Education Reform: A Work in Progress

Letters

October 29, 2009

letters to the editor

By STEVE BESHEAR Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky The Commonwealth Journal Thu Oct 29, 2009, 12:37 PM EDT

By STEVE BESHEAR

Governor of Kentucky

I often hear diametrically opposed statements about Kentucky's schools:

One, they're a lost cause.

Or two, they were "fixed" in 1990 by the Kentucky Education Reform Act, and they need no further attention.

Neither conclusion is true.

Now, KERA was a revolutionary event.

Empowered by the decision in Rose v. Council for Better Education and energized by a spirit of rebirth that swept the state, Kentucky created from scratch a new system of schools that demonstrated—to the nation and to our children—our commitment to a better future.

It was a stand against failure.

And it's true that the progress since has been considerable and measurable:

We've moved from 43rd to 34th among states in an overall Education Index.

Our undergraduate college enrollment grew 40 percent from 1997 to 2006.

And every group of students is performing better at every level on state tests.

But that rebirth was nearly two decades ago.

Technology has grown more sophisticated, the pace of learning has quickened dramatically and the fundamental foundation of knowledge and skills that one requires to function—and succeed—has expanded far beyond what we could envision even 20 years ago.

Neither the world nor our competitors has stood still.

It's time for Kentucky to re-galvanize the support that sparked the KERA revolution. And it's time to update the strategies we're using to prepare our children for this new and exciting world.

That's why I recently visited 10 cities to tout a new initiative called Transforming Education in Kentucky, led by a task force of 30 education and community leaders.

I have two goals:

1—To re-energize and unite the business, academic, political and civic communities around our schools.

2—To develop ideas and stitch together an array of existing initiatives into a comprehensive fabric that is more powerful and more focused.

Let me be clear: We will evaluate what is and isn't working in our schools, but this initiative is not an evaluation of KERA. Nor is it KERA II. We want to focus on the future, not the past.

The task force will come back with recommendations for the 2011 session in a number of key areas, including:

• Teacher recruitment and retention.

• Career and technical schools.

• The transition from preschool to K-12.

• Opportunities for college credits in high school.

• Use of technology.

And creating assessments that measure not just knowledge but qualities that employers value, like the ability to analyze, communicate and solve problems.

I did not include "long-term funding" on that list because first, we already all know that we need to invest more in education; and second, the current recession will not allow that additional investment immediately.

Yes, indications suggest that the national economy is improving, but the recovery will be a long, slow process. How slow? Experts say state revenues will not return to 2008 levels until 2012.

Over the past few years, we've made up that gap by cutting $800 million in spending and by tapping resources like budget reserves and federal stimulus funds. But our budget reserve is gone, and stimulus funds will soon run out.

I have shielded the basic P-12 funding formula—and, to the extent I could, other areas of education—from the deep cuts made elsewhere in state government. But because of the recession, I will not be able to free up a whole bundle of money to create new programs or to make significant new investments in areas like early childhood development, all-day kindergarten, and teacher pay and training.

However, that doesn't mean we hunker down and hide. It means we take this time to aggressively examine our education system and make sure we have the curriculum, teachers, standards and structure in place to prepare our children for the 21st Century.

If we do this, then when the sun does come out at the end of this recession, and we then have significant dollars to invest, we will know not only where to invest those dollars but how to get the most for them.

We cannot waste another minute.

Twenty years ago we made a start. Today, the mission continues.

Let's re-commit ourselves to ensuring the future of our children.

Text Only

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The Feb. 1, 2012, front page news of the Commonwealth Journal, read in big, bold letters, ALCOHOL at Eagle’s Nest.

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In response to the article by staff writer Chris Harris concerning the Battle of Mill Springs recently held in your county. I have concerns over the objectivity of the content, particularly with Bill Neikirk’s comments.
I am a living historian and travel from Florida to Virginia taking part in approximately 30 events per year; thus, I do know something of which I speak.

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I am writing this letter in response to the recent Somerset city limits Smoking Ban.
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January 31, 2012
Kentucky children need expanded preschool
To understand why my proposed budget expands access to preschool to 4,000 more Kentucky 4 year olds, it helps to imagine two kindergarten classes arriving for the first day of school.
In one class, the kids are bright-eyed and healthy. They know the alphabet, their numbers, and a little rudimentary math (think basic addition and subtraction). They can even read a little bit, and are able hold a conversation with adults. In short, they’re confident, curious, creative and energetic. They want to learn.
In the other class, the kids are just the opposite. Several have health problems, like tooth aches, asthma and lingering sickness caused by poor nutrition. They’ve never been read to, don’t know either their letters or numbers and can’t spell their names. They’re too timid to interact with their teachers and classmates, show little interest in anything around them and—to summarize—are completely unengaged.
You don’t have to be a kindergarten teacher to predict the outcome of the year: One class will learn, the other will struggle.
When the students enter first grade the following year, the same gap will exist, only it’ll be larger. In later grades, the gap will be larger still.
Barring aggressive intervention, the kids who began their school careers behind are likely to remain behind the rest of their lives.
That’s why getting our youngest children off to a good start—by laying a foundation of good health and cognitive development that enables them to hit the ground running in kindergarten—has been one of my top priorities as governor.
The seeds of learning are planted early in life. Earlier, even, than kindergarten. Scientists say that some 90 percent of physical brain development occurs from birth to age 3.
That’s why we’ve brought health care coverage to nearly 60,000 children whose families didn’t have any.
We’ve improved dental care for tens of thousands of children by increasing the number of dentists who treat children and bringing treatment straight to our classrooms.
We’re aligning our preschool and early care programs around a common definition of kindergarten readiness, one that guides our care workers in preparing our children mentally, physically, emotionally and socially to do the work involved in kindergarten.
And we’re seeking to expand access to preschool to 4,430 of our at-risk 4-year-olds.
My proposed budget for the 2013-2014 biennium—which I presented to the General Assembly on Jan. 17—includes $15 million to expand eligibility to families whose incomes are 160 percent or less of the federal poverty level, up from the current cut-off of 150 percent.
Bu the end of my term, I intend to set eligibility levels at 200 percent or below, which would help us add 3,920 additional children on top of this year’s gain.
Anecdotally, this makes sense.
Statistically, it’s a wise investment.
The Committee for Economic Development -- a national nonprofit, nonpartisan business-led public policy organization -- produced a report funded by the Pew Charitable Trust that studied the benefits of early childhood education. The report found that kids who had access to high-quality preschool were less likely to drop out of school, less likely to commit crimes, earned higher incomes and were healthier.
Consequently, experts say that every dollar spent on preschool programs carries a return on investment that ranges from $2 to $17.
The formula is simple—we can invest in our children early, or we can pay substantially higher costs later for things like remedial school work, basic job training, expanded welfare and prison costs.
If we don’t give kids the best possible start to their education, the bill comes due again, again and again.
Our people—especially our children—are Kentucky’s greatest resource.
To bring transformational change to our state, we must cultivate that resource by making substantial investments in our intellectual infrastructure.
Even in the most wretched financial times, there are certain investments that we cannot ignore.
But this is more than a financial argument. It’s also a moral one.
We owe all of our children—whether they live in our inner cities or our mountain hollows, our suburbs or our farms -- a chance at a promising and productive life.
And that process starts early.

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