Two finalists for Kentucky Education Commissioner are strong leaders, excellent communicators

This from WDRB:

The two finalists who remain in Kentucky's search for a new education commissioner are both former teachers who are "strong leaders" and "excellent communicators."

WDRB News has been able to independently confirm that Stephen Pruitt, a former Georgia Department of Education official who is now the senior vice president at Achieve, Inc., an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit education reform organization in Washington, D.C., and Christopher Koch, the former State Superintendent of Education in Illinois who is now the interim president of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) in Washington, D.C., are the two finalists who remain in the search.

WDRB 41 Louisville News

[DOCUMENTS | KENTUCKY EDUCATION COMMISSIONER FINALIST SEARCH]

The other three candidates -- Buddy Berry, superintendent of Eminence Independent Schools in Eminence, Ky., Lloyd Martin, chief executive officer for Universal School Solutions, LLC, in Jacksonville, Fla., and Kathleen Airhart, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer for the Tennessee Department of Education, have indicated they are no longer being considered.

Without naming who the two finalists are, Kentucky Board of Education chairman Roger Marcum told WDRB News on Thursday he believes "both remaining finalists are super strong candidates."

"I think either one would be an excellent commissioner," he said, noting that the board is now having two in-depth background checks done on both finalists. "At this point, we just want to know everything there is to know about them."

According to the application letters and resumes submitted by Pruitt and Koch to the Florida firm charged with helping the state board with its search process, both men talk about their extensive experience in working with students, teachers, parents and other stakeholders. The documents were obtained by WDRB News from the Kentucky Department of Education through an open records request.

"I spent twelve years as a high school science teacher," Pruitt wrote in his letter. "I believe the position of Commissioner of Education needs to have come from a firm foundation of having been a teacher. I am most proud of my time in the classroom."

Pruitt says he is a "strong believer in the power and necessity of communication."

"A quality communicator is able to create a clear message, but also able to listen to stakeholders affected by the issue at hand," he wrote. "I have had the opportunity in my roles in state government and in the private sector to lead large, successful programs or initiatives. They were successful in large part because I know the value of communicating a plan, but also listening to district leaders and teachers."

Koch's application letter states that his eight years as Illinois State Superintendent of Education gave him a "particularly full spectrum of experiences that would easily transfer to Kentucky."

He mentions his "proven record of implementing an innovative vision for education" and "expertise in attracting, mentoring and retaining diverse personnel." He says he also has extensive experience in financial management and fundraising.

During his time as state superintendent, Koch said he is most proud of being able to successfully advocate for more education funding and implementing "student performance assessments that measure the application of knowledge and higher order thinking skills."

Former Kentucky Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit is listed as one of five references on Koch's resume, but Wilhoit also told WDRB News on Thursday he is familiar with Pruitt as well.

"I've known Chris for a number of years, I have observed him in multiple settings" Wilhoit said. "His strengths include a remarkable ability to relate to different groups of people. He is a consensus builder. He was able to navigate extremely difficult and complex education issues in Illinois, including those in Chicago, which is the third largest district in the country."

Koch mentions his department's interventions in both the East St. Louis and North Chicago school districts as among his proudest accomplishments, saying those actions "resulted in improved and continuing to improve student academic performance."

Wilhoit describes Pruitt as an "energetic and innovative educator" who was "supported and well-received" during his time in Georgia and was given the "difficult responsibility -- in the shadow of new math and English standards -- to develop some national science standards."

"I think either Chris or Stephen would be a great commissioner," Wilhoit said.

Pruitt began his career as a high school chemistry teacher in Georgia, where he taught for 12 years. In 2003, he joined the Georgia Department of Education as the program manager for science, later became the director of academic standards, an associate superintendent of assessment and accountability and then chief of staff to then State School Superintendent Kathy Cox.

Pruitt joined Achieve in 2010 and has led the the development of the Next Generation Science Standards -- the new set of academic guidelines that teachers across Kentucky put into practice last year.

Much like the Common Core Standards in math and language arts – which have been adopted by 43 states -- the science standards describe what students need to know before they complete each grade level. To date, 14 other states, as well as Washington, D.C., have implemented the science standards.

"It's a very complex system, and Stephen did it very well -- and he did that fairly independently," Wilhoit said. "He has shown an ability to develop a high quality product and work with people from all different backgrounds. He is an excellent communicator."

Pruitt, who is married with two children, earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from North Georgia College and State University, a master’s in science education from the University of West Georgia and a doctorate of philosophy in chemistry education from Auburn University.

Koch's began his career in special education. He taught in four states in various settings including an Outward Bound program, a college preparatory school, a youth detention center and a psychiatric hospital. He also worked with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education where he administered programs in correctional education and School-to-Work transition.

Since May, he has been the interim president of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation -- the only recognized accreditor specialized in accreditation of U.S. educator-preparation programs.

He was tapped to be interim after James Cibulka, a former dean of the college of education at the University of Kentucky, who was unexpectedly removed from the job following what Education Week called "a rocky few months" where CAEP was criticized for a disorganized piloting of the new accreditation standards.

Koch earned his bachelor's degree from Southern Illinois University and his master’s and doctoral degrees in educational policy and leadership from George Washington University.

Terry Holliday was named education commissioner in 2009 and has been in charge of overseeing the education of 675,000 students in Kentucky's public schools. His last official day on the job was Aug. 31.

The state board has appointed Associate Commissioner and General Counsel Kevin Brown to serve as interim commissioner until a new commissioner is appointed.

This from KSBA:

Both commissioner finalists started in the classroom, 

spent years in state education agency leadership posts

While neither of the two remaining candidates to become the state’s sixth commissioner of education are from Kentucky, an eNews review of their resumes show both have connections – in one form or another - to the state’s K-12 education system.

The mystery ended Wednesday on the identities of the two final applicants not named publicly by the Kentucky Board of Education last weekend. The Louisville Courier-Journal, WDRB-TV in Louisville, KSBA eNews and other news media outlets collectively confirmed the status of the five finalists interviewed last weekend by state board, leaving Christopher A. Koch and Stephen L. Pruitt as the remaining candidates after the other three acknowledged they had not been selected to move forward.

The elimination of Eminence Independent Schools Superintendent Buddy Berry from consideration ensured that the next commissioner of education would not be a Kentuckian, as some individuals and organizations had pressed the state board to strongly consider. However, Koch and Pruitt are not without linkages to education in Kentucky.

