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August 31, 2010

Robert Sexton was an effective advocate for quality education

Staff Writer The Independent The Daily Independent Tue Aug 31, 2010, 04:54 PM EDT

LOUISVILLE — Kentucky has lost one of its most effective advocates for quality education with the death of Robert F. Sexton, the executive director of the privately funded Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence since 1983. Sexton, 68, died Thursday following a long battle with cancer.

in While the late Ed Prichard, the well-known and respected Frankfort attorney who died in 1984, may have been the driving force behind the creation of an independent advocacy organization for education in Kentucky that is now named in his honor, it was Sexton ;who kept the committee an effective advocate for quality education in Kentucky’s elementary and secondary schools for a quarter of a century after Prichard’s death.

Without the influence of Sexton and the Prichard Committee, the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 — the most important single piece of legislation in the last half century — would not have been enacted. While a ruling by the Kentucky Supreme Court declaring Kentucky’s system of school funding unconstitutional mandated a change in the way schools were funded, it was Sexton and the influential members of Prichard Committee who convinced then-governor Wallace Wilkinson and legislators to embrace a wide-ranging reform law that went far beyond just the funding inequities that led to the court decision.

It was Sexton who convinced business leaders like Ashland Inc.’s then-CEO John Hall, key education leaders, and other influential Kentuckians to join forces to convince a reluctant Kentucky General Assembly to approve a law that would radically change public education in Kentucky.

To be sure, KERA — which included a one-cent increase sales tax, reduced the power of elected school boards and made many other significant changes in Kentucky’s schools — was not universally popular and led to the defeat of several legislators. It clearly was the right thing to do and made Kentucky a national leader in school reform. A number of other states made KERA a model for their reform laws.

The Prichard Committee could have patted itself on the back with the passage of KERA and folded, thinking its goals had been accomplished. Instead, it has continued to push for improvements in Kentucky’s public schools, including advocating changes that were not always popular.

“I don’t believe the Prichard Committee, which has done a great deal in improving education in Kentucky, would have stayed on track without Bob Sexton,” said State Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, who played a key role in the passage of KERA. “He was a continual prodder and provoker of education issues and discussions that moved Kentucky forward. Bob Sexton was a great Kentuckian.”

“Many Kentuckians may not realize the revolutionary impact Bob had on shaping our state’s education practices, but it is not an exaggeration to say that Bob Sexton has influenced and enriched the education experience for generations of students,” said Gov. Steve Beshear.

Sexton preferred to stay in the background and was not widely known among ordinary Kentuckians. But he had a tremendous impact on generations of Kentucky children who did not know him and may have never heard of him.

Robert Sexton never promoted himself. For him, it was all about improving education in Kentucky. His wisdom will be greatly missed.

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Robert Sexton was an effective advocate for quality education

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