Kentucky Education Policy Blog

I always read with great interest Marc Tucker's blogs from the National Center on Education and the Economy .  I have heard Marc speak numerous times, I have participated in the Superintendent Academy sponsored by the NCEE and agree with his and NCEE's advocacy for systemic change in the American education system.  Tucker's main point in his most recent entry addresses the false promise of charter schools as a "be-all, end-all" education reform effort.  Tucker and the NCEE are distinctive among education policy leaders with a strong emphasis on benchmarking the U.S. with the most successful education systems around the world.  Here Tucker's argument is right on the money.  Charter schools are a band-aid when a heart transplant is needed.   His metaphoric language caused me to think of deeper issues that plague our policy environment in education and elsewhere.  Many of those that we elect and even appoint to address the challenges of our system d...

Geoffrey Canada founder of HCZ The incoming Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona is an advocate of wrap around program s and full-service community schools .  As promised, this blog will take a deeper dive into full-service community schools.  The current USDOE discretionary grants program for  Full-Service Community Schools  may see expansion during the Biden Administration.  These schools provide comprehensive academic, social, and health services for students, students’ family members, and community members that will result in improved educational outcomes for children. The idea of full-service community schools is not new.  In the early 20th century, education reformers like John Dewey and institutions like the Hull House in Chicago were dedicated to providing holistic support and wraparound social services to families through the education system.  Schools became civic spaces, recreation centers and primary units of social capital at the neighbor...

The education world has not had a lot to celebrate over the past year.  The weight and burdens of the pandemic, budget challenges, concern for the well being of students, and upheavals over everything from racial justice to safety restrictions have dominated education policy debates.   But this week, anyone who supports public education will celebrate the ascendency of Dr. Miguel Cardona as the new leader at the U.S. Department of Education.  Cardona is expected to replace Secretary Betsy DeVos, who officially resigned from her cabinet post after the attacks on the U.S. Capitol January 6.  DeVos will likely go down in history as the worst Secretary of Education in the history of our Republic.  DeVos's lack of education experience, not only made her completely unqualified for the job, but her tenure will forever be stained by the outright hostility to P-16 public education. But enough about the past, history will record her abuse of predatory for-profit inst...

Don't be deceived by the name.  House Bill 149 , an act creating "opportunities in education" is bad legislation at the worst possible time. HB149 was drafted with the intent of providing tax credits to wealthy donors to give families the ability to use public dollars for private school tuition and for education-related expenses for all families. It is potentially devastating for public education in a state that is already financially sick. Anyone that works in or supports public education should oppose the bill for the following reasons outlined below from Abby Piper of the Jefferson County Public Schools and the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents : First, contrary to what many supporters will say, the bill does not target low-income families. Households making $96,940 per year for a family of four would be eligible – that number becomes $121,175 in income in the second year--which, as the chart illustrates, is over two times the median income for Kentuckian...

As the details about the violent and seditious breach of the US Capitol on January 6 are slowly revealed, there are no shortage of prognostications about the why and the how of our present moment and no shortage of culprits-- the media, economics, politics, and race. It has prompted educators to reflect about role of schools, colleges and universities in the face of the present challenges to democracy. Did the riots result, in part, from a failure to educate? Is our nation finally paying a price for more than a century of anti-intellectualism? Michael Reynolds/ EPA via Shutterstock If teaching and learning are dedicated to helping students wrestle with big ideas to discover truth, then educators have a role in helping to correct the challenges that we are facing in a post-truth nation. Yale historian Timothy Snyder, writing in the New York Times , says post-truth is a form of pre-fascism.  "Without agreement on some basic facts, citizens cannot form the civil society that would al...

 Exactly a year ago, Governor Beshear and members of the General Assembly were beginning the work on what was billed as an "education first" budget.  Unfortunately, the pandemic interfered with the budget process and Kentucky-- like all other states-- went into fiscal survival mode.  Flash forward one year, the Governor and legislature have an opportunity-- despite the continuation of the pandemic-- to move forward with a budget that focuses on adequate funding of public schools.  While both the Governor and Republican controlled legislature will be touting education as a priority in this budget session, it is worth closely examining what an "education first" budget really means.  To really understand, we need to explore the debate about the idea that money really matters in education.  One of the most deceptive strategies of education reform over the past 20 years has been to sow doubt about the importance of school funding.  The approach has been adv...