Koch, currently interim president of an organization that accredits teacher preparation programs, lists former Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit among his references. Wilhoit now runs the National Center for Innovation in Education at the University of Kentucky. He previously was executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), an organization of all of the states’ top K-12 agency leaders. During Wilhoit’s tenure there, Koch served as CCSSO president while he was Illinois’ state superintendent of public education. He also served on the CCSSO board of directors for several years with Terry Holliday, who retired this past Monday as Kentucky’s commissioner of education.

A graduate of Southern Illinois University, Koch also listed among his references current SIU President Randy Dunn, who is a former president of Murray State University.

Pruitt, a senior vice president of a nonprofit organization that works with states on education standards, was a leader in the development of the new science curriculum measures known as Next Generation Science Standards. According to documents on the Kentucky Department of Education website, Pruitt consulted with the KDE staff, Kentucky teachers and others in the crafting of the science standards now being taught in Kentucky classrooms. He began assisting the agency in 2010, leading a group that took a National Academy of Science framework to draft the new standards for Kentucky and at last a dozen other states.

This week, the Kentucky Department of Education and the state board’s search consultant, Greenwood/Asher and Associates, are in the process of hiring an expert in deep background searches to be conducted on Koch and Pruitt. That process is expected to take between two and three weeks.

Here is a deeper look at the resumes of the two finalists for the commissioner’s job:

Christopher Koch

After earning his bachelor’s degree in liberal arts (concentration on English) from SIU in 1984, Koch got his master’s (transitional special education, 1988) and doctoral degrees (educational policy and leadership, 2000) from George Washington University.

He began his education career in 1988 as a special education teacher in a Washington, D.C., psychiatric hospital and day school. He also taught special education in a Maryland vocational ed program, and worked as a youth program director in New Hampshire.

Koch spent more than a decade in the Illinois Department of Education, interrupted by two years when he worked in the U.S. Department of Education’s vocational and adult education unit. In the Illinois agency, he was director of special education, chief education officer and assistant state superintendent before being appointed state superintendent of education. He served in that post from December 2006 through this past May.

Koch served as vice chairman of the board of directors of the Council for the Accreditation of Education Preparation for two years before becoming that organization’s interim president this past May.

More on Koch’s career and work may be seen here http://caepnet.org/about/leadership/christopher-koch.

Stephen Pruitt

Pruitt graduated from North Georgia College in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in science and chemistry. He earned his master’s degree in education in secondary science from the State University of West Georgia in 1996 and his doctorate of philosophy in chemistry education from Auburn University in 2010.

Pruitt started his career in education in 1991 as an AP and college prep chemistry teacher at a high school in Tyrone, Ga. He taught AP chemistry and gifted chemistry while he was department chair at a Fayetteville, Ga. high school until 2003. During those years, he also was a cross country coach and worked as track and field event manager at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

In 2003, Pruitt joined the Georgia Department of Education as a science and program manager. He later served as the agency’s director of academic standards, associate superintendent for assessment and accountability, and chief of staff.

Pruitt went to work in Washington, D.C., in 2010 with Achieve Inc., as vice president for content and research and development where he worked on materials related to the English language and math Common Core State Standards. Since May 2013, he has been a senior vice president for the organization, and has been responsible for working with a number of state departments of education – including Kentucky – on the implementation of the new science standards.

As part of his work for Achieve Inc., Pruitt led grant-writing work that gained the organization $16 million, including $4 million to support the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top push. 

Koch, Pruitt finalists for Ky Ed Commissioner

This from the Courier-Journal:

The Kentucky Board of Education is vetting Christopher Koch and Stephen Pruitt as the two finalists who are still up for consideration to potentially become Kentucky's next education commissioner.

Three of the five candidates who were granted second-round interviews in the hunt for Kentucky's next education commissioner have said they did not make the finalist list, leaving only Pruitt and Koch in the running for the state's top education gig.

Last week, the Kentucky Board of Education posted the names of five candidates it had chosen for second interviews; after conducting those interviews, the board announced Saturday it had whittled the group of five down to two finalists — although it didn't name the two.

On Wednesday, three candidates — Kathleen Airhart, Buddy Berry and Lloyd Martin — told the Courier-Journal that they were not finalists for the job.

That leaves Koch, the former Illinois State Superintendent of Education and current interim president of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, and Pruitt, senior vice president with nonpartisan education reform organization Achieve Inc., as the two finalists.

Neither man returned calls or emails requesting comment Wednesday.

The board has commissioned in-depth background checks on the two finalists, which are likely to take a few weeks and cost about $5,000 per candidate, the Kentucky Department of Education has said.

Once those checks are complete, the board will hold a special meeting to take the next step in the process.

Board chairman Roger Marcum told the Courier-Journal last week that the board didn't plan to publicly name the two finalists, although it was up to candidates if they wanted to self-identify.

Airhart, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer for the Tennessee Department of Education, said she "greatly appreciated" the board's consideration and time, saying she had not sought out the Kentucky education commissioner position but that she thought the board had a "very thorough interview process and I was honored to be a small part of it."

Berry, superintendent of Eminence Independent Schools in Eminence, Ky., and the only candidate from the Bluegrass State to get a second interview, released a statement confirming he is not one of the two remaining in the commissioner search, saying that being selected to go so far in the process "is one of the most humbling honors of my life."

"I feel Kentucky stands poised for unprecedented educational achievements," Berry said in the statement. "While I'm disappointed not to be chosen, Kentucky is, and always will be, my home and I can't thank the Kentucky Board of Education enough for allowing me to be a part of the conversation for its future."

Martin, who is founder and chief executive officer of the consultancy firm Universal School Solutions LLC, said by phone that he was not one of the two finalists; he declined to comment any further on the process.

Interim education commissioner Kevin Brown is heading the Kentucky Department of Education until a new leader is chosen. Former commissioner Terry Holliday, who held the position for about six years, retired at the end of August.

Pruitt has worked at Achieve Inc. since 2010. He has been senior vice president since 2013. He previously worked in the Georgia Department of Education, serving in a number of roles, including chief of staff and associate state superintendent. He holds a doctorate in chemistry education from Auburn University.

