Final Words

This is my last blog as commissioner of education for Kentucky. It has been my privilege to serve the children of Kentucky. I am extremely proud that Kentucky educators have helped more students graduate from high school and achieve college- and career-readiness than at any point in the history of the Commonwealth. Student achievement on state assessments, the ACT, and other national assessments continue to show Kentucky students are making progress.

While I am proud of these accomplishments, I am also aware that there is much work to do for the new commissioner and the Kentucky Board of Education. 

Achievement gaps persist and unless addressed, many children will not be able to reach their potential. Early childhood expansion is critical if we are ever going to close achievement gaps. 

While we have excellent teacher preparation programs in Kentucky, we must review the certification requirements for our upper elementary and middle school teachers who focus on mathematics. 

The Governor’s Bullying Task Force recommendations need to be fully implemented in our schools. 

Funding for critical support systems like school transportation and career and technical education must be increased. 

These issues and others will present many challenges to the Kentucky Department of Education leadership and the Kentucky General Assembly.

While we have achieved much and there is much left to do, my fondest memories of Kentucky will be the people. I traveled to every county in the state and visited every school district. I visited more than 800 schools and personally talked with thousands of educators, parents and community leaders across Kentucky. I am convinced that the people of Kentucky are kind, caring and committed to support public education. 

It has been the pinnacle of my career to work with a terrific Governor and First Lady. 

Members of the General Assembly have been strong advocates of education and Senate Bill 1 (2009) has provided the road map for the last six years. 

The team at the Kentucky Department of Education is second to none and will continue to do terrific work in support of our schools and students. 

Kentucky teachers are the best in the nation and will continue to motivate students. 

Finally, the reason educators do what they do is for the children. It is the reason I have done what I do for so many years. The Kentucky students I have met during my time as Commissioner are bright, eager to learn, and motivated to succeed. Kentucky has a very bright future with these students as future leaders.

Best wishes to all.

Work yet to do

Kentucky has made remarkable progress in high school graduation rates and in the percentage of high school graduates who are college ready. High school graduation rates are among the best in the nation at 87.5 percent and our college/career-readiness rates have soared from 30 percent of graduates in 2009 to more than 62 percent in 2014. 

While this is good news, there is much work yet to do.

Despite the improvement in college/career readiness, currently only 60 percent of high school graduates enroll in postsecondary programs. In some of our high schools that number is as high as 90 percent while in others it is less than 40 percent. However, back in 2012-13, more than 80 percent of students said they had plans to enroll in postsecondary when they graduated from high school. 

Job number one is to find out why students who indicate an intent do not follow through and enroll in postsecondary. Is it the tuition rates? Is it a lack of support from families? Is it a lack of skills to complete the enrollment process or complete financial aid forms? Is it a lack of college scholarship funding from the Kentucky lottery?

Job number two is to make certain students who move on to postsecondary work are successful. We know that students who graduate from high school having reached the Kentucky college/career-readiness benchmarks realize more success their first year in college than those who are not college ready.
     • They have a higher GPA – 2.6 versus 1.7 for those who are not college
        ready.
     • They complete more college hours – 22 versus 11 for those who are not
        college ready. 
     • They return for a second year of postsecondary at higher rates –
        85 percent versus 65 percent for those who are not college ready.

It is clear that Kentucky’s college/career-ready benchmarks are excellent indicators of success in postsecondary. I know our postsecondary institutions are working hard to build support systems for students who need additional support to reach success in their freshman year.

Job number three is to make certain students who move on to postsecondary are enrolled in career pathways that lead to jobs paying a living wage. Too many of our students who are graduating from postsecondary programs are finding that they have large student debt and very few job prospects in their chosen field of study. In some areas, unemployment of college graduates exceeds 20 percent and underemployment is higher than 40 percent. 

Preparing students to make wise career choices begins in elementary school and continues through postsecondary. We should NEVER put students into programs that lead to a dead end. Our career pathways programs should always provide students with plenty of on ramps and off ramps as they move through the education system.

