm Twice as Expensive ...as that Bad One

The Kentucky Board of Education spent $60,000 searching for Commissioners in 2007. Ray & Associates was hired for the ill-fated search that produced Barbara Erwin and the board conducted its own search before hiring Jon Draud.

Now the board will pay Greenwood/Asher & Associates Inc., a Florida-based consulting firm, $120,000 to guide a new search for another education commissioner, the third since Gene Wilhoit resigned in November 2006. Greenwood/Ashher is the same firm that placed President Lee Todd at UK in 2001, and President Jim Votruba at NKU in 1997. The CPE paid them $130,000 to help search for its new president, Robert King, who was hired in December.

Board of Education chair, Joe Brothers told C-J's Toni Konz he's not frustrated about having to pay more for a new search.

"No, it's not really a frustration," he said. "It's a disappointment in some ways … but that is par for the course."

Greenwood/Asher's President and CEO Jan Greenwood told C-J her firm will recruit potential candidates and place advertisements in statewide and national publications, perform background checks, interview references and help the board conduct interviews.

This is all well and good. But it is no substitute for the board doing some extra digging on their own when it reaches the finalist stage.

KSN&C has had a couple of off-the-record conversations that convince us that board members are plenty sensitive to the errors of the past and are dedicated to a better process this time around. But just in case, and assuming finalists will be named (as we hear they will be) KSN&C will be doing some of its own vetting as well.

This from the State Journal:

Kentucky Board of Education members plan to put an education commissioner in place by Aug. 1, Chairman Joe Brothers said after meeting with the group’s search firm Wednesday.

According to a tentative search schedule, the board could review potential candidates in early June, followed by two rounds of interviews on June 23 and 24, and July 8, 9 or 10....

After the meeting, Brothers told reporters the board doesn’t have a preference for an in-state or out-of-state candidate.

“There’s a preference to get the very best for Kentucky’s kids,” he said.

He said the recent passage of Senate Bill 1, which does away with the state’s Commonwealth Accountability Testing System, shows Kentucky is “stepping up” and could present a good opportunity for the right candidate.

Board members had suggestions Wednesday for what that candidate would look like. Several said they hope he or she has experience in the classroom, but members agreed that the next commissioner could come from outside the education field.

Board member Billy Harper, a western Kentucky businessman, said he hopes to hire an “innovator” like University of Kentucky President Lee Todd.

“He came - not out of the education world - having that dream for UK, willing to do what it takes to move the university forward,” he said. ...

Kentucky's Math and Science Initiative Expands

AdvanceKentucky Announces 15 New High Schools
to Participate in the National Math and Science Initiative

AP Teacher Training and Incentive Program

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Fifteen (15) new high schools are joining AdvanceKentucky, bringing to 27 schools that are implementing the AP Teacher Training and Incentive Program. AdvanceKY is funded by a $13.2 million grant from the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI), which is supported by ExxonMobil, Dell and Gates Foundations. The NMSI model has over a decade of data from Texas schools demonstrating its proven ability to dramatically accelerate success in rigorous math, science and English (MSE) courses and on Advanced Placement exams, particularly among underrepresented student populations. AdvanceKY is replicating this model involving content-rich teacher training and incentives for teachers and students who achieve qualifying scores on MSE AP exams.

Fifteen (15) new high schools in Cohort 2 are: Bellevue, Bowling Green, Bryan Station, East Jessamine, Franklin-Simpson, Graves County, Highlands, Hopkins County Central, Johnson Central, Madisonville North Hopkins, Montgomery County, Paintsville, Powell County, Warren Central, and West Jessamine.

Twelve (12) other high schools in Cohort 1 already implementing the program are: Anderson County, Barren County, Corbin, Henderson County, Lone Oak, Marion County, North Laurel, Reidland, Scott County, Shelby County, South Laurel, and Warren East.

On average, 41 percent of the 27 high schools’ total enrollments are eligible for free or reduced lunch; 11 percent are minority students. In Cohort 1 schools, enrollments have increase by107 percent in numbers of students eligible for free or reduced lunch by 81 percent in numbers of minority students.

Projected 09/10 MSE enrollments across these 27 schools will exceed 5,100, which represents 39 percent of their total number of juniors and seniors, who typically take these rigorous MSE courses.

Growth goals in qualifying scores on 2010 MSE AP exams among these schools reach 1,976 -- compared to 904 earned in 2008 -- which may earn college credit for these high school students.

Using Cohort 1 schools for context, their collective 2009 exam qualifying score goal is 702, up from a baseline of 320. These initial 12 schools are projecting to dramatically exceed their Year 1 goals and are poised to prove that the success of model in Kentucky.

A total of 181 MSE AP courses are planned for the 09/10 school year, which includes 40 new AP course offerings above the current year. This will involve training for 176 AP teachers and a projected 250 Pre-AP teachers this summer.

SOURCE: KDE press release

KBE Discusses Commish Search, School Assistance

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – At its regular meeting Wednesday and Thursday, the Kentucky Board of Education heard presentations, had in-depth discussions and made decisions on a number of items.

