The National Center for Education Statistics just released a report on how states are gaming their state tests to look good under No Child Left Behind. The comparison metric was the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Here is a Wall Street Journal graphic sourced to the US Department of Education which shows those states that are playing games by setting the state standard for proficiency below what the NAEP calls “basic” performance (which is only partial mastery of reading).
Note that Kentucky is one of the many states, shown in light blue, that are “cheating” on this measure.
Of course, this is old news to our readers. We developed our “NAEP Ruler” several years ago to show the exact same thing.
Now, what was that again about those high Kentucky testing standards?
Friday, October 30, 2009
Kentucky set low bar on state reading assessments
Guv’s education task force nothing to cheer about
Gov. Beshear wants us to 'get fired up' about education. You'll forgive us, governor, if we're having a hard time getting 'fired up' about an education system wretchedly failing to prepare Kentucky students for the competitive rigors of the 21st century global marketplace.
Click here to read the latest Bluegrass Beacon column.
"It's no secret the U.S. education system is failing"
– No, we didn’t say that
The Bluegrass Institute gets accused in some quarters of being overly negative about our public education system.
But, the quote above didn’t come from us.
That quote is from Bill Gates, former head of Microsoft and current head of a major, privately funded effort to improve education.
Gates was discussing some of the things his education foundation is doing to try to improve education in the United States.
Gates also said, "We're doing all kinds of experiments that are different. The Race To The Top (the federal department of education’s new stimulus funding program) is going to do many different ones.”
After several years of working with education programs, Gates is figuring it out.
Despite educators' claims that they know how kids learn and that they have the “research that shows,” the truth is that most education research isn’t very reliable. As a consequence, education ideas that are often presented to the public as proven programs are really just experiments. No one has credible research on a lot of those fad ideas.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Governor's education task force will run into 'uh-ohs'
But wait! There is a major elephant in the room that no one wants to acknowledge. Could it be there is a powerful lobbying group that thinks what is in the best interest of students IS NOT in the best interest of its union agenda? It looks like there are some gut-wrenching ‘uh-ohs’ in the way of transforming Kentucky education. Hmmm.
Kentucky 1792
It’s time to stand up for liberty.
In 1792, the animating spirit of each Kentuckian was that of personal independence and open liberty. Where is that spirit today? Oppressive bureaucrats increasingly threaten this spirit of self-reliance with more and more burdensome taxes, fees, regulations, promised bailouts, czars and take-overs. We’re promised safety and security, fair pricing and equal service. But free people are not equal and equal people are not free.
Since 2003, the Bluegrass Institute is the only organization in Kentucky championing policies that limit the scope of government through real transparency and accountability. Maybe you’ve heard Jim Waters on the radio, read his commentaries or heard him speak at one of Kentucky’s many tea parties. Perhaps you’ve attended one of our events like the viewing of The Call of the Entrepreneur at the Kentucky Theater in Lexington or maybe you receive our email updates and blog posts. Maybe you’ve contributed an article to FreedomKentucky.org or looked up your school district’s check register. Maybe you’ve monitored your legislator’s votes on KentuckyVotes.org. Now we are asking you to take an extra step and become a partner with us in the battle to secure our liberty and empower Kentuckians to take back their freedoms with the same tools our pioneer ancestor used— information, tenacity and resourcefulness.
In 1792 it was a step through the Cumberland Gap toward freedom and today it is a step toward liberty. Take that step by contributing $17.92 at Kentucky1792.org or give $17.92 per month for one year and help the Bluegrass Institute reach our goal of 1792 new partners devoted to strengthening liberty in Kentucky! Or, if you are able, give a gift of $179.20 or $1792. In return we ask you to become involve by committing to one monthly action request so when someone asks, “What else can I do?” You can tell them what you’ve done.
• Call a radio program.
• Host a coffee & capitalism meeting at your favorite diner or coffee house. We’ll bring the coffee mugs!
• Bring a guest to hear a BIPPS speaker.
• Contribute an article to FreedomKentucky.org.
• Read a book like “The Road to Serfdom”.
• Submit an op-ed to your local newspaper on how a policy will restrict your liberty.
• Recruit other 1792 Pioneers via your social networking contacts on Twitter and Facebook.
• Write and educate your legislators or their staff on policy issues that limit your liberty.
The Goal
Our goal is to reach 1792 donors who will contribute $17.92. What better way to commemorate the legacy of Kentuckians and the rugged individual spirit that is our inheritance today? Saddle up and lets get moving!
Mountjoy resigns as education secretary
Helen Mountjoy is resigning from her position as Kentucky Education Secretary effective November 30, 2009.
Mountjoy has been a key player in the implementation of KERA for many years, first as an outspoken member and later chair of the Kentucky Board of Education, and then as Education Secretary since 2007.
Mountjoy’s surprise announcement, coming just days after another key presence in Kentucky education policy, Senator Dan Kelly, announced he was leaving the state legislature, greatly expands the suddenly growing power vacuum on both sides of the issues in the state’s education policy making group.
Mountjoy staunchly defended many of the Progressive Education theories and concepts that were adopted in KERA’s early days. For example, she strongly supported keeping the now failed KIRIS and CATS assessments right up to the point that the legislature voted to disband each of those highly criticized school testing programs.
Given the fact that the real power in education in Kentucky rests with the Kentucky Board of Education and the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, Mountjoy’s influence as education secretary was certainly reduced from her days on the board of education. However, even in the education secretary position, Mountjoy remained actively involved in trying to shape the conversation.
The governor’s recently announced Transforming Education in Kentucky Task Force is viewed in some quarters as a Mountjoy effort to influence the discussion on KERA’s future direction. In fact, it is reported that Mountjoy will continue to function as the governor’s “point person” on this effort after she leaves official office. That raises a question about possible limits on the authority of whoever replaces Mountjoy as Kentucky Education Secretary, further muddying the waters about who will become the new key players in what now could become a profoundly altered education policy landscape.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Speak up if you don't want Big Government in your bank account
Facts plus federal money = charter schools for Kentucky
Kentucky could lose out on Race to the Top funding and thousands of students could lose out on a better education without charter schools.
Click here to listen to the 90-second audio commentary.
Hope for your children's future
Do you care about your children's education?
Come and join us to hear Virginia Walden Ford tell her story on Friday, November 6 at 7 p.m.
The rally will be held at the Midwest Church of Christ 2115 Garland Ave. Louisville, KY 40211. Everyone is invited to attend.
Come together, Be inspired....Get informed.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Legacy of KERA’s school funding reverse inequity
– Top district in state may have to house students in trailers
A huge failing in the Seeking Excellence in Education in Kentucky (SEEK) formula for school funding is that it has failed to equitably support school districts with rapidly increasing enrollment. A number of those rapid growth districts are located in Northern Kentucky.
Now, nky.com, a Web service from the Kentucky Enquirer, reports that students in one of Kentucky’s top performing school districts, the Fort Thomas Independent School District, may be housed in trailers next year.