Koch spent more than eight years as the State Superintendent of Education in Illinois, becoming one of the longest-serving state school chiefs in the country. Before that tenure, he worked in other roles for the Illinois education agency, and for a few years in the 1990s worked as an education program specialist with the U.S. Department of Education, according to his resume. He has a doctorate of education from George Washington University.

Two candidates confirm they will not be the next Kentucky Education Commissioner

And as an added bonus, "Barbara Erwin" is back In the News 

 

This from KSN&C back in the day:

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Kentucky Board of Education Reassesses

Wherein, KBE Chair Keith Travis delivers the quotes I'd been waiting for

The Kentucky Board of Education voted 9-0 last night to accept the resignation of Barbara Erwin.

After a 2 1/2 hour closed session, they decided to start an immediate search for an interim education commissioner. Kevin Noland, the head of legal services for KDE, has his other full-time job he wants to get back to.

Board chair Keith Travis told the Herald-Leader that he hopes to have a person in place within two weeks.

Travis also said the board was not under pressure to find a permanent replacement and stressed that board members want a Kentucky educator to apply.

If the overall quality of the field produced by the recent national search was as shallow as it seems, one can understand the board's reluctance. And of course, once burned; twice shy. Board members now say they won't use Ray & Associates, which cost Kentucky $50,000, and aren't sure whether they will use a search firm at all.

Travis had been quoted saying he wouldn't call Erwin's hiring a mistake, but yesterday changed his tune when he said that he did not think Erwin was the best person for the job. He told the Courier-Journal that the board tried to give Erwin the benefit of the doubt.

Travis said that he started to question whether Erwin was right for the job after talking with her about the investigation. "We relied heavily on a search firm to provide us information, and probably relied on them too much."

Travis said neither he nor the board encouraged Erwin to resign but that he did have a conversation with her early Friday morning, questioning her about all of the distractions. "The board was having serious concerns about her ability to provide leadership with all of these other issues going on in her life," he said. "At some point, all of these items become cumulative and certainly the one on Wednesday (the missing personnel file) was the icing on the cake."

This from WDRB (Sept 1, 2015):

Two candidates -- including the lone Kentuckian, as well as the only female -- confirmed to WDRB News on Tuesday that they are not two of the remaining finalists for Kentucky Education Commissioner.

Kentucky Education Commissioner finalists from top left: Kathleen Airhart, Christopher Koch, Buddy Berry; and bottom left, Lloyd Martin and Stephen Pruitt (Photos via Kentucky Board of Education)

Buddy Berry, superintendent of Eminence Independent Schools in Eminence, Ky., says being named one of the five candidates in the search for a new Kentucky Education Commissioner was "one of the most humbling honors of my life."

"There are many Kentuckians that I feel could lead this charge, so to be selected to represent our state in this process was a real blessing," Berry said. "I believe being a finalist has been a testament to all the hard work of our students and staff at Eminence and of our focus on creating the future of what schools can be."

Kathleen Airhart, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer for the Tennessee Department of Education, also confirmed she is not among the finalists.

"It was a privilege to have had the opportunity to meet with the Kentucky board," Airhart said. "I was a 'nominated' candidate and had not sought out the position independently. I greatly appreciated their consideration and their time.  I found it to be a very thorough interview process and I was honored to be a small part of it."

The Kentucky Board of Education interviewed five candidates Friday and Saturday in closed session in Lexington. In open session, the board indicated it wants in-depth background checks done on two of the candidates, but would not name which ones.

Aside from Berry and Airhart, the other three candidates include: Christopher Koch, interim president of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) in Washington, D.C.; Lloyd Martin, chief executive officer for Universal School Solutions, LLC, in Jacksonville, Fla.; and Stephen Pruitt, senior vice president at Achieve, Inc., an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit education reform organization in Washington, D.C.

Roger Marcum, chairman of the Kentucky Board of Education, told WDRB News on Monday the state has no objection if the five named candidates "self-disclose" whether they’ve made it to final vetting.

Koch, Pruitt and Martin have not indicated if they are among the two finalists.

And now, a Moment of Zen...

The board will spend between $10,000 to $12,000 to conduct "extensive background searches" on the two final candidates to prevent any information that may be "embarrassing or disparaging to the state" from being released, Marcum said.

Marcum said the background checks are to avoid repeating the controversy involving Barbara Erwin, the woman who was named education commissioner in 2007, only to resign from the job before her first day after media outlets across the state questioned the integrity of her resume, as well as other concerns.

"We don’t want what happened with Dr. Erwin to happen again," said Marcum, who noted that none of the current board members were on the board that appointed Erwin commissioner. "We are taking this responsibility to properly vet the candidates very seriously."

Terry Holliday was named education commissioner in 2009 and was in charge of overseeing the education of 675,000 students in Kentucky's public schools. His last official day on the job was Monday, Aug. 31.

The state board has appointed Associate Commissioner and General Counsel Kevin Brown to serve as interim commissioner starting Tuesday, Sept. 1, until a new commissioner is installed.

Berry said he feels Kentucky "stands poised for unprecedented educational achievements."

"While I’m disappointed to not be chosen, Kentucky is, and always will be, my home and I can’t thank the Kentucky Board of Education enough for allowing me to be a part of the conversation for its future," he said.

Marcum said he will call a special meeting of the state board once the background checks are complete in two or three weeks.

The principal problem

This from KSBA:

Travis Earlywine, principal of Bourbon County Middle School

When Kentucky Board of Education Chairman Roger Marcum was superintendent of Marion County Schools a decade ago, he began noticing that there were fewer applicants for the job of principal.

“Even when I retired in 2009, I was seeing a large turnover in principals, particularly at the high school level,” he said.

And that was well in advance of the state’s Professional Growth and Effectiveness System, which principals say adds more demand on an already demanding position.

“From everything I can tell, it is becoming much more demanding compared to what it was even four or five years ago,” said Dr. Sam Evans, dean of Wes

Dr. Robert Biggin, associate professor and coordinator of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy in Eastern Kentucky University’s College of Education, said he’s not seeing a drop-off in interest in the job, but said, “The longevity of principals and superintendents is a problem.”

Williamstown Elementary School Principal David Poer, who is also president of the Kentucky Association of Elementary School Principals, said he thinks potential candidates for a principal position “are thinking carefully about that, just because there is so much right now – so many things that have moved quickly in the last five, six years.”