The board had a lengthy discussion with Greenwood/Asher & Associates, Inc., the firm hired to conduct the search for a new commissioner of education. Representatives from the Florida-based firm outlined a timeline that would culminate with the hiring of a new commissioner in August. The board has entered into a contract that would pay the firm a maximum of $120,000 for its work.

The board heard a presentation on the state’s student information system, which is provided through Infinite Campus. All of Kentucky’s 174 public school districts have implemented the core components of the system.

Staff from the Department of Education’s Office of Leadership and School Improvement and Office of Special Instructional Services provided an update on the Assist and Support School Improvement Success Team (ASSIST) initiative, which is designed to provide support and resources to schools and districts in need of improvement based on state and federal academic accountability measures.

The board took the following actions:

• approved the appointment of Catherine Fernandez, a teacher in the Henderson County school district, and David McFadden, a teacher in the Laurel County school district, to the State Textbook Commission
• approved the district facility plan for Bell County
• approved a district facility plan amendment for Ballard County
• appointed board members Dorie Combs, Doug Hubbard and Austin Moss to a work group that will study sports safety as mandated by House Bill 383
• accepted the report of the Audit Committee

Other reports and presentations included:

• an update from AdvanceKentucky on Advanced Placement courses and resources
• a review of legislation passed in the 2009 session of the General Assembly
• discussion about the requirements of Senate Bill 1, which revamped the state’s public school assessment and accountability system
• information about safety training for coaches and other staff related to high school athletics
• an update from the Collaborative Center for Literacy Development and Kentucky Center for Mathematics on statewide coaching initiatives

The board will hold its annual retreat on May 12 and 13 in Frankfort. The board’s next regular meeting will be June 10 and 11 in Frankfort.

SOURCE: KDE press release

Charter Schools Coming Soon to Kentucky

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan yesterday announced that $44 billion for states and schools is now available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and it's time for states to come to Jesus.

One of the provisions is likely to expand the charter school discussions in Kentucky into the historically resistant mainstream.

As Politics K-12 reports:

States must report whether they allow charter schools and whether there is a cap restricting the number of such schools, the number of charter schools currently operating in the state, and the number of charter schools closed within the last three years for academic reasons. (President Obama just called for states to lift caps on charter school capacity and expansion.)

The current answer to these financially rewarding questions in Kentucky is:
No;
Yes, Zero;
Zero (unless you count the two stealth semi-charters in Bowling Green and Louisville); and
Zero.

The White House Stimulus funding is intended to lay the foundation for a generation of education reform and help save hundreds of thousands of teaching jobs at risk of state and local budget cuts.

"Given our economic circumstances, it's critical that money go out quickly but
it's even more important that it be spent wisely," said Duncan.

The announcement includes the application and guidelines for $32.6 billion under the State Stabilization Fund, representing two-thirds of the total dollars in the Fund. This includes $26.6 billion to save jobs and improve K-12 and higher education and a separate $6 billion in a Government Services Fund to pay for education, public safety or other government services.

Funds in the first round will be released within two weeks of an application's approval. A second round of stabilization funds will be released later in the year. A third round of funding, the Race to the Top competitive grant program will reward states that have made the most progress on reforms.

In addition,

*States must collect data on the number and percentage of teachers and principals rated at each performance level in each district's teacher-evaluation system, and on the number and percentage of teacher and principal evaluation systems that require evidence of student-achievement outcomes. (A signal that the department is serious about boosting teacher effectiveness.)

*States must report the number and percentage of students by school who graduate high school and go on to complete at least one year’s worth of college credit (as applicable to a degree) within two years.

(Do all states have this capability?)

Attention: Shelly & Stu - or is it Jerry & Jim?

Arne Duncan Advocates Mayoral Takeover of Big-City Districts

This from Politics K-12:

Education Secretary Arne Duncan grew up in a school system dominated by mayoral control. He's said he loses sleep at night over Detroit Public Schools.

And he's weighed in on New York City's governance structure, declaring that the city's public schools are best left in the mayor's hands. Now, as if the education secretary doesn't have enough going on, he's wading even further—and more dramatically—into the thorny issue of local control and school governance by declaring that more big-city mayors need to take over school districts. And if the numbers don't rise, he said according to Libby Quaid's Associated Press story, he will have failed as secretary." ...

"Best left in the hands of mayors" is not much of an argument. Duncan will have to do better than that. Kentucky has avoided this circumstance largely, I suppose, because there has yet to be any push for it.

House to hold hearings on tax reform soon

This from Bluegrass Politics:

FRANKFORT — House leaders said Monday that they plan to hold hearings soon on two tax overhaul bills in preparation for a possible special legislative session this summer.

Rep. Rick Rand, D-Bedford, chairman of the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee, said Monday that hearings on two tax reform bills as well as other discussions about the condition of the state’s finances could take place as early as late April.

“The prospects for our next budget cycles are not rosy,” Rand said. “We want to make sure that we are prepared to make any decisions that we may have to make.”