Job number four is for Kentucky to decide what type of economy we are willing to support. Recently, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce released an analysis of the workforce pipeline in the Commonwealth. Less than 10 percent of employers think the workforce is prepared with the skills needed for the 21st century economy. Similar reports from the Southern Region Educational Board, Council of Chief State School Officers, National Governor’s Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have pointed to similar concerns about the workforce pipeline. While there are plenty of job openings, employers say it difficult to find employees with the skills needed for those openings. We have a huge skills gap in Kentucky and across this nation. 

Kentucky must decide if we are going to invest in an education and workforce system that will prepare our citizens for the 21st century economy. The states that invest in K-12, career pathways, the workforce pipeline and postsecondary today will outcompete other states for jobs in the future. As Kentucky prepares to elect the next governor, these are critical questions to be asking.

Solving an education conundrum

Recently, I attended a meeting at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce to discuss a strategic plan for the Chamber and Kentucky. Kentucky Chamber CEO Dave Adkisson invited a group of “thought leaders” to hear a presentation from Ted Abernathy, who works with a number of local, state and national organizations to develop vision statements and strategic plans. 

During his presentation, Abernathy discussed a number of trends that will impact Kentucky and the nation. One trend caught my attention due to the tremendous impact it is having on education in Kentucky. The trend is urbanization. Urbanization is basically the movement of individuals from rural and small city settings to midsize and large city settings. The key reason for urbanization appears to be the availability of jobs in urban settings and lack of jobs in rural settings.

Nationwide, the urbanization of America is evident. In 1950, more than 70 percent of the population lived in rural or small city settings. In 2010, that number dropped to 48 percent and the number is expected to drop to 40 percent by 2030. In 1950, 7 percent of the population lived in medium to large cities. In 2010, the number had grown to 20 percent and by 2030, at least 27 percent of our population is expected to live in medium to large cities. In a map that Mr. Abernathy shared, it was clear that the migration from rural to urban areas is happening all across Kentucky and the nation. It was interesting to discover that more than half of the U.S. population lives in just 146 counties.

What are the implications of urbanization for education in Kentucky? The obvious implication is that students are moving from rural settings to urban settings. Certainly, if we compare the 1950 census to the 2010 census we see evidence of this migration. 

Students are moving because of job loss in rural settings. This is very evident in rural Eastern Kentucky communities. Many small communities that once relied heavily on the coal industry or agriculture for jobs have seen those jobs eliminated. The loss of jobs means the loss of tax revenue due to businesses being closed. When there are no jobs, people take their families to locations where there are jobs and in most cases, the jobs are located in or near urban settings. As families move away, the number of students attending schools shrinks.

The loss of student population means the loss of federal, state and local revenue for our schools. The loss of revenue means fewer teachers and fewer course offerings for students. The loss of revenue means less funding for teacher pay increases which means the gap between teacher availability in rural settings and urban settings will grow. This is especially evident when rural settings try to hire math, science, and special education teachers. The loss of revenue means less funding to build and maintain school facilities.

The loss of student population in our counties and small independent districts located in rural settings is well documented. When a local community has a small independent and a county system and both systems are losing students, then the communities begin to battle over student assignment agreements. When county and independent systems cannot come to agreement on student assignment agreements, then the commissioner and eventually the Kentucky Board of Education get involved. It is always best when local communities resolve these issues prior to state involvement.

What are the possible solutions? Our normal solution in the past has been to push for more education. However, this creates a conundrum. If we educate more students to higher levels, then those with more education will seek better paying jobs and when no jobs are available, the talent will leave for areas that have jobs. 

A possible solution is beginning to emerge with the Saving Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) initiative that Governor Beshear and Rep. Hal Rogers have sponsored along with other state officials. The key question is how do we build the infrastructure in Kentucky to recruit business and industry to locate in rural areas so that talented and educated individuals can remain in their rural communities and build the future? Hopefully, SOAR will be successful so our local schools and districts can be successful. The alternatives are not very desirable for those communities.

Exciting Time of the Year

Many eager parents, teachers, school administrators and community members are looking forward to the new school year. Parents who take their kindergarten or first grade child to school for the first day will shed a few tears as they hand off their precious treasure to dedicated teachers and staff. Many parents will be very happy to return to a normal routine where the children are engaged in meaningful activities under the supervision of dedicated teachers and staff. 