A recent training in his district by an outside agency was led by a couple of former principals who had “decided they had enough years and didn’t want to go through that,” said Poer, in his 18th year as principal.

“Those who are close to retiring, they generally go on and do it,” said Bourbon County Middle School Principal Travis Earlywine.

“I think you’re seeing people either moving on up to other avenues, people retiring or people just deciding, ‘Hey, this is just not for me,’” said Lincoln County High School Principal Michael Godbey, who was named 2015 Kentucky High School Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. He said he knows of a couple of principals who have bailed on the job and gone back to the classroom.

“You’re juggling lots of things at one time and it’s just overwhelming,” said Godbey, a 13-year principal who made his comments shortly before taking the Lincoln County position, while he still headed Frankfort High School.

Rosemarie Young, executive director of the Kentucky Association of Elementary School Principals, said while PGES may be an added stressor, the job “is just stressful to begin with.”

“I don’t know too many principals who are not feeling the overwhelmed sense of frustration, a sense of not being in control necessarily of the time they have because they’re so task-oriented to get all these things done,” said Young, who also is the field placement coordinator for Bellarmine University’s College of Education.

Biggin also cited that lack of control. “I would say that the problem for principals that I’ve heard of is decreased autonomy,” he said. “Both KDE and central offices have become more and more prescriptive.”

Professional Growth and Effectiveness System

tern Kentucky University’s College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. “With PGES coming on board and all the demands on top of that that principals are facing, it is becoming – I’m not sure I would say a stressful job – but sufficiently demanding that I think it is going to have an impact on our ability to retain principals over a period of time.”

Principals are the middle of the PGES sandwich: they must use that system to evaluate their teachers and other staff, while collecting data and setting growth goals for their own performance so they in turn can be evaluated by their superintendent.

Earlywine, Godbey and Poer say they support the framework and goals of the PGES, but as Earlywine noted, it has nearly doubled the time it takes him to evaluate a teacher.

“But I don’t want to say that in a negative way because I do also think it has forced us to look at things that maybe we haven’t in the past,” said Earlywine, who has been a principal for 11 years. “It’s just that when you add that to all of the other things we deal with, it is time consuming.”

Marcum acknowledges it’s a complex process and it will take a while for principals to develop skills to carry it out effectively. Whether it’s had an effect on principal turnover, “I don’t know that I’m prepared to answer that yet.”

Dr. John Settle, executive director of the West Kentucky Education Cooperative, said when PGES was first launched, “there was a lot of anxiety that it would cause veteran principals to retire and make it more difficult to recruit new principals.” But he said he has heard less concern in the last year or so.

The state board of education in August delayed incorporating PGES performance ratings for teacher and principals into the accountability formula due to concerns about the system. Marcum said the board also needs to continue to look at ways to make it “more effective and less time intensive.”

What would help

Like many elementary school principals, Poer works solo – an assistant principal’s position was cut six or seven years ago. “Having somebody else to share the load would certainly help,” he said.

“We’ve got to look at how are we structuring and staffing the leadership within the schools so that it does become manageable,” said WKU’s Evans. “If you have a school with a lot of challenging students and you’re it as a single principal – the potential behavioral problems – you just exacerbate the challenges that the principal has in that role.”

Evans also suggested that leadership skills necessary for being a principal need to be developed much earlier, at the undergraduate level.

Earlywine said his district is fortunate in being able to implement a new software program that will be used to upload PGES information during the school year, bypassing the state’s system until time to submit the summative product. The program was designed by a contractor for the district.

“I do think that’s going to expedite the paperwork side of it,” he said.

Some larger districts have teacher or principal effectiveness coaches to work with PGES, but small districts don’t have those resources, Godbey said.

While PGES “is great,” he said, “I think we’ve got to find a way to streamline that into a process that’s not so overwhelming and burdensome that it becomes complicated. And people either burn themselves out doing it with fidelity or it’s not done to fidelity; it’s just done bare minimally just to get by.”

Board View: ‘It’s just juggling things’

Somerset Independent school board member Jeff Perkins knows something about the pressures of being a school principal. He spent three years as assistant principal of Somerset High School and then four years as principal before retiring in 2009.

“Year in and year out it gets more and more demanding,” Perkins said. “I think that has a lot to do with the different mandates, changes from Frankfort usually.”

And there have been a lot of changes since he retired, he noted, including the new evaluation system for teachers and principals that he said has added to the workload. Perkins, who has been a school board member since 2013, is concerned that fewer educators are aspiring to the job.

“They’re thinking, ‘Man, why do I want to do that? I can stay in the classroom and moneywise, maybe it’s a little bit difference but I don’t know that I want to do that,’” he said.

A high school principal’s position, Perkins added, “is probably the toughest job in the district,” especially in a smaller school system. “It’s just juggling things so much every day.”

A high turnover in that job may affect achievement because students need stability and leaders who understand their school, he said.

“It’s kind of like coaching: you get a coach every couple of years and you start all over again. That’s kind of the way it is with principals, I think,” said Perkins, who also was football coach and athletic director at Somerset High School.

Marcum: KBE "taking this responsibility to properly vet the candidates very seriously."

Marcum wants 'extensive' background checks on commissioner finalists

This from Toni Konz at WDRB:

The Kentucky Board of Education has narrowed its search for the next state education commissioner to two candidates, but the board won’t say which of the five publicly identified finalists are still in the hunt for the job.

The board will spend between $10,000 to $12,000 to conduct "extensive background searches" on the two final candidates to prevent any information that may be "embarrassing or disparaging to the state" from being released, said Roger Marcum, chairman of the state board.

"We don’t want, once we’ve announced who our next commissioner is, to find out something we don’t know on whoever that person is," Marcum told WDRB News on Monday. "Either one of the finalists may be selected as our commissioner, and we want to know everything there is to know about them."

The Kentucky Board of Education released the names of the five candidates on Thursday, and the board interviewed all five over the weekend before announcing that two finalists remain.

The five are: Kathleen Airhart, deputy commissioner, chief operating officer for the Tennessee Department of Education; Buddy Berry, superintendent of Eminence Independent Schools in Eminence, Ky.; Christopher Koch, interim president of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) in Washington, D.C.; Lloyd Martin, chief executive officer for Universal School Solutions, LLC, in Jacksonville, Fla.; and Stephen Pruitt, senior vice president at Achieve, Inc., an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit education reform organization in Washington, D.C.