The General Assembly just adjourned on Thursday. But talks of tackling tax reform — or looking at the way Kentucky generates revenue — started early in the 2009 session after the General Assembly passed a combination of cuts and increases in cigarette and alcohol taxes as a way to plug a $456 million shortfall. Many legislators, in speeches on the floor and privately, said the state could no longer balance its books on the backs of just a few industries.

And many say next year’s budget shortfall could be even greater as the state’s revenues continue to decline. Gov. Steve Beshear said last week that he has not yet decided whether to call a special session to address a potential shortfall.

The legislature has kicked around tax reform since Gov. Paul Patton’s tenure in the 1990s, but the measure gained steam when a 2002 report showed that Kentucky’s tax structure was structurally unsound–meaning it did not raise enough revenue to support the services the state had in place. The state uses a tax structure more suited to the industrial age and did not address or tax the growing service sector, the study found...

Good. And while they're at it, perhaps they can remove the inherently disequalizing property tax as the basis for funding Kentucky schools.

Ousted Board Member Blames Williams

As previously reported, former Kentucky Board of Education member Steve Neal lost his seat when Senate leadership chose not to bring his confirmation up for a vote. Since the law requires confirmation by both houses - Neal is out.

KSN&C tried to catch Neal over the past few days to ask for his thoughts on the dismissal but our schedules didn't mesh. Fortunately, Toni Konz caught up with him.

This from C-J:

Neal, who resigned as a registered lobbyist for the teachers union after his appointment but maintained his position as executive director, said yesterday that he blames Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville.

"He played small-minded, petty politics instead of doing what was right for children in Kentucky," said Neal, a Democrat. "I had a bull's-eye on my forehead, and it was
put there by David Williams."

Neal said Williams wanted to privatize pension plans of state employees and proposed "devastating changes" to the state's health insurance -- two things the union successfully lobbied against.

"I am quite certain that this was a personal grudge against me and against JCTA," Neal said.

Williams did not return several calls for comment yesterday. He released a statement through Baez-Schrader saying that Senate leaders reviewed the resumes of all the appointees.

"The resumes were thoroughly reviewed in complete consultation with the Senate Democrats," Williams said. "The confirmations speak for themselves."

Governor Beshear expressed disappointment.

Today C-J's David Hawpe expressed something else.

At first blush, it looks like Steve Neal got a raw deal...

Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, D-Louisville, harrumphed that, "up until Thursday (before adjournment) I was told there was not a problem. But then (Sen. Ed Worley, D-Richmond, the minority leader) came up to me and told me that (Senate President) David Williams did not want to embarrass Steve Neal, but that his confirmation would not come up."...

Of course, one could just as easily argue that Neal made himself a target.

In addition to opposing Williams' ideas for changing the state's public pension and health insurance programs, Neal and other teachers union leaders saw to it that JCTA gave Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear almost $200,000 for his 2007 campaign.

That's the kind of thing likely to get the attention of Kentucky's most powerful state-based Republican....

If his recent attacks on Jefferson County Superintendent Sheldon Berman are any example, he would seem to know a lot about targeting one's opponents personally.

In the Jan. 21 edition of JCTA's "Action" newsletter, Neal mocked the superintendent, saying, "I can only describe Dr. Berman's dealings (with the county's teachers) as 'stink, stank, stunk,' We can only hope that he will stop pushing the heads of his employees beneath the cold, murky water and seek a better way to help them stay afloat."

Berman, he declared, was guilty of trying to "stick it to the little guy" while doing "nothing to help JCPS."

This is rhetoric more often associated with a Teamsters local, not the local teachers union. And I say that as the son of a Teamster.

Did Neal really think Republican lawmakers would forget his broadsides, including those in the Feb. 18 "Action" headlined "Proficiency on the Cheap," in which he claimed that the state's "decision-makers have no idea what it takes to teach children in our public schools?"

Maybe he really did expect them to laugh along with him, when they read this Neal put-down: "There are times I have chuckled when legislators blame (the Kentucky Education Reform Act) and teachers. I would love to put them in a classroom alone for one week and see how they fare."

Maybe he expected Williams and his GOP caucus to forget not only the serious policy differences and the teachers' huge Democratic political gifts but also Neal's taunt that
honchos in both parties were guilty of throwing "simple-minded solutions at complex socio-economic problems," as well as "rampant political posturing" and playing "the blame game."

That sounds like the kind of stuff I might throw around, but then I don't expect David Williams to have the Senate confirm me for the state school board. Or anything else...

Calipari to be Named Education Commissioner

"CATS" to remain as name for new accountability system

Frankfort — In a stunning move, the Kentucky Board of Education is poised to name John Calipari as the state’s next Commissioner of Education. The state board, meeting in Frankfort today for its monthly meeting, reportedly concluded negotiations with Calipari early this morning on his arrival in Lexington, where he rumored to be also considering some sort of part-time job with the University of Kentucky men’s basketball program.

State board Chairman Joe Brothers called the negotiations quick and easy. “I think the turning point was when we agreed to retain the name ‘CATS’ for the new school accountability system,” Brothers said, adding…

A little “APRIL FOOL!” humor from Brad Hughes at KSBA.