At least one other Northern Kentucky district, the Boone County Public School District, already houses students in makeshift facilities. I confirmed that with the district’s superintendent, Randolph (Randy) J. Poe, last week at the governor’s TEK Task Force news conference.
What really makes this an unfair situation is that while Northern Kentucky taxpayers already pay much more in local school taxes than most other regions of the state, Northern Kentucky also provides an inordinate percentage of the overall tax revenue that Frankfort collects. So, the fact that Northern Kentucky districts aren’t getting adequate support dollars to properly house their students is an easy to understand lesson – some regions of the state are simply bleeding other areas with inequitable collection and distribution of state tax money.
For those who can see beyond their own noses, this serious failing in SEEK poses a threat to the entire state. School districts like Fort Thomas have been very successful at attracting highly educated fathers and mothers to Kentucky. Those well-educated parents help boost the entire state’s economy in many ways, not the least being the fact that they generally supply more tax dollars.
But, highly educated parents are less likely to move into any school district that has serious overcrowding and substandard classroom facilities.
So, down state selfishness and greed threatens more than Northern Kentucky school systems – it threatens the entire state’s ability to grow and expand in a national and world economy that demands higher education every year from those who want to successfully compete.
WFPL Announces: Group Launches Events for Charter School Legislation
Louisville's WFPL 89.3 FM is announcing the first of a series of new informational events to explain how charter schools can meet real needs in Kentucky.
Don't raises taxes - let the free market work for school construction
Now the Kentucky Department of Education wants to set a minimum tax rate of 10 cents on every $100 in assessed property value.
Is LFUCG just hearing what it wants to hear?
- Lexington has an unmet need for housing at the most affordable levels
- Generation Y, the fastest growing home-buying cohort, values being able to walk where they need to from their home
- Based on housing trends and changing preferences, there will be a larger demand for higher density housing in the future.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Governor Beshear appoints Kentucky Senator Dan Kelly to 11th Circuit Judgeship
In an expected move, Governor Steve Beshear has appointed one of the most talented and influential members of the Kentucky State Senate to a Kentucky judgeship position.
The Bluegrass Institute will greatly miss Senator Kelly in his senatorial role, but we congratulate him on what is certainly a satisfying personal move and one that enables the state to continue to benefit from his wisdom and judgment.
It’s hard to find enough superlatives to describe Senator/Judge Kelly’s incredible service to the state in his legislative years. He was an undisputed and highly regarded leader in the Senate. He provided both the intellectual underpinning and the necessary political insight and guidance behind many of the state’s best education bills.
Kelly was at the forefront on Senate Bill 130 in 2006 which launched testing with the ACT college entrance test for all our high school students along with companion tests for eighth and tenth grade students. Those tests now allow our kids and their parents to find out early if students are really on track for college.
Kelly was also the driver behind Senate Bill 1 in the 2009 regular legislative session. This fundamental legislation will finally align Kentucky’s public school testing with what our colleges and businesses really need high school graduates to know and be able to do.
As an example of Senator Kelly’s acumen, this bill requires the state’s educators at both the college and public school level to first review and revise our education standards before moving on to create a new assessment program. Finally, after failures with both the old KIRIS and the CATS assessments, Kelly has directed educators to move the cart behind the horse.
In the final analysis, Senator Kelly established an enviable history in the Kentucky Senate, one that is unlikely to be eclipsed anytime soon. We at the Bluegrass Institute salute Dan Kelly’s service to date and congratulate him as he moves on to his new station of service to Kentucky.
Teaching evaluation – You MUST be kidding!
Here’s a hat tip to the Prichard Committee for triggering me on this most incredible article from the Madison Courier coupled with a ‘You MUST be kidding’ for failing to see the obvious problems with what was reported.
The newspaper reports that Carroll County Public Schools are evaluating classroom instruction with – are you ready for this – A 10-minute evaluation in each classroom!
That’s right – 10 minutes! That’s all. And, it sounds like that includes the time to type entries into a laptop computer used by the classroom observers.
Challenge credentials of education task force members
A true recipe for change.
1 cup of 'lack of leadership'
1/2 teaspoon of misleading test scores
1 seasoned, aged Kentucky Education Association contract
2 or 3 powerless education task forces
Mix these together and you have your need for change. Set that aside and let it marinate.
Countless concerned parents
1 dash of community leaders
3 cups of citizens who really know what is happening in schools
Mix these together and you have your passion for change.
Mix your need and your passion for change and get out of the way...
Be inspired...Get informed.
Virginia Walden Ford, grassroots activist and school choice advocate will be speaking in Louisville.
Cancel the contract
Kentucky's neediest students pay a big price for union contracts that prevent placing the best teachers in the worst schools.
Click here to read the entire article.
Quote of the week
"But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." John Adams in a letter to Abigail Adams, July 17, 1775.
Trading money for power
– Huge Sunday coverage about teachers’ union impacts in Cincinnati
This week’s ‘Sunday Forum’ section in the print version of the Cincinnati Enquirer is devoted to the upcoming renegotiation of the teachers’ union contract in the city’s school system. The articles leave no doubt, many people get it – teachers union contracts are a major reason why real school reform isn’t happening in places like Cincinnati.
Or, as we have mentioned earlier, in Louisville, either.
The Enquirer quotes former board member Lynn Marmer,
"The contract is very proscriptive. You can only have so many faculty meetings. Teachers can only have so many bells of instruction. That constricts a school team from having the flexibility they need to be successful. It would be better to blow the whole thing up and start over."
The article points out that,
“Critics say contracts have school districts in a stranglehold. Every time districts try to move forward with reforms, they're blocked by rules on class size and teacher transfers, and restrictions on what teachers can be asked to do.”
Cincinnati Board member Eve Bolton, a former teacher and union president in Wyoming City Schools no less, told the Enquirer,
"When you get inside the budget, everything negotiated into the contract has dollars tied to it. To really reform a district, you have to look at ways to repurpose the dollars we have now.”
Bolton went on to point out that without a “great contract,” there wouldn’t be a chance to look at something new. She understands that with the current economy there are not going to be more dollars available, so the city and its union have to get creative about ways to more efficiently use the money they have now.
That’s the kind of attitude we need to hear from more on the union side of the discussion.
Sadly, not all union people get it. The paper quotes Chuck Johnson, a labor relations consultant for the Ohio Education Association as saying,
"They're management and we're labor."
I would submit that if teachers want us to treat them like professionals – not factory laborers – they are going to have to move beyond Mr. Johnson’s customer unfriendly, 1950’s mentality of wage and hours bargaining.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
What happened to those NCLB Tier 5 Schools from 2008?
The Bluegrass Institute released a report, "Examining Kentucky's No Child Left Behind Tier 5 Schools" in August 2009. This report examined performance in Kentucky's poorest performing schools under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) assessment program in 2008.
One month later, on September 23, 2009 the Kentucky Department of Education released the 2009 NCLB results for all Kentucky public schools.
So, what happened to those Tier 5 schools?
The short answer is that not one of them earned their way out of Tier status in 2009 due to improved performance. However, six of the schools, as we have mentioned before, got a “Get Out of Jail Free Card” from NCLB, anyway.