School administrators are nervous! They are checking to make certain that they have enough staff to meet the needs of all children. Do they have all the supplies and textbooks on hand to meet the needs of children and teachers? Does the school look clean and inviting? Has the grass been mowed? Are procedures in place to make certain schools are safe? Do the bus routes meet the transportation needs? Will the school cafeteria be ready for the first breakfast and lunch? Have we provided all the required and necessary training to all staff?

Teachers are nervous also but very excited to see children return to classrooms. Teachers are in their classrooms setting up materials to make certain the classroom is inviting and conducive to learning. Teachers have been working over the summer months to develop new curriculum and finding materials aligned to the curriculum. Teachers have been engaged in professional learning to either get an advanced degree and/or prepare for new state initiatives such as the Professional Growth and Effectiveness System or new science standards.

Many coaches and band directors have been working hard for several weeks. They have been getting fields ready for practice and equipment and uniforms ready for the students. Schedules have been planned. Buses have been ordered for transportation to games and events. Meals have been planned. Booster clubs are in full operating mode to raise funds to support students.

Students are excited to return to school. They are excited to see old friends and make new ones. They are excited to see which teacher(s) they have and what they will learn. They are excited about the first football game or band competition. For some, they are nervous as they begin to realize that this is their last year as a high school student and they have not finalized plans for what happens after high school. For others, they are nervous as they make the transition from the confines of an elementary school to the confusion of a middle school or a high school.

For community members, many are excited to see activities at schools. For most of our schools in Kentucky, the school is the center for community activities. Schools are a huge source of pride for communities. Community members are always prone to brag about the academic ranking of their local schools, the sports teams, and other student groups.

This will be my 43rd year as a teacher, principal, superintendent, or commissioner. This time of year continues to bring goose bumps as I think about the tremendous potential that our children in Kentucky have. I get excited thinking about the buzz that happens in more than 1,400 schools in Kentucky. I get excited to think about the many conversations among parents, teachers, administrator, and community members that will be focused on making certain all of our children have a bright future. 

As school buses begin to roll and school zone signals start blinking, I hope everyone in the Commonwealth will slow down when driving through a school zone, take a moment to silently wish all of our students and educators a successful start to a school year, and whisper a wish that every student will achieve the promise of an excellent education to ensure a brighter future. 

United We Stand, Divided We Fail

The words United We Stand, Divided We Fall are emblazoned on the Kentucky state seal, displayed on the state flag and in 1942 were adopted as the Commonwealth’s motto. While biblical in origin, this simple, yet inspiring phrase first appeared in modern times in the revolutionary war ballad The Liberty Song. Nearly 250 years later, with respect to John Dickinson, I’d like to adapt his lyric for our use – United We Stand for Education, Divided We Fail Our Children. This axiom sums up the coalescence we have realized in P-12 education in the Commonwealth in recent months.

In September 2013, the Kentucky Department of Education convened all state superintendents in Frankfort to discuss key education issues. At the top of the agenda was the development of key priorities for the FY15-16 state budget. Superintendents supported restoration of SEEK funds, Flex Focus funds, and funds for increased bandwidth and technology devices. The top three priorities were endorsed by the Kentucky Board of Education.  Meanwhile, numerous education groups came together as the Kentucky Education Action Team. 

Today, we see the fruition of those efforts in the state budget adopted by the General Assembly earlier this week. A few of the highlights reflect what can happen when educators stand together. Never before have we seen the level of cohesive commitment from all education, business, parent groups and even students for restoring funding to SEEK, Flex Focus and technology. 

As a result of our united voice:
•  Educators will see a pay raise of 1 percent in 2015 and 2 percent in
    2016 (the first pay raise in six years).
•  Educators will see an increase in extended school services to help
    provide additional time and support for children who are not
    achieving at the expected levels. 
•  Educators will see restoration of professional dollars to help
    implement more rigorous standards and teacher/principal
    effectiveness systems. 
•  Educators will see increases in funds to ensure our schools are safe
    for teachers and children. 
•  For the first time in the last six years, educators will have funding
    to purchase textbooks and instructional resources. 

