Mike James
The Independent
ASHLAND —
Gov. Steve Beshear asked Kentuckians what they want to know about his initiative to overhaul the state’s educational system, and they sent him a list.
How about assessments? Funding for pre-school? Improving teacher recruitment and retention? Family resource and youth service centers?
Beshear, his wife Jane, state education commissioner Terry Holliday and Council on Postsecondary Education executive director Bob King fielded such questions Tuesday in a panel discussion streamed via KET to campuses of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.
The discussion was preceded by a public forum where attendees volunteered questions about the initiative and also their hopes for education in the Commonwealth.
Ashland Community and Technical College hosted one of the forums. Attendees, mostly educators, were a mix of college academics and teachers and administrators from several districts in northeast Kentucky. At least six superintendents were there and one college president.
The initiative, dubbed Transforming Education in Kentucky, aims to create a unified and focused vision for what schools need to teach in order to prepare students for college and careers.
It is exploring and will issue recommendations this fall on topics including:
‰Improving college readiness.
‰Providing all students the chance to earn college credit in high school.
‰Creating a system of assessments that measure what employers value.
‰Improving academics in vocational schools.
‰Using technology to improve teaching and learning.
‰Improving teacher recruitment and retention.
‰Improving transitions between preschool and kindergarten.
‰The statewide forums should garner important concerns from local districts, according to Morehead State University dean of education Cathy Gunn, who co-chaired the forum with ACTC’s dean of advancement Louise Shytle. “These are your schools, the districts affected by decisions in Frankfort,” Gunn said.
Among the observations coming from Ashland:
‰Every child should graduate from high school.
‰Children in every district, even the poor ones, should have the same advantages and opportunities.
‰The state should provide support systems to ensure children are safe at home and at school.
‰Substance abuse and mental health programs should be standard in Kentucky schools.
‰High-stakes testing should be abandoned.
‰So should teacher unions.
‰Teachers should instill in children a passion for learning by channeling their own enthusiasm.
‰Everything needs more funding — preschool, all-day kindergarten, family resource and youth service centers, teacher salaries, technology.
Beshear agreed that education needs money but stopped short of making any funding promises. The recession has made it difficult to meet funding needs, he said.
MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.