To see more details, check out our new freedomkentucky.org Wiki item, “Examining Kentucky's No Child Left Behind Tier 5 Schools -- 2009 Update.”
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Time to demand facts on health care bill's impact on Kentuckians
Quote of the day...
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead
Friday, October 23, 2009
Teacher preparation is mediocre
– US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says so
Our concerns about teacher preparation programs are no secret to our readers, but some would like to just dismiss that as ramblings of the Bluegrass Institute.
Well, we have some pretty well-informed, high power company with the same concerns – the US Secretary of Education, to be exact.
As quoted in this Education Week item, Secretary Arne Duncan says, "...by almost any standard, many, if not most, of the nation's 1,450 schools, colleges, and departments of education are doing a mediocre job of preparing teachers for the realities of the 21st-century classroom.”
The secretary also takes aim at states for not effectively riding herd on their teacher preparation programs.
Along these lines, we’ll have more to say in a couple of days, so stay tuned.
The boundary is here. No here. Wait...here....
The University of Kentucky tobacco ban takes effect Nov. 19. This means that no one on the university campus can use ANY tobacco product. This week, the effort took another step toward the absurd. A loophole was found in UK's ban proposal: jurisdiction for the ban ends at the city sidewalks. So, if you wanted to smoke you could simply step off the campus grass and onto a city sidewalk and light up.
Not surprisingly, UK asked the city council to extend its jurisdiction to the city sidewalks for this ban. Why, you ask? It's simple! We can't have throngs of rabid and addicted students and faculty running to the sidewalks in between classes to enjoy a smoke. Simply unacceptable.
Perhaps UK should consider getting jurisdiction over the streets bordering the sidewalks. It would be very easy for smoke to float from the street on to the sidewalk or even the campus!
But wait! We may as well go ahead and include the opposite sidewalk because there will be a lot of students and faculty walking there too.
Let's just make it easy. Let's just say no smoking within a five-mile radius of campus. That seems reasonable right?
Why go to so much trouble to ban something that is legal?
A little ‘TRAIN’ that needs more lawmakers aboard
Many state governments have already bared all to their citizens. Kentucky needs to step up and show taxpayers the money.
Click here to read the entire article.
Fast track option to transform Kentucky education system
Governor Steve Beshear launched a task force to lead another initiative to transform education in the state. The goal is for the task force to formulate recommendations by the end of 2010. That will set the stage for the legislature to meddle once again in education during 2011 legislative session and suffocate any chance for true system change.
We’ve done this task force thing too many times before. We don’t need another task force. We need a leader.
Here are the fast track steps to transform Kentucky's education system:
1) Read the Iredell-Statesville Schools Statesville, N.C. 2008 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winning application.
2) Say thank goodness we hired Terry Holliday, Ph.D., who led that effort, as our Kentucky Department of Education Commissioner.
3) Ask all the legislators, consultants, task force participants, and other Kentucky officials who have hindered Kentucky education professionals over the past 20 years to repeal all of their prescriptive and constrictive legislation, edicts, processes, procedures, and other ideas.
4) Get out of Holliday's way and give him a free hand to do for Kentucky what he did at Iredell-Statesville, N.C.
5) Start 'Transforming Education in Kentucky' tomorrow under Holliday's leadership and 'can' the task force with special commendations for a job well done.
You don't hire the best and then dilute his impact by saddling him with opinions from people who can’t be held accountable to implement them.
The bottom-line difference: Parents, kids and teachers get real hope starting tomorrow from a proven education leader!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Advance Kentucky’s AP program “advances” another high school
– So, how come no schools in Jefferson County participate?
It’s good news for Henderson County High School, an 88 percent increase in the number of students who passed advanced placement exams in math, science and English from 2007 to 2009.
Chalk up another “win” for the Advance Kentucky program, which we have already praised in this blog.
The article got me thinking, though.
1) Advance Kentucky’s program includes bonuses for teachers for each of their students who gets a college accepted (3 or higher) score on their AP exams.
2) In a recent Kentucky Board of Education meeting, it was mentioned that the Jefferson County Teachers Association contract prohibits bonuses.
Could 1 plus 2 equal the reason why not a single Jefferson County high school has ever participated in the Advance Kentucky program?
Enquiring minds want to know.
What the Ky. Education Secretary doesn’t know
– Or, won’t admit
Governor Steve Beshear and his education team have been on a whirlwind tour of Kentucky to tout his new task force to “transform” education in the state. At Pikeville, The Appalachian News-Express reports (in an article whose headline misspells the governor’s name) that a question was asked about where the state stands on No Child Left Behind.
In answer, Kentucky Education Secretary Helen Mountjoy replied,
“We addressed the issue of other states lowering their standards to look better,” she said. “I think the position that Kentucky has taken is one that says we need to make sure our kids get the best education they can. If we lower our standards … we have a short-term bang for our buck and a long term sacrifice of the education of our kids.”
“My advice is, I don’t care what other states do — we have an obligation to our kids. For too many years we let them down, it not time to start again.” (All in bold is a direct quote from the news article)
Ms. Mountjoy is not correct. Kentucky most definitely has lowered standards on its tests. That is made very clear by new federal test results, which show the scoring of Kentucky’s fourth and eighth grade Kentucky Core Content Test in mathematics got easier – again – this year, as we already pointed out here.
Ms. Mountjoy does get one concept right – it is indeed our kids who are being let down by these scoring standards bait and switch games.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Too far: UK Tobacco Ban
The University of Kentucky is going smoke-free on November 19, 2009. But wait! There's a catch. This ban doesn't stop at just smoking. This ban includes all tobacco products - even smokeless! After November 19, 2009 students, faculty, employees, or anyone else visiting the university will be prohibited from using tobacco while there.
That seems a bit ridiculous, doesn't it?
So, how far is too far?
How do you get a wrecked train back on the tracks?
KACo may provide loans and competitive insurance rates to Kentucky counties, but at what ultimate cost to taxpayers?
Click here to listen to the 90-second audio commentary.
Town Hall / Freedom Rally in Lexington
TEA Party of Kentucky invites you to a Town Hall / Freedom Rally Friday, October 23, 2009 from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at the Lexington Christian Academy Auditorium.
Join Pastor Herschel Walker, Frank Simon, M.D., Brigadier General Bruce Pieratt, radio host Leland Conway and Mica Sims (from Tea party of Lexington) to voice taxpayer concerns about the irresponsibility of out of control spending by our Non-Representing Representatives in Washington, D.C. This meeting will allow taxpayers to hear a physician explain the truth about House Bill 3200.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Wall Street Journal: How teachers unions lost the media
Wow! The WSJ reports that teacher union activity is now so ridiculous that even the liberal New York Times has had enough.
This WSJ article by Richard Whitmire and Andrew J. Rotherham really pulls no punches.
Some gems:
“A Washington Post editorial about charter schools carried this sarcastic headline: ‘Poor children learn. Teachers unions are not pleased.’"
The Times, “Calling a national teachers union ‘aggressively hidebound.’"