In our biennial TELL Kentucky Working Conditions Survey, teachers told us there was a critical need for more bandwidth and additional technology devices. This budget will provide additional resources to support those needs. 

In total, K-12 education received a $141 million increase in FY2015 and a $228 million increase in FY2016 over FY2014 funding levels. With our unified voice, we were able to gain additional funds for education during a time that the state was not gaining any significant revenue enhancements. This is strong evidence that when our adapted motto – United We Stand for Education – actually happens, great things can happen.

Educators should take time to thank members of the General Assembly for their efforts in making K-12 education a top priority in the state budget. Additionally, educators should thank Governor Beshear and his staff for their tireless efforts in promoting restoration of funds for education.

As we move forward in the 2014-15 school year, I strongly encourage educators to remain united. 

There will be efforts to divide us based on the anti-Kentucky Core Academic Standards group. There will be push back on the implementation of the Professional Growth and Effectiveness System. There will be debate as the Kentucky Board of Education begins to review and modify the Unbridled Learning Accountability System. 

It is critical that we continue to work together and united to help more students reach college and career readiness. We may not agree on every detail, however, we know that a united front is much more successful than one that is divided. 

United We Stand for Education, Divided We Fail Our Children.

Prioritizing education from cradle to career

It was my honor to attend the 2014 State of the Commonwealth address by Governor Steve Beshear this week. Education was a highlight of the speech (to watch the speech click here; to listen to the speech click here).

I was very excited about the emphasis on cradle-to-career education. This phrase captures our work with early childhood, Senate Bill 1, college/career-readiness and the recent push from the Council on Postsecondary Education for “15 to Finish.” 

The Governor was very clear about the need to reinvest in education in order to ensure a highly skilled workforce for the future.  A strong workforce is an educated workforce, and Kentucky has made enormous progress in creating a seamless, cradle-to-career education system that is better preparing students for a complex world.

With special focus on early childhood education, raising the graduation rate, and increasing college- and career-readiness for all students, Kentucky’s schools are emerging as national leaders in education reform and measurable student progress.

In 2013, Education Week’s annual “Quality Counts” report ranked Kentucky in the top 10 states in student performance and education progress. The state is implementing the Graduation Bill passed last session, which will require students to stay in school until age 18. And last month, Kentucky won a $44.3 million federal Race to the Top grant to improve early learning programs for thousands of Kentucky preschoolers.

But schools have stretched their dollars as far as they can, the Governor warned, and will lose ground without new investment.

Kentucky has frozen SEEK – the basic funding formula for K-12 classrooms – for six years, even as student enrollment expanded, costs increased and local support in some areas dropped. Plus, budget pressures forced deep cuts in areas ranging from textbooks to teacher training and school safety. Meanwhile, because of impending federal sequester cuts, schools face the prospect of significant layoffs, increased classroom sizes and out-of-date technology.

“We are in danger of losing all of the positive momentum which has been built up. And I am not going to allow that to happen,” the Governor said. “I am determined to find money to reinvest in education – even if I have to make harmful cuts in other areas to do so.”

Fiscal discipline and aggressive managing of the budget – including some $1.6 billion in spending cuts – helped Kentucky get through the recession, but in some areas the cuts went deep enough to damage programs and services critical to building a stronger future.

“We cannot continue making progress by paying teachers less than they deserve, by ignoring needs like textbooks and technology, by delaying research into innovative energy production, by pricing college out of reach, by leaving needed cancer screenings unfunded, and by retreating from things like child care and mental health services,” Gov. Beshear said.

The Governor identified two possible sources of new, recurring revenue with which to make investments: tax reform -- increasing competitiveness by broadening our tax base and improving our business climate will help stabilize future budgets -- and gaming.

Gov. Beshear said he would ask the General Assembly again to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot related to expanded gaming.

Over the years several economic studies of various gaming scenarios have projected potential Kentucky tax revenues in the hundreds of millions of dollars – money that is currently crossing the border “to fund roads and schools in Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and other states.”

Kentuckians “want to vote on this issue,” he said.