Marcum said the background checks are to avoid repeating the controversy involving Barbara Erwin, the woman who was named education commissioner in 2007, only to resign from the job before her first day after media outlets across the state questioned the integrity of her resume, as well as other concerns.

"We don’t want what happened with Dr. Erwin to happen again," said Marcum, who noted that none of the current board members were on the board that appointed Erwin commissioner. "We are taking this responsibility to properly vet the candidates very seriously."

Terry Holliday was named education commissioner in 2009 and has been in charge of overseeing the education of 675,000 students in Kentucky's public schools. His last official day on the job is Monday, Aug. 31.

The state board has appointed Associate Commissioner and General Counsel Kevin Brown to serve as interim commissioner starting Tuesday, Sept. 1, until a new commissioner is installed.

Marcum told WDRB News the state has no objection if the five named candidates "self-disclose" whether they’ve made it to final vetting.

However, two of the candidates told WDRB News Monday they were asked not to disclose any information about the search process or what qualities they would bring to the job if selected.

A third candidate -- Berry, the superintendent of Eminence Independent Schools -- said in an email Monday that he’ll “leave it up to the board” to say which candidates remain in the running.

“This is their search and their process, and I’ll let the announcement of which of us five are finalists come from them,” Berry said.

Marcum said he will call a special meeting of the state board once the background checks are complete in two or three weeks.

"I do feel that we are being transparent with this process," Marcum said.

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Final Words

This from Dr. H's Blog:

This is my last blog as commissioner of education for Kentucky. It has been my privilege to serve the children of Kentucky. I am extremely proud that Kentucky educators have helped more students graduate from high school and achieve college- and career-readiness than at any point in the history of the Commonwealth. Student achievement on state assessments, the ACT, and other national assessments continue to show Kentucky students are making progress.

While I am proud of these accomplishments, I am also aware that there is much work to do for the new commissioner and the Kentucky Board of Education. 

Achievement gaps persist and unless addressed, many children will not be able to reach their potential. Early childhood expansion is critical if we are ever going to close achievement gaps. 

While we have excellent teacher preparation programs in Kentucky, we must review the certification requirements for our upper elementary and middle school teachers who focus on mathematics. 

The Governor’s Bullying Task Force recommendations need to be fully implemented in our schools. 

Funding for critical support systems like school transportation and career and technical education must be increased. 

These issues and others will present many challenges to the Kentucky Department of Education leadership and the Kentucky General Assembly.

While we have achieved much and there is much left to do, my fondest memories of Kentucky will be the people. I traveled to every county in the state and visited every school district. I visited more than 800 schools and personally talked with thousands of educators, parents and community leaders across Kentucky. I am convinced that the people of Kentucky are kind, caring and committed to support public education. 

It has been the pinnacle of my career to work with a terrific Governor and First Lady. 

Members of the General Assembly have been strong advocates of education and Senate Bill 1 (2009) has provided the road map for the last six years. 

The team at the Kentucky Department of Education is second to none and will continue to do terrific work in support of our schools and students. 

Kentucky teachers are the best in the nation and will continue to motivate students. 

Finally, the reason educators do what they do is for the children. It is the reason I have done what I do for so many years. The Kentucky students I have met during my time as Commissioner are bright, eager to learn, and motivated to succeed. Kentucky has a very bright future with these students as future leaders.

Best wishes to all.

And then there were two

State board trims commissioner field, firm to be hired to 

conduct in-depth background checks on unidentified pair

This from Brad Hughes KSBA:

It will be another two to three weeks before Kentuckians know who is to be the state’s sixth education commissioner, but leaders of the state board of education expressed confidence Saturday that either of the two remaining candidates will be a winning choice for the Commonwealth.

After “give and take conversations” Friday evening and Saturday morning in Lexington, members of the Kentucky Board of Education took less than 90 seconds in public session to reduce the applicants to replace retiring Education Commissioner Terry Holliday to “candidate 8921” and “candidate 5379.”
Department of Education staff will work with the board’s search consultant, Greenwood/Asher & Associates, to hire “an appropriate entity to conduct in-depth background checks” on both individuals.

While KBE Chairman Roger Marcum didn't identify those still under consideration, he and KBE Vice Chairman Jonathan Parrent said the search process has put Kentucky in a win-win situation.

“We had an unbelievably thorough, great discussion about extremely well-qualified candidates,” said Parrent, a Madisonville community college executive. “They are both outstanding professionals who I know will move Kentucky forward.”

Marcum said, “I’m very optimistic that once Kentuckians see who we’ve selected, and that either one could do a great job of leading the foundation that we’ve built and the work that remains to be done, that this will be the right person to lead us where we need to go with education in Kentucky.”

Marcum, a former superintendent, said he hoped the KBE will meet within two to three weeks and formally offer the job to one of the two candidates.

Holliday retires on Monday after six years as commissioner. Associate Commissioner and General Counsel Kevin C. Brown becomes interim commissioner on Sept. 1 to serve until the new leader takes over. Marcum said Saturday he still hopes that will happen within a 60- to 90-day window after the position is offered and accepted.

The five interviewed over the weekend were:

• Kathleen M. Airhart, Ed.D., deputy commissioner and chief operating officer for the Tennessee Department of Education.
• Buddy Berry, Ed.D., superintendent of Eminence Independent Schools in Henry County.
• Christopher A. Koch, Ed.D., interim president of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation in Washington, D.C.
• Lloyd D. Martin, Ph.D., chief executive officer for Universal School Solutions, LLC, an Ohio education consultancy firm that he owns.
• Stephen L. Pruitt, Ph.D., senior vice president at Achieve, Inc., a nonprofit education reform organization in Washington, D.C.

More background checks “to be sure”

When the KBE launched its search for Holliday’s successor in June, more than one member made points about wanting the most thorough process possible. In 2007, the state board hired Illinois superintendent Barbara Erwin, but she resigned just before starting work after resume errors and leadership issues were made public.

Marcum said the deeper background checks, which will cost between $8,000 and $10,000, and the choice to abandon a goal of hiring someone before Holliday’s retirement date, are solid decisions.
“We’re taking that extra time because we want to be sure that we’ve properly vetted the candidates. It’s obvious that we’re getting closer and closer to the decision. We want to make sure we’ve done everything we can do to ensure that we’ve checked out the background of the folks we are considering,” he said.