"All the reforms unions oppose—charter schools, testing, accountability, No Child Left Behind, performance pay—have been around for a while now and the disasters the unions predicted have not come to pass."
And, finally, this great item:
“Among those schools, roughly 300 high-performing charters have emerged to accomplish something once thought impossible. They take low-income urban students previously viewed as a lost cause and turn them out college-ready. The success of these charters shows that being born black or Hispanic in poverty to poorly educated parents won't necessarily lead to bad educational outcomes. Good teaching might be able to overcome all of these factors. And if charter schools can close the education gap, why not traditional public schools?”
But, read the full article.
By the way, after the revelations in the Kentucky Board of Education Meeting two weeks ago about what the union has done in the Louisville school system, don’t think this is only a problem in New York.
Thoughts on schools worth reading
New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof says it very nicely in his opinion piece:
“It’s difficult to improve failing schools when you can’t create alternatives such as charter schools and can’t remove inept or abusive teachers.”
We have a double dose of that in Kentucky where, unlike New York City, we can’t create charter schools at all.
I have not seen any data on Kentucky teacher certificates that have been revoked for incompetence, but I do know that at least one local union contract makes it impossible to assign highly experienced teachers to the schools which most severely need them. The impact for kids can be about the same either way.
Highlights from yesterday's charter school news conference
This first video covers comments from the bill’s sponsor, Kentucky Representative Brad Montell.
The next video, also from the press conference, contains comments from some of the proposed bill’s supporting groups and individuals.
Note in particular how much insight the two parents have about the educational situation of their children. Who says parents don't know what's going on and have little to contribute to the discussion?
Note that this press conference was held in front of the Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Louisville. This school has failed to make adequate progress under No Child Left Behind for nine years – the worst record of any school in Kentucky. Thomas Jefferson would be an ideal candidate for reforming as a charter school, or, as the bill will call them, a Kentucky Public School Academy.
All parents left behind – Follow-up
Apparently, I am not the only one who has reservations about the announcement yesterday of Governor Steve Beshear’s “Transforming Education in Kentucky” (TEK) Task Force.
Herald-Leader Reporter Jim Warren contacted Senator David Williams, the ranking leader in the Kentucky Senate, and writes:
“Williams, however, argued that the governor was covering old ground.
‘I respectfully submit that it is past time for your administration to move beyond discussion and to immediate action,’ he wrote to Beshear.”
I tend to agree with Senator Williams, especially since the task force membership completely snubbed parent involvement – not one member from a PTA, local or state – not one PTO member – and most glaring of all, not one parent member from a School Based Decision Making Council (SBDM)!
That last, incredible omission may say more than anything else about the real importance and influence of parents on SBDMs. As a voting minority, SBDM parents are not even worth including on the TEK Task Force.
By the way, I don’t see any classroom level college instructors, either.
Monday, October 19, 2009
All parents left behind
About every ten years or so, it seems like we need to have a task force to get everyone to feel good about public education in this state. We’re actually a bit late this time, but Governor Beshear is launching his new education initiative, called “Transforming Education in Kentucky” (TEK).
Anyway, after 20 years of KERA, we’ve seen this sort of thing before.
So, I am kind of surprised by the listing of task force members in the governor’s press release.
The obligatory legislators are there (and should be) along with the Commissioner of Education and the chair of the Council on Postsecondary Education. There are some school superintendents and a couple of classroom level teachers. There are the expected “nods” to the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and some other business folks. We get not one, but two key people from the teachers’ union. Basically, it’s the usual listing of elites we see time and again on these sorts of committees.
But, something is missing – a couple of rank and file parents. Not one is on the team. I don’t see anyone from either the state or local PTA or a PTO. Furthermore, there isn't a single parent member from a School Based Decision Making Council, either. That's really strange given all the hype we've been hearing about how our site base councils are so great that we don't need charter schools -- and the parent control they would bring -- in Kentucky.
UK Housing Debate Continues...
The recent University of Kentucky student housing debate has driven a lot of attention to private property surrounding the school. This attention has included student protests at city council meetings, random inspections by the fire marshal and city code enforcement, and even visits to the area by Mayor Newberry and UK president Lee Todd.
While the city points the finger at property owners, here is something to keep in mind...
State lawmaker makes push for charter schools
Jim Waters and Pastor Jerry Stephenson were interviewed by Fox 41 Sunday afternoon in advance of a press conference held on Monday by Rep. Brad Montell to showcase his bill for charter schools in Kentucky.
On Monday morning a press conference was held in front of the Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Louisville, where Rep. Brad Montell and several local pastors made the case for charter schools in Ky. Rep. Montell has prefiled a bill that will create "public school academies" that will allow failing schools to become charter schools. These new charter schools will operate independent of the public school system.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Kentucky's NAEP Grade 8 Math Performance – Let’s face the brutal truth
Several days ago I published comments on the fourth grade results by year on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math tests.
That included graphs for whites, blacks, and the overall student average scores for Kentucky versus the national averages for those same student groups. Now, I now present graphs that show how our eighth graders did.
As the chair of the Kentucky board of education recently put it, “Lets…face the brutal truth.”
As I did with the fourth grade student results, let’s start with some “right stuff.” You cannot get a good idea about what is happening in education in Kentucky if you only look at the overall NAEP scores for all students. So, this first graph shows how our white kids compared to the rest of the nation since NAEP began eighth grade math testing for states back in 1990. 
While our white kids made some progress, so have their peers in the rest of the nation. As a result, the Kentucky to national white score gap on the eighth grade NAEP was 10 points both in 1990 and in 2009. In fact, between 2007 and 2009 the gap grew by two points.
What really puts this in focus is a consideration of the very low proficiency rates associated with these scores. NAEP reported in 2009 that only 29 percent of Kentucky’s eighth grade students were proficient or more on math.
And, whites across the nation aren’t presenting much of a target for us to shoot at, either. The national NAEP eighth grade proficiency rate for whites in 2009 was only 43 percent – less than one out of two.
So, as I said in my discussion about the fourth grade results, you have to pardon me, but I don’t much feel like cheering. I think that Pollyanna attitude just feeds a Kentucky denial syndrome about education that many are just now starting to overcome.
Sadly, as was also true in the fourth grade, things look a lot worse when we consider our black eighth grade student’s performance relative to blacks around the nation.
Why do we need charter schools?
Yesterday we posted a link to a video about "What are charter schools, anyway?"
With that question answered, this video tells you why we think we need school choice in Kentucky.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
What are charter schools, anyway?
School choice options like charter schools are on a lot of policymakers’ minds right now. And, a bill creating parental choice public schools in Kentucky has been prefiled for the next legislative session.
So, you might think it’s time to learn more about school choice. If so, here is a quick-to-view video that will introduce you to what these school innovations – which soon may be coming to Kentucky – are all about.
Does Kentucky's school assessment discriminate against males?
It is pretty much taken as fact that boys outscore girls on math. That is true with the new National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math tests, as well. For example, the two bars on the far left of the figure below show that while Kentucky’s fourth grade females had a 34 percent NAEP math proficiency rate, our state’s fourth grade males did notably better with a 39 percent proficiency rate.
