“But education in the state and nation is in crisis. Almost daily reports tell of American students falling far behind their international competition on performance test scores. And Kentucky has been a perennial poor relation among U.S. school systems. While there have been notable gains in the 20 years since enactment of the Kentucky Education Reform Act, they’ve come too slowly to keep pace with students in other states, much less the hard-working learners of developing nations.”
Who said this?
Click the “Read More” link to find out.
(Clue, it wasn’t anyone from the Bluegrass Institute)
This comes from a December 26, 2010 editorial in the State Journal in Frankfort (subscription).
The positive thing here is that with reality finally setting in, more in Kentucky are starting to understand and say what we’ve been pointing out for years. Maybe, with this growing realization, Kentucky will finally start to get some momentum for real changes.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Education in Kentucky in crisis: Who said this?
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4 comments:
It's encouraging to know that the folks at the Bluegrass Institute aren't the only ones who see Kentucky's education crisis something to be concerned about. Now, it's time for this shared concern to lead to real reform. The 2011 legislative session should be an interesting referendum on Kentucky education.
RE: Anonymous on January 3, 2011 1:15 PM
I agree that is is time for some real reform. We are past the point where the resistance of adults in the system can be allowed to trump the needs of our children and society in general.
I know that KERA had its problems but to me it seems the biggest one was that it was not enforced and there was no real accountability for adhering to the state legislation at any level. Districts not holding schools accountable, state not holding districts accountable etc. Which worries me because no matter how good a reform plan may be on paper, it will only yield results if it is followed!
RE: Anonymous on January 5, 2011 3:31 PM
Actually, KERA set in motion processes that guaranteed there would be no effective accountability.
Districts could not enforce anything. The law, as the courts interpreted it, allowed school based decision making councils to have all the real power. Even if a superintendent fired a principal, the school council could wind up rehiring him. It actually happened.
KERA, as the courts interpreted it, wound up strongly violating the classical chain of command system that would permit accountability.
In fact, this is why legislation is being discussed -- right now -- to give the superintendent some real authority, once again. That legislation passed the Senate Education Committee today. It is badly needed.
You might want to read our "KERA at 20" report series to learn more. You can find a link to those on the bottom left of the home page of freedomkentucky.org.
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