“This background check will be more extensive than what we’ve done on any of the other applicants. There is some expense to that and we didn’t want to spend that extra money until we knew we were really serious about these candidates,” Marcum said. “With these two people, we feel that way.”

Two stood out, many offered input

Out of the five finalists interviewed, the two moving forward "separated themselves" from the others, according to Marcum.

“That’s clear. We have two really strong candidates left for the board to consider,” he said.

Since the Department of Education released the identities of finalists Thursday afternoon, Marcum said KBE members have heard plenty about the applicants under consideration.

“We got a lot of feedback, more than I ever expected,” he said. “It started soon after the press release. From that point on, it was constant – either text messages, emails and phone calls. That tells me how concerned the entire Kentucky community – not just the education community – is about this process. The feedback has been very helpful. And as a result, the board is going to be able to arrive at a really good decision for Kentucky’s kids. That’s been our goal all along.

“I am confident when we make our final decision, it will be a unanimous decision,” he said. “My goal in leading this process has been to make sure that we are in full support of whoever we hire as our next commissioner, and I’m confident that whoever is selected of those final two will have the support of the full board.”

Marcum said the upcoming special KBE meeting will be in its normal meeting place in the Department for Education’s office in Frankfort. He expects the meeting will be webcast live as is the KBE’s practice when meetings are conducted there.

CANDIDATES NAMED IN COMMISSIONER SEARCH

A couple of heavy hitters are among the finalists for Kentucky Education Commissioner.

That's the good news. 

But the agenda for Saturday's decisive KBE meeting also indicates that the Board may extend a job offer - effectively removing any meaningful public input prior to selection, should that come to pass.

The lack of public vetting might not doom the new Commissioner, but it's hard to imagine that it would engender much support for the appointee. It's much more likely to put wind in the sails of those legislators who would prefer that Kentucky's Education Commissioner be directly elected - a big step backward.

This from the Kentucky Board of Education (via Press release):

Today, the Kentucky Board of Education announced the names of the five candidates it is currently considering for the position of commissioner of education.

         The five are:

·       Kathleen M. Airhart, Ed.D. – Airhart currently serves as the deputy commissioner, chief operating officer for the Tennessee Department of Education, a position she has held since January. She has primary responsibility for the divisions of state finance, federal programs, audit, information technology, and human resources. Prior to that she was deputy commissioner, chief academic officer with the Tennessee Department of Education and provided direct oversight to the divisions of curriculum and instruction, career and technical education, special populations, audit and consolidated planning and monitoring. Airhart’s previous experience includes: teacher; compliance consultant; special education supervisor; and superintendent for the Putnam County school system in Cookeville, Tennessee. She earned a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and educational specialist degree from Tennessee Technological University and a Doctorate of Education from Tennessee State University.

·       Buddy Berry, Ed.D. – Berry is in his sixth year as superintendent of Eminence Independent Schools in Eminence, Kentucky. Berry’s previous experience, all in Kentucky, includes: mathematics teacher and head football coach at Owen County High School and Jeffersontown High School; guidance counselor at Shelby County High School; mathematics teacher at Eminence Ind. High School; and Highly Skilled Educator with the Kentucky Department of Education. Berry earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky; a master’s from Bellarmine University; a superintendency certificate from Eastern Kentucky University; and a Doctorate of Education from Northern Kentucky University.

·       Christopher A. Koch, Ed.D. – Koch (pronounced cook) currently is the interim president of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), a position he has held since May. Prior to that he was Illinois State Superintendent of Education from December 2006-May 2015. Koch’s previous experience

includes assistant superintendent, chief education officer, and director of special education with the Illinois state education agency; education program specialist with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education; and special education/vocational teacher in four states and in various settings including an Outward Bound program, college preparatory school, youth detention center and psychiatric hospital. Koch earned a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University and a master’s degree and Doctorate of Education from The George Washington University.

·       Lloyd D. Martin, Ph.D. – Martin is currently the chief executive officer for Universal School Solutions, LLC, an education consultancy firm that he founded in 2010 in Jacksonville, Florida. Martin’s prior experience includes: superintendent of Mansfield City Schools in Mansfield, Ohio; executive director of K-9 education –

cluster 1, and regional director with the Duval County Public Schools, in Jacksonville, Florida; executive principal with the Dayton Public Schools in Dayton, Ohio; and principal, assistant principal, leadership trainee, and social studies teacher with the Columbus Public Schools in Columbus, Ohio. Martin earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University; a master’s degree from the University of Dayton, where he also earned a Doctorate of Philosophy.

·       Stephen L. Pruitt, Ph.D. – Pruitt is currently senior vice president at Achieve, Inc., an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit education reform organization, where he has served since 2010. Pruitt’s prior experience includes chief of staff, associate state superintendent, director of academic standards, and science and mathematics program manager with the Georgia Department of Education; and high school chemistry teacher in Fayetteville and Tyrone, Georgia. Pruitt earned a bachelor’s degree from North Georgia College and State University; a master’s from the University of West Georgia and a Doctorate of Philosophy from Auburn University.

 “The pool of candidates for this position was excellent because of the extensive outreach and Kentucky’s strong history as a progressive leader in public education,” said Kentucky Board of Education Chair Roger Marcum. “Narrowing the pool has been difficult, because of the wide-ranging and vast experience the many candidates would bring to the job. We continue to focus on the characteristics for the commissioner’s position that the board agreed upon and on which Kentucky educators, partner groups and the public provided input early in the search. The board looks forward to continuing exploration of each candidate’s thoughts, ideas and views this weekend.”

         The board will meet tomorrow and Saturday in Lexington to conduct second interviews with each of the five candidates.
         During the search, the board and search firm, Greenwood/Asher and Associates, Inc. made more than 330 contacts, reviewed detailed information on more than 44 individuals and interviewed 13 candidates.

         The new commissioner will replace current Commissioner Terry Holliday, who is retiring next week.

         The board has selected Associate Commissioner and General Counsel Kevin C. Brown to serve as interim commissioner starting Sept. 1 until a new commissioner can begin.