But, now take a look at the second group of bars on the right. The first two bars show that on the KCCT math test, female fourth graders were 72 percent proficient while their male counterparts were only 71 percent proficient.
Things are even more dramatic for the eighth grade results. In the NAEP, the boys had a five point advantage, just like boys did in the fourth grade NAEP. But, on the KCCT the girls outshined the boys by four points.
What’s going on with Kentucky’s Tests?
Friday, October 16, 2009
Accountability, transparency key to making privatization work for citizens
The key to making privatization work is the accountability produced by a clear, quality contract.
Such an agreement allowed Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to cancel a $1.34 billion contract with IBM Corp. to automate the application process for several supplemental government programs, including food stamps and Medicaid.
The Associated Press reports that Daniels said the company "did not make satisfactory progress to improve services."
NAEP exposes inflation in Kentucky’s school tests
– NCLB implications are significant, especially for minorities
I blogged earlier on how the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows scoring of the Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT) in math has been inflating over time.
Let’s look at how bad that inflation was in the 2009 math tests. We will see that the errors in reporting the true performance of black students for No Child Left Behind (NCLB) are particularly disturbing.
The graph above explores the difference between the 2009 math proficiency rates reported on the KCCT and those reported by the NAEP. I present data for various reporting groupings and grades.
The far left bar, for example, shows that the proficiency rate reported by the KCCT for all fourth grade students was 93 percent higher than the rate NAEP reported, or nearly double the proficiency rate in the NAEP.
In general, for most of the categories in the graph, the graph shows the KCCT math scores are inflated to about twice the NAEP reported figures. That is a pretty significant error.
However, there is one, very notable, exception.
KCCT math proficiency rates for our black students are hugely inflated in 2009.
KCCT inflation has profound implications for the accuracy of the NCLB ratings for schools in 2009 because the KCCT math test is one of the two academic tests used for NCLB reporting.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Federal tests show Kentucky’s test scoring inflated again in 2009
– Kentucky Core Content Test scoring in math got easier, again, in 2009
One of the values of the federal National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is that it can be used as a “ruler” to measure scoring inflation over time in state run assessments.
I developed a tool several years ago to make it easy to detect grading inflation on state tests such as the Kentucky Core Content Tests (KCCT). Here at the Bluegrass Institute, we call this the “NAEP Ruler.” The ruler produces a number we call the “NAEP Rigor Ratio,” which simply shows the relative scoring rigor of state tests versus the federal test.
A NAEP Rigor Ratio near 100 indicates the state test scoring for the grade of “Proficient” in a given year is about the same difficulty as the NAEP “Proficient” score. A number closer to zero indicates that the state test is much more watered down.
The really important thing, however, is whether a state’s NAEP Rigor Ratio stays constant over time. If the Ratio changes, then the state’s scoring is changing in comparison to the very carefully developed NAEP scores. A changing NAEP Rigor Ratio can indicate serious stability problems in state test scoring.
I used the new 2009 NAEP math results for 2009 to develop the two graphs below. These show the KCCT math test’s “NAEP Rigor Ratio,” as measured by our ruler, have been steady declining in recent years. 
Ideally, the NAEP Rigor Ratio should stay constant from year to year. As you can see, that hasn’t been the case for either elementary or middle school math testing in Kentucky.
This has important consequences for the recent No Child Left Behind results for Kentucky. KCCT math is one of the academic tests used to determine if schools have made adequate yearly progress. If the test is getting easier, which it is, then some schools that supposedly passed NCLB in 2009 possibly should have failed, instead.
For more details:
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Color me 'green,' leave US alone
Perhaps the fact that reducing greenhouse gases by one-millionth will cost Australia as a whole $50 billion over the next 40 years and each taxpayer $4,550 per year helped turn back a major climate policy in that country.
Or perhaps it’s the fact that Australia looked at Spain, which has been moving toward a “renewable energy economy” and now has 19 percent unemployment while the real cost of power has risen 100 percent.
Or perhaps “no one has any evidence that CO2 will overheat the earth.”
This summary by Leon Ashby, a Centenary Medal recipient for services to the environment, concludes: “an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will never ever prevent climate change," but will threaten the very foundations of a free economy.
A similar scientifically sound presentation is being developed for the U.S. Some research has already been done on the impact such schemes would have on Kentucky. It's not a pretty picture.
NAEP prophesy proves true really fast
When I posted my first comments about the new math scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) earlier today, I included the following caution: “So, watch out for those who try to make too much out of the fourth grade improvement.”
I knew that warning was needed, but I didn’t realize how quickly that would become true.
Let’s start with some “right stuff.” You cannot get a good idea about what is happening in education if you only look at the overall NAEP scores for all students. So, this first graph shows how our white kids compared to the rest of the nation since NAEP began fourth grade math testing back in 1992.
While our white kids have made progress, so have their peers in the rest of the nation. As a result, the Kentucky to national NAEP fourth grade math white score gap has hardly budged, moving from 10 points in 1992 to seven points today. With a rate of three points of closure in 17 years, we will need something like 40 more years to catch the rest of the country.
Somehow, considering that our NAEP proficiency rate is still very low for whites at only 39 percent, well behind a still-not-good-enough national math average of 50 percent, I don’t much feel ready to cheer.
Things look a lot worse when we consider our black student’s performance relative to blacks around the nation.
What goes up must come down
Nothing escapes the ebb and flow of the free market — not even the annual thoroughbred sale of fine horses in Kentucky.
Click here to listen to the 90-second audio commentary.
Federal testing will generate more questions about Kentucky’s tests
The 2009 results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math tests were released this morning, and there will be a lot to discuss.
On a somewhat happy note, Kentucky is one of a handful of states to show overall improvement in fourth grade math.
However, we went nowhere with our NAEP eighth grade math scores, which have not changed from 2007, the last time the NAEP was given.
Furthermore, even the fourth grade news must be tempered by the fact that the rest of the country now takes the NAEP with a significant handicap. Many other states have significant and growing minority student populations, which makes it easier for Kentucky to show improvement on NAEP. Because the other racial groups get much lower NAEP scores than whites do, Kentucky’s relatively high white population tends to make us look good on superficial analysis of NAEP scores when we actually need to be more cautious about the results.
Kentucky's business tax climate: Not as bad -- or good -- as it could be
First, it's not as bad as it could be in Kentucky.
The commonwealth improved from No. 34 to No. 20 in the Tax Foundation’s 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index.
Considering the tax increases approved during the 2009 session of the Kentucky General Assembly, how could Kentucky experience such a dramatic increase in just one year?
In an e-mail response, Natasha Altamirano, manager of media relations for the Tax Foundation, explained:
“While Kentucky did enact some tax increases that negatively affected the state’s Index score, its improvement in ranking is due to the fact that states immediately ahead of it in the 2009 Index fell so much as a result of poor tax policies -- especially in the personal income tax. In other words, by not doing anything (or by doing less damage than other states), Kentucky’s ranking improved.”
Second, while surrounding states like Ohio, which has been ranked either No. 47 or No. 48 for the past five years, continued to shrink their tax base, Kentucky missed the chance to improve its business climate.
