PADUCAH, Ky. – Not everything about the Kentucky Education Reform Act was a failure.
Jim Waters, vice president of policy and communications, told WKYX NewsTalk 94.3 morning show host Greg Dunker today that KERA helped solve serious funding and nepotism problems in Kentucky’s school districts.
Waters was on the show to talk about the Bluegrass Institute’s new report analyzing the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), the commonwealth’s nationally acclaimed reform.
The report, “KERA@20: Lessons learned,” was released in conjunction with the reform policy’s 20th anniversary. While there has been some academic progress, when the costs of KERA are factored in, research indicates that each point gained on the credible national tests now have a higher price tag than ever.
While the report is a look back, it’s also meant to influence the future direction of Kentucky’s education policy as the state prepares to implement a new testing system next year.
Waters said this would be the right time also for education policymakers to get rid of KERA’s failed management system for local schools –known as School-Based Decision-Making Councils.
KERA was signed into law by the late Gov. Wallace Wilkinson in 1990, who – at the time – called it “the most important piece of legislation since the signing of the (Kentucky) constitution.”
Click here to hear more of the interview.
Jim Waters, vice president of policy and communications, told WKYX NewsTalk 94.3 morning show host Greg Dunker today that KERA helped solve serious funding and nepotism problems in Kentucky’s school districts.
Waters was on the show to talk about the Bluegrass Institute’s new report analyzing the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), the commonwealth’s nationally acclaimed reform.
The report, “KERA@20: Lessons learned,” was released in conjunction with the reform policy’s 20th anniversary. While there has been some academic progress, when the costs of KERA are factored in, research indicates that each point gained on the credible national tests now have a higher price tag than ever.
While the report is a look back, it’s also meant to influence the future direction of Kentucky’s education policy as the state prepares to implement a new testing system next year.
Waters said this would be the right time also for education policymakers to get rid of KERA’s failed management system for local schools –known as School-Based Decision-Making Councils.
KERA was signed into law by the late Gov. Wallace Wilkinson in 1990, who – at the time – called it “the most important piece of legislation since the signing of the (Kentucky) constitution.”
Click here to hear more of the interview.
2 comments:
Great interview!
Great points in the audio about the Site Base Councils. They really messed up the ability to hold people accountable, which was probably the intention of some adults in the system from the get-go with KERA.
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