This from KSBA:

According to the advance agenda, the state board will consider one of three options Saturday after completing the interviews:

* direct staff to contract for in-depth criminal and background checks on one or more of the finalists;

* vote to select a new commissioner and extend the job offer; or

* schedule another special meeting to continue the search process.

With the exception of making those decisions, much of the Friday and Saturday KBE meetings will be in closed session as permitted by the Kentucky Open Meetings Act regarding personnel decisions.

Holliday's final day on the job is next Monday, Aug. 31. On Sept. 1, Associate Commissioner Kevin Brown becomes interim commissioner, serving until the new top KDE official can start work.

Here is the full agenda for the meeting:

Kentucky Board of Education Special Meeting

Friday (beginning at 4 p.m. ET)

Embassy Suites, 1801 Newtown Pike, Lexington, KY 40511

I. Call to Order (Open Session)

II. Roll Call

III. Discussion of reference and background check feedback and individual candidates for the commissioner's position with the search firm representatives (Closed session per KRS 61.810(1)(f))

IV. Working dinners and individual discussions with selected candidates for the commissioner of education's position (Closed session per KRS 61.810(1)(f))

V. Recess

Saturday (beginning at 7 a.m.)

I. Meeting continues (Closed Session cont’d - Full Board) (Note: The day's meeting includes a working breakfast and lunch.)

II. Interviews with individual candidates for the commissioner of education's position and discussion of information gathered during individual interviews (Closed session per KRS 61.810 (1)(f) cont'd)

III. Consideration of a possible motion to direct staff to contract with an appropriate entity to conduct an in-depth criminal and background check on candidate(s) for commissioner's position, if appropriate (Open session)

IV. Consideration of a possible motion to select the new commissioner of education and issue an offer of employment, if appropriate (Open session)

V. Consideration of a possible motion to convene a special meeting(s) to continue the interview and search process and direct the search firm likewise, if appropriate (Open session)

VI. Adjournment

OEA Confirms Katte's Conflict of Interest

Shelton's Approval did not Avert the Conflict

Katte Improperly Skirked Council Approval

It is a salutary doctrine that he who is entrusted with the business of others 

cannot be allowed to make such business an object of profit for himself.

---Commonwealth v. Withers, 98 S.W.2d 24 (Ky. 1936)

A final report issued by the Office of Educational Accountability on August 13, 2015, concluded that former Meadowthorpe principal Joel Katte had a conflict of interest when he took a position as a paid consultant for the Franklin-Covey/The Leader in Me (LIM) program. The conflict of interest was not removed when he received permission from the district to serve as a consultant. Yet OEA's remedy extends only to Katte and the Meadowthorpe School Council, despite the fact that Shelton, Human Resources Director Melodee Parker, and Director of Elementary Principals Loraye Jones were aware of his paid consultant position.

The district's support of Katte lead to the raising and spending of thousands of dollars without Council approval in violation of state law. KRS 156.480 (2) reads:

No employee of any county or independent school district with decision-making authority over the financial position of the school district shall have any pecuniary interest, either directly or indirectly, in an amount exceeding twenty-five dollars ($25) per year...in supplying any goods, services, property, merchandise...of any nature whatsoever for which school funds are expended. If any person specified in this subsection receives, directly or indirectly, any gift, reward, or promise of reward for his influence in recommending or procuring the use of any goods, services, property, or merchandise of any kind whatsoever for which school funds are expended, he shall upon conviction be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than five hundred ($500), and his office or appointment shall without further action be vacant.

Fayette  County School District Board Policy 03.1721, "Conflict of Interests" essentially quotes state law, yet district staff attorney Shelley Chatfield told OEA that while she did not find Mr. Katte's consultant work to run afoul of Board Policy, she felt it "was not the best practice" for him to continue as a paid consultant.

The OEA found that Katte "received indirect benefits for his consultancy arrangement. He acted as a paid consultant for the Covey organization from spring 2013 through summer 2014, during his tenure as principal. While Mr.  Katte was a consultant, the Covey company was paid school funds, such as Meadowthorpe Leadership Day proceeds and Fayette County School District money, for LIM expenses. Mr. Katte was paid by the Covey organization during the same time period for his LIM consultant work. There is legal authority to conclude that Mr. Katte's arrangement constituted an indirect conflict of interest."

Despite Katte's assertion that his troubles at Meadowthorpe had nothing to do with his decision to accept a district staff position, had he remained, it seems likely that he would have been exposed to possible legal action that could have led to the loss of his appointment as principal.

Katte explained his reasoning for leaving Meadowthorpe saying, "I feel called to support the teaching staffs of the Lexington Day Treatment Center, Fayette Regional Juvenile Detention Center, and our Family Care Center that educates young mothers to ensure these programs' students receive a world-class education that will set each student up for a healthy, successful, and rewarding life."

As if...

View the full report here.

Hat tip to Erica.

Names of final candidates to be next education commissioner could be made public later today

This from KSBA:

If all goes well, the names of the remaining candidates in the search to replace retiring Education Commissioner Terry Holliday could be known today.

Meeting at a Lexington hotel, the Kentucky Board of Education is in closed door talks with its search consultants on the "leading candidates" to become the state's sixth commissioner of education. The advance agenda provided by the Kentucky Department of Education states that, "if appropriate," the KBE will consider inviting its finalists back for a second set of face-to-face interviews this Friday and Saturday at the same location.
This morning, the state board voted to interview an additional candidate by telephone prior to beginning its discussions on winnowing the field down to finalists. The interview was conducted in closed session, as were those of a dozen semifinalists who met the KBE Aug. 14-15 in Louisville. After that meeting, KBE Chairman Roger Marcum declined to elaborate on how many "leading" candidates remain under consideration. In the intervening time, the Florida-based contract search firm, Greenwood/Asher & Associates, has conducted background and reference checks on those candidates.

According to the agency's news release, today's meeting also will include discussion of "if and when" the state board will release the names of finalists for the commissioner's job. Marcum has said that issue hasn't been discussed so far, but he added he didn't envision a scenario by which the state board would not make the names of final candidates public prior to making a selection.

Holliday's last day on the job will be next Monday, Aug. 31. On Sept. 1, Associate Commissioner and General Council Kevin C. Brown will become interim commissioner, serving until the new KDE chief can take over her or his duties later this fall.