NCLB Scoring update
On September 28, 2009 we informed you here and here that there appeared to be problems in the new No Child Left Behind scores for 2009.
Official confirmation of the dimensions of the problem were provided during the Kentucky Board of Education meeting on October 8, 2009.
I learned a little more during yesterday’s Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee meeting. About 120 schools appear to have questionable data concerning students with learning disabilities and the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) sent messages to all of those schools requesting a review of the statistics currently in the department’s databases, including the data used for NCLB scoring.
Politicians and unions: A sign of what's to come
In June, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed an executive order approving collective bargaining by individual providers of home-based support services.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Consensus for change in Kentucky education grows
There has been a lot of discussion this year about the lack of progress in Kentucky’s public schools, especially in the most chronically low-performing schools. After attending both Kentucky Board of Education and several legislative committees in the past week, it is my informed opinion that most of our key education policy makers are reaching consensus – what our educators have been doing isn’t working well enough, or fast enough, and people are now open to making major changes.
Lexington: good news/bad news
The good: It's encouraging that Lexington was recently ranked as the sixth best mid-size city for new business startups by CNNMoney.com. However, it certainly does not mean there isn't room for improvement of the business climate in the Bluegrass. Read more here.
The bad: Lexington has recently been in the midst of a heated debate about student housing near the university. The city council is discussing a housing density ordinance that would keep students from living in certain areas around campus. Students protested this proposal at a recent city council meeting. A recent press release stated that Mayor Jim Newberry dispatched inspectors in an effort involving "inspectors moving down selected streets and identifying properties that appeared to be congregate living facilities".
Before the city targets selected private property, perhaps it should have its inspectors take a look at its own government owned property. There are many documented cases of neglect for property codes at the Code Enforcement building on FreedomKentucky.org.
You know what they say about people in glass houses...
Monday, October 12, 2009
Prichard supports our position – again
Over at the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence’s blog, they just posted an item titled “How weak is Jefferson County?” which points out that this school district, by far Kentucky’s largest, ranks low for elementary and middle school test scores compared to other school districts in the state.
That is generally right on target.
Then, Prichard goes a bit astray, saying that the Jefferson County’s high schools do “importantly better.”
Really?
Actually, Prichard makes a very common mistake in its high school analysis by failing to consider Jefferson County’s serious high school dropout issues and how they impact the high school test results.
To show why this is important, I did a quick look in Education Week’s graduation rate Web tool.
[Side Note: Ed Week uses one of the better graduation rate calculations for its reporting. Forget Kentucky’s official rates, as they are inaccurate and have been officially audited and found in error]
Per Ed Week, the statewide average graduation rate in Kentucky in 2006 was 72.0 percent. In Jefferson County, it was far lower at 63.9 percent.
Even worse, as we pointed out a year ago in our “How Whites and Blacks Perform In Jefferson County Public Schools,” graduation rates in the inner city schools in Jefferson County are truly deplorable, with some schools losing more than half of their students.
If you drop a lot of kids out, it isn’t hard to look better on tests that are mostly given after the majority of the dropouts have left.
But, those scores are deceptive. They are even good enough to fool the Prichard Committee.
But, those uncorrected scores don’t support the idea that Jefferson County’s high schools really do a better job. If proper corrections could be made, I'll bet the Jefferson County high schools would wind up looking a lot like the elementary and middle schools.
The US education crisis
If any members of the Kentucky legislature’s Interim Joint Education Committee doubt the country faces serious education problems, they kept those doubts to themselves today as Dr. William E. Kirwan presented stunning evidence of how far the United States has fallen in education worldwide.
Kirwan’s evidence was stark – the US has lost significant ground in the education race compared to other industrialized nations. Once in first place, the country is sliding down the ranking scale at an alarming rate.
Some of the bad news is found on this slide from Dr. Kirwan’s presentation. The slide pretty much speaks for itself.
Kirwan, who is the Chancellor of the University System of Maryland, also chairs the College Board’s Commission on Access, Admissions and Success in Higher Education. The commission was formed to examine demographic, socioeconomic, public policy, and education trends that affect college access and success.
Kirwan’s presentation backed up a number of things the Bluegrass Institute has been pointing out for some time. High school graduation rate issues are no surprise to our readers. We have also written a lot about how poor preparation in Kentucky’s high schools leads to high levels of college remediation, excessive college costs and excessive college dropouts, as well.
Kirwan mentioned a relatively new report, “Coming to Our Senses,” which his group created. Some bullet points on that report’s major conclusions include:
Kirwan offered a number of suggestions to stop this downhill slide. Some of those include
• Increased college prep counseling in middle schools – many kids still don’t know about options for college, what is required, and what financial help is available
• Making college preparation the default high school curriculum – our Senate Bill 1, which Kirwan praised at several points in his presentation, will do that
• Align high school requirements with incoming college requirements – again something in Senate Bill 1
• Simplify college admissions and financial aid processes, and make college more affordable
• Simplify the college transfer process from two-year to four-year schools, including preserving credits for courses taken in two-year programs
• Give a lot more priority to teacher preparation programs – Kirwan honestly admitted that colleges are at fault in this area and need to improve
• Implement strategies to improve college retention – so those who enter complete their degree program.
We are glad Dr. Kirwan came to Kentucky, and we are also pleased that our legislators are attuned to the issues presented and generally seem to grasp the many problems discussed. It looks like we have moved beyond the climate of denial when people like Dr. Kirwan were summarily dismissed rather than listened too, which too often marked the early years of KERA.
Quote of the day...
Today, Elinor Ostrom was awarded the Nobel prize for economics along with Oliver Williamson. In addition to the prestige of winning the award, Ostrom also has the distinction of being the first woman to win the Nobel prize for economics.
Ostrom's work studied how communities manage resources better on their own rather than being told how to by an authority. In relation to that, she said:
“Bureaucrats sometimes do not have the correct information, while citizens and users of resources do."
This idea supports one of the seven principles of sound public policy put forth by the Bluegrass Institute which is: what belongs to you, you tend to take care of; what belongs to no one or everyone tends to fall into disrepair.
Does Washington’s cash mean charter schools for Kentucky?
When the Obama administration hands out the education stimulus money, will Kentucky be standing in line or lag behind like the students in our failing schools?
Click here to read the entire column.
Links you may like!
Here are a few links to start your week off!
Cato @ Liberty: The Cato Institute's blog covering a wide array of liberty issues on a national scope.
Reason TV: A great resource for videos about current issues.
The Austro-Kentuckian: A University of Kentucky student's blog about economics. Students being excited and knowledgeable about economics and voicing their concerns and views in the blogosphere is exciting!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Prichard Committee starting to sound like the Bluegrass Institute
It’s been a long time coming, but the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence’s blog is starting to sound a lot like our site.
In the past few days, the Prichard blog has posted such items as “Joe Brothers' Mighty Question” and “Achievement gaps remain severe.”
The first item contains Kentucky Board of Education chair Joe Brother’s frustrated comments from October 9, 2009 about proposals to deal with Kentucky’s chronically failing schools. As quoted by Prichard, Brother’s poses a plaintive question, “I came on the local board in 1987. What you just said to me is no different than what I heard in 1987. So why should I be hopeful?” (Side note: you can listen to Brothers’ comments from the Kentucky Board of Education Webcast here. Set the time slider to 1:36:44 to catch the beginning of his statement of frustration).
The second Prichard post agonizes about the continuing education gaps in Kentucky, especially for African-Americans, Hispanics, low income students and students with limited English proficiency.
The sorts of things that Prichard is starting to say have been standard comments at the Bluegrass Institute for years.
In fact, the evidence has been obvious for some time. Now, it has become so overwhelming that even Prichard – a key intellectual source of those things that Mr. Brothers has been hearing for the past 23 years (Side note: the period from 1987 to 2009 includes 23 years, not 25 years as Prichard incorrectly computed) – can’t ignore the problems any longer.
If Prichard had joined with us back in the early days of the Bluegrass Institute, we could have started revising our education standards and the CATS assessments years ago. We could have joined the 40 other states that already have charter school laws. And, we could have seen innovative school models like the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) schools already working in inner-city Louisville, helping to cut the achievement gaps the way similar charter schools are doing in New York City today.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Teachers Union National: Cut language keeping experienced teachers out of problem schools
– But, will Jefferson County teachers listen?
The story started on October 1, 2009. That’s when the Wall Street Journal reported the National Education Association’s president, Dennis Van Roekel, testified to the US House of Representatives that his huge union wants its local affiliates to eliminate restrictive contract language that interferes with, if not totally prohibiting, the ability of local school districts to place skilled and experienced teachers in the schools with the greatest needs.
As I reported in an earlier blog, the story then shifted to the Kentucky Board of Education meeting in Frankfort on October 7, 2009.
During testimony to the board on continued low performance of two middle schools in Louisville, Betty Graham, principal of the Frederic Law Olmsted Academy South Middle School, admitted her very challenging high-needs school is mostly staffed with highly inexperienced teachers. Clearly unhappy with that revelation, Kentucky Board of Education chair Joe Brothers then asked, “Is your teachers’ union not allowing you to put the teachers where you need them?” After Graham started to answer with some general comments, Brothers got much more direct, saying, “Quit talking around the subject. What’s the problem?”
Ms. Graham quickly replied, “It’s a contractual issue.”
In other words, the contract with the Jefferson County teachers association is indeed a major impediment to getting the kids in her school the quality of teachers they badly need.
Further discussion revealed Jefferson County’s extremely restrictive, child-hostile contract prevents the school district from directly assigning highly experienced teachers to the school. It even precludes paying teachers extra should they volunteer to go to the district’s most needy schools.
Following some more questions from Dr. Terry Holliday, Kentucky Commissioner of Education, the districts’ superintendent, Dr. Sheldon Berman, stated that the contract also prevented the use of test results for teacher evaluations. Dr. Holliday promptly stated that this little contractual restriction means Jefferson County cannot receive any money from the next round of federal education stimulus dollars. Holliday specifically mentioned a half-million dollar grant that he wants to give to Jefferson County that is in jeopardy so long as the union restriction remains.
So, thanks to the incredibly child unfriendly union contract in Louisville:
– Needy Louisville schools can’t get the quality of teachers they need.
– Teachers who volunteer to help in those schools can get no reward other than personal satisfaction for doing so.
– Extra federal money that could really help those schools won’t go to them.
Listen to the extraordinary comments from Graham, Berman and Dr. Holliday on the archived Web cast of the meeting, available here.
Use the time slider tool in your media player to advance to the 2:01:00 point in the broadcast to hear Ms. Graham’s comments about her inexperienced teachers and the admission that the union contract is a big problem. This discussion completes around 2:07:21 in the Webcast.
The next comments are also interesting, but, if your time is limited, use your media player’s time slider to advance to the 2:16:10 point in the broadcast to hear the exchange between Dr. Holliday and Dr. Berman about the union restrictions on using test scores as a part of teacher evaluations and to hear the consequences of that contract language. It will only take about three minutes to cover this part of the discussion, which does include a hopeful comment from Dr. Berman that he might be able to negotiate side letters of agreement with the union to remove some of these serious impediments.
We hope the teachers of Jefferson County will step up to the plate and do just that. After all, even their own national leadership recognizes the current situation isn’t sustainable, and the union is generating powerful backlash here in Kentucky and across the nation so long as it continues to require policies that block the best interests of children.
October Kentucky Board of Education Meeting Webcast Archive
I posted a short audio outtake from this week’s meetings of the Kentucky Board of Education earlier, but here, thanks to Andrew Liaupsin at the Kentucky Education and Television Services, is a set of links to the entire meeting on line archives for the KBE Meetings on 10/7/2009 and 10/8/2009.
If you don’t have a high speed Internet service, you might get better results by linking to the “Audio Only” versions.
10/7/2009 Video and audio
10/8/2009 Video and audio
10/7/2009 Audio only
10/8/2009 Audio only
Kentucky Education Commissioner speaks out about what to do about failing schools
The last two days of meetings at the Kentucky Board of Education have been a real breath of fresh air, and ideas.
Some of the most important comments may have come from Dr. Terry Holliday, the new commissioner of education. He talked about having to really reach out for new ideas to combat the chronic failure of some of our schools.
Check out this illustrated audio recording from the October 8, 2009 meeting where Dr. Holliday is open to going where Kentucky has not gone before – to things like charter schools, KIPP academies (the Knowledge Is Power Program schools which have done a superb job with poor and minority kids in inner cities) and controlling excesses in some school Site Base Councils (the School Decision Making Councils, or SBDM).
I think the board is really starting to “get it.” More on that later.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Our comments about the NCLB scoring errors confirmed
We blogged over a week ago about obvious errors in the new Kentucky NCLB test report for students with learning disabilities.
That problem, originally reported in two regional papers that only identified the issue in a single school district each, was today confirmed to be more widespread by Associate Commissioner of Education Ken Draut in a meeting of the Kentucky Board of Education. That validated my quick examination of the dimensions of the problem which I outlined in the item linked above.
Draut indicates that while the problem occurred in about 10 to 12 percent of Kentucky’s schools, only a small number of schools are expected to see changes in their NCLB accountability results as a consequence.
Draut also indicated today that the exact cause of the problem is still unknown, but it does not seem to be the usual sort of computer error. Investigation continues.
An update on the current situation ran today in the Herald-Leader.
Rosy assessments vs. the facts
House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, told the Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce earlier this week:
“Kentucky, overall, has come through the recession very, very well. In the end, if we continue on the same course, I think we will come out of this.”
Really?
Kentucky’s unemployment rate has been rising and is now at the highest in a quarter-century – 11.1 percent, nearly double what it was last year.
This is similar to President Barack Obama's recent statement that “we’re putting Americans back to work" just before the Department of Labor announced another 263,000 jobs were lost in September, raising the national unemployment rate to 9.8 percent.