Testing Doesn't Measure Up for Americans

Heavy Opposition to Two Key Elements of NCLB:

Accountability and Teacher Evaluation based  on Test Scores

This from Gallup:

The verdict is in, and test scores are out as the ultimate measure of school effectiveness, according to more than three-quarters of U.S. adults surveyed for the 47^th Annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools. Instead, more U.S. adults believe engagement with class work and feeling hopeful about the future are important indicators of school effectiveness.

PDK, a professional association for educators, and Gallup have partnered on this important education poll work for decades, and these current findings reveal an intense desire for a new measure of what makes schools great. About one in 10 U.S. adults say students' scores on standardized tests are very important measures of school effectiveness.

Still, test scores continue to be central to any conversation about school performance. They inform strategies on how to close the achievement gap and are a straightforward tool for reporting outcomes and comparing schools. But test scores -- as different as they may look from student to student and school to school -- fall short in helping us understand what makes schools great and students successful.

Test scores cannot be the sole common denominator by which we understand or describe diverse student bodies and school systems. School is not only where students learn and apply information, but also where they can discover and practice what they do best and learn to be a better version of themselves. Schools should be places where students are excited about learning and where they begin to build the foundation for their own unique future.

The public's overwhelming support of the importance of engagement with class work and student hopefulness about the future mirrors the direction that many schools nationwide are taking by adopting positive behavior and positive school culture programs. Many of these programs focus on noncognitive learning domains that are critical to student success.

Adding positive measures to the school effectiveness equation is a core value of the Gallup Student Poll -- an annual Web survey for fifth- through 12^th-graders that measures student engagement with school and hope for the future, among other elements that help schools make students ready for the future. The results from this survey complement test scores and other metrics tracked by schools.

Like thousands of other parents around the nation, I'll soon be registering my oldest daughter for her first college entrance exam. I will encourage her to plan ahead, prepare well and perform the best that she can. But before she receives her score, I will remind her of three important truths: her value is not determined by test scores; the opportunity to do good in this world is not measured by the exam; and her potential exceeds the parameters of the exam to tell the tale of her unique talents. Remind a student of these three truths today, so they know that test scores, while important, are not the full measure of a person or an education.

 This from the Washington Post:

Americans overwhelmingly think there is too much emphasis on standardized testing in public schools and that test scores are not the best way to judge schools, teachers or students, according to a national poll.

The results released Sunday come from the 47th annual PDK/Gallup poll of attitudes toward public schools, the longest-running survey of Americans’ views on public education.

 

The survey showed that the public rejects school accountability built on standardized tests, which has been federal policy through No Child Left Behind, the signature education initiative of President George W. Bush.

Signed into law in 2002, No Child mandated annual tests in reading and math and required schools to raise scores every year or face penalties. Through its own policies and grant programs, the Obama administration has further emphasized testing by requiring states to evaluate teachers based on test scores.

  

“You see a solid public rejection of [testing] as a primary policy,” said Linda Darling Hammond, a professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education, after reviewing the poll.

A majority of respondents — 64 percent — said too much emphasis has been placed on testing, and a majority also said the best way to measure the success of a school is not through tests but by whether students are engaged and feel hopeful about the future.

“Too many kids in too many schools are bored,” said Joshua P. Starr, a former superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland who is now chief executive of PDK International, a network of education professionals. “Parents maybe see that and they want their kids to be engaged in schools.”

Many Americans also said they think students should be judged by multiple measures, including student work, written teacher observations and grades. And they overwhelmingly think teacher quality is the best way to improve education, followed by high academic standards and effective principals.

Although the national debate over public education has become polarized during the past several years, with bitter divisions inside and between political parties, the PDK/Gallup poll showed a surprising level of agreement in the public at large.

The 2015 survey, based on telephone and Internet polling performed in May, includes for the first time a breakdown of responses to some questions by racial groups as well as political parties.

A majority of respondents — regardless of political affiliation — opposed the notion of evaluating teachers based in part on test scores, an idea heavily promoted by the Obama administration and fought by teachers unions.

When it comes to the role of the federal government in public schools, a majority of respondents said Washington should play no role in holding schools accountable, paying for schools or deciding the amount of testing. Seven out of 10 respondents said they wanted state and local districts to have those responsibilities.

Regarding academic standards, more than six out of 10 said the expectations for what students should learn is important to school improvement. But a majority — 54 percent — is opposed to the Common Core State Standards, the K-12 academic benchmarks adopted by 43 states and the District of Columbia that have been under fire by critics on the left and right.

Despite the view that there is too much standardized testing, a majority of respondents said parents should not excuse their children from tests. A majority also said they think test scores are “somewhat important” in judging the effectiveness of their local schools.

In a rebuttal to those who say states should use common tests so that the public can compare how students perform across state boundaries, fewer than one in five public school parents said it was important to know how children in their communities performed on standardized tests compared with students in other districts, states or countries.

But nearly one in three blacks said using standardized tests to compare their local schools with schools in other districts and other states is “very important.” Just 15 percent of whites gave the same response.

Overall, the public is happy with local schools, with 57 percent of public school parents giving their school an A or a B for performance. But just 19 percent had that opinion of public schools nationwide.

“Clearly, there is anxiety about what’s happening in teaching and learning,” said Andres Alonso, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a former chief executive of Baltimore City Public Schools.

Respondents said they support charter schools, and more than six out of 10 say parents should be able to choose any school for their children within their school district.

But respondents were opposed to vouchers, or using tax dollars to pay for private school tuition, a policy increasingly promoted by Republican politicians. Several of the 2016 presidential hopefuls — Scott Walker, Jeb Bush and Bobby Jindal — support vouchers. 

 

Overall, 57 percent of respondents were opposed to vouchers and 31 percent were in favor. Public school parents split in a similar way.

But by political party, Republicans were divided on vouchers, with 46 percent in favor and 46 percent opposed. Democrats were strongly opposed to vouchers, with 71 percent against and 16 percent in favor. Independents opposed vouchers by a margin of about 3 to 2.

On some issues, there were clear differences of opinion along racial lines. Blacks tended to be more supportive of the Common Core and standardized testing than whites, and a majority of blacks — 55 percent — gave President Obama an A or a B for his support of public schools, compared with 17 percent of whites.

EKU Opening Convocation

I mentioned not too long ago that there is a lot going on at EKU. President Benson's opening Convocation on Tuesday provides a great overview. Go Colonels.