I wonder how the nation's President – and Kentucky's Speaker – reconcile their rosy economic assessments with the facts. More important, what is the plan to change the economic realities -- beyond the easy answers of higher taxes, bailouts, stimulus spending ... and more smooth talk?
Energy bill adds taxes, would hurt Ky. economy
Kentucky congressmen need a ‘thinking cap,’ not a ‘tax and cap.’ Read Jim Waters' guest column in the Lexington Herald-Leader on how energy legislation proposed in Washington would threaten the economic viability of Kentucky's coal mines.
Click here to read the entire article.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
“Lets…face the brutal truth”
– KY Board of Education Chair Joe Brothers to Jefferson County educators
The Kentucky Board of Education heard update reports on what was going on in four of Kentucky’s most problematic school districts. The report from one of those districts, Louisville’s huge Jefferson County Public School District, included some really stunning moments.
Betty Graham, principal of the Frederic Law Olmsted Academy South middle school really riveted the board’s attention when she announced that her school has a very high percentage of brand new, inexperienced teachers.
Even worse, some of those new teachers are temporary/provisional certified teachers who came from alternative certification programs. Ms. Graham says the state provides no support to help them overcome their inexperience.
This disturbing news sat particularly poorly with the board members because Olmstead South was recently reconstituted as an all girls’ school from the former Iroquois Middle School and Southern Leadership Middle School. Both Iroquois and Southern had the unique distinction of being some of the less than a handful of schools in Kentucky to ever lose their self-governing privileges when their School Based Decision Making Council authority was transferred to the Jefferson County superintendent about a year or so ago. That makes Olmstead home to one of the lowest performing student groups in the entire state. The board knows Olmstead’s kids need top-notch teachers, but they are getting “newbies” instead.
The board pressed the district personnel on the inexperienced teacher issue. Finally upset at not getting straight answers, board chair Joe Brothers finally demanded, “Quit talking around the problem.”
In reply, Ms. Graham admitted, “It’s a contractual issue.”
In other words, union rules are standing in the way of the kids in this school getting the quality of teachers they need.
More fuel was added to the fire when Dr. Terry Holliday, Kentucky Commissioner of Education, asked Dr. Shelly Berman, the Jefferson County superintendent, if the teachers’ union contract prevented the use of test scores to evaluate teachers. When Berman replied that the contract did include that restriction, Dr. Holliday pointed out that if Kentucky gets any of the second tier stimulus money from the US Department of Education, that contractual restriction means none of the money can go to Jefferson County.
Left unmentioned was the fact that the US Department of Education has very firmly stated that states which prohibit using test scores to evaluate teachers will automatically be disqualified from getting any stimulus funds. Since Kentucky’s largest school district has such a restriction, it could put the entire state’s attempt to get stimulus money at risk.
I’ll be back in Frankfort in the morning for the second day of the board’s meeting. On the agenda is a discussion of the recently released NCLB results including issues of possible problems with the scores, which were briefly mentioned today.
By the way, I recognize any press people at the meeting. That’s sad.
If there is interest, I can put up an audio of some of the comments from the meeting. Use the comments feature to let me know if you would like that.
Show us the .... transparency!
Kentucky state government is about to become more transparent, and as a result, less costly as frivolous spending is exposed for all taxpayers to see ... and oppose.
A case of concerned citizens.
This is what happens when concerned, passionate citizens decide they want to make a change.
One simple way to voice your concerns and help equip others to make a difference is contributing to FreedomKentucky.org.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Tea Party this weekend in Northern Kentucky
There's another chance to attend a local area tea party before the bad weather hits. The Northern Kentucky Tea Party organization is holding one this Saturday at the Boone County Fair Grounds.
Here is the link to the organization's Web site.
And, here is a news announcement which includes scheduled speakers.
Get directions to the event here.
It's likely to be a cold winter, so get your "tea party" cup topped off.
Louisville's spending transparency site
Last month, Louisville, Kentucky launched a spending transparency site designed to inform citizens about how taxpayer money is spent. The site provides a breakdown of expenses by supplier, fund, department, and description. This is great news and more cities should follow Louisville's lead While the site does provide useful information it really is not as user friendly as it could be. There is not an option to search by keyword and the search result organization is limited. The information could be much more useful if it was presented much like it is here. BUT... this site is a step in the right direction and for that Louisville should be applauded.
Monday, October 5, 2009
More getting the message about high school dropouts
– And about effective education spending in general
Add the Messenger-Inquirer’s editorial staff to the group of Kentuckians who are finally getting the message – high school dropouts cost this state plenty, in many ways. And, just throwing money at the problem isn’t the answer.
The newspaper opines’ in “Editorial: Education is a community investment” (subscription), that high school graduates in the Owensboro area, “Earn about $27,000 more per year on average than those who never receive a diploma. That translates into lost occupational tax revenue for cities and counties.” The editors correctly go on to say, “That translates into a tax burden that's spread over the entire population.”
The article later points out that the issue of high school dropouts has been under study since the 1960s. So, this really isn’t news, but the failure to effectively deal with this long-term school issue is now coming home to roost big time as jobs for non-high school graduates get scarce while the international economy is leaving more under-educated Americans behind than ever before.
Although the dropout situation really isn’t news, there is a real breath of fresh air in this editorial. While the editors do close with an expected call for more money, they also say, “Of course, the answer doesn't lie in just throwing more money at the current education system.”
Wow!
A newspaper with a strong history of KERA support is getting it. We have to do intelligent things with our money that really work for kids, and the current education system isn’t going to get the job done on its own.
I don’t know if we could have said that much better.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Kentucky’s algebra picture looks bad
– But, how bad?
The 2009 report of the second year of testing for Achieve’s Algebra II exam are in, and this year Achieve also reports on the first year of testing with its Algebra I exam.
Only a small proportion of the Kentucky kids who were tested did well on the Algebra II exam. Over 91 percent of our kids scored so low that their preparation was graded as “Needs Preparation” instead of the grades “Prepared” or “Well Prepared.” Only 1,384 of the estimated 45,350 Kentucky students who took Algebra II were tested by Achieve. That’s a healthy drop from last year when 2,019 Kentucky students took the exam.
Things weren’t much better for the new Algebra I exam. About one out of four Kentucky kids were considered proficient in the entry level algebra coursework. Only 520 of Kentucky’s estimated 54,160 Algebra I students last year took the Achieve test, a much lower percentage than the Algebra II statistic.
Sadly, as is far too often the case, there is a serious problem in making any state to state comparisons with the new Achieve algebra data. Only a handful of Kentucky students participated, and it doesn’t sound like those who did take part could be considered a random sample, either.
Were Kentucky’s kids hand-picked to make us look as good as possible?
Did only Kentucky schools with top performance have the courage to participate?
Were there only weak schools in the test pool?
I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I do know that the number of students tested in each exam were much lower than the number of students the National Assessment of Educational Progress uses in its sampling of state education performance (usually running around 2,500 to 3,000, selected as a reasonable random sample, as well).
So, for now, the Kentucky algebra numbers from Achieve just sort of hang there in space. What does it really mean? Who knows?