A Perfect Storm is Brewing

In 1990, the Kentucky General Assembly took bold action to reform P-12 education. Through passage of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), the General Assembly agreed to invest in education and to implement numerous policies and actions that would raise student achievement. At the time, Kentucky was one of the bottom two or three performers among states.

Fast forward 23 years, and we now see Kentucky at or above national average on many measures of student achievement. KERA worked due to the bold vision of the General Assembly and the tremendous work of Kentucky educators.

In 2009, the Kentucky General Assembly again took bold action to reform P-12 education. With the passage of Senate Bill 1, the General Assembly pushed P-12 education toward a higher goal of college- and career-readiness for all students. While KERA had focused on basic academic performance, Senate Bill 1 now focused on college/career-readiness and national/international competitiveness of our Kentucky graduates. Senate Bill 1 has worked as evidenced by increased college/career-readiness rates and graduation rates.

With KERA, there was a significant investment in funds. Programs like Extended School Services, preschool, professional development, teacher salaries, school-based decision making councils, Family and Youth Resource Service Centers, textbooks, and technology received significant dollars through the state budget.

With the passage of Senate Bill 1, there were no additional dollars provided for standards development, assessments, accountability, professional development, textbooks, technology, or student support services. The clear message from the General Assembly was educators had the funding they needed in existing budgets. However, no one dreamed that throughout the next four years the General Assembly would have to greatly reduce funding for public education due to the recession.

Basically, the General Assembly has not been able to honor the commitments made through KERA or Senate Bill 1 due to the recession and lack of economic recovery. How deep have the cuts to education been?

Since the 2008 session of the General Assembly, the per pupil amount has dropped by $33. In FY 2009, the General Assembly provided $2,461,236,248 for basic SEEK funding; the amount in FY 2013 was $2,397,016,693. The General Assembly has allocated $64,219,555 less during a time that our Average Daily Attendance has increased by more than 10,000 students.

KERA provided Flexible Focus Funding for professional development, preschool, textbooks, safe schools, and extended school services. Since the passage of Senate Bill 1 in 2009, funding for professional development has been reduced by more than $9 million, safe schools have been reduced by more than $6 million, extended school services have been reduced by more than $19 million, textbooks have been reduced by more than $21 million, and preschool has been reduced by $3.8 million. In FY 2008, Flex Focus Funds totaled $154,099,600; in FY 2013, it was $93,143,900 -- a total reduction of $60,955,700.

KERA also established a strong focus on technology. In the last four years, we have seen a reduction in excess of $8 million in basic support for the technology infrastructure and the loss of a $50 million bond that helped districts purchase technology equipment.

The impact on education has been significant. In the last three years, we have lost more than 1,800 teachers due to budget cuts.

Local school districts have had to rely on local property taxes to offset some of the state cuts. In FY 2009, local support for education totaled $825,184,656. In 2013, the amount had increased to $872,904,155. This was an increase of $47,719,499 from local sources which rely heavily on property taxes. The net result is that the state is pushing more of the cost of public education on to local property owners. This means that we are seeing a growing gap in equity of funding between school districts. The gap between the school district with the highest funding per pupil and the school district with the lowest funding per pupil in FY 2009 was $8,719. By FY 2013, the disparity had increased to $11,338. This means that the highest funding school district has on average more than $250,000 per classroom to provide a high quality education.

The significant reduction in state funds is only one part of the perfect storm that is brewing. In the spring of 2014, our school districts will have to deal with the budget cuts from federal sequestration – an estimated $57 million in cuts to programs like Title I, special needs students, migrant students, and other at-risk student populations. Estimates of the loss in positions are around 1,300.

Finally, our school districts will see the other part of the perfect storm as they budget for 2014-15. The Kentucky School Board Insurance Trust settlement will happen in the next few months and will place another $50-60 million cost on our districts. Districts will have to borrow money to pay these assessments. To repay the loans, districts will have to take money out of their operating funds that normally would be used to hire staff and provide support services for students.

The perfect storm is certainly brewing in Kentucky education. The only possibility for our school districts is to seek restoration of state funds since we see little hope coming from the federal level of any type of resolution to federal budget and sequestration cuts.

Educators and parents all across Kentucky have come to together to focus on restoration of education funds during the 2014 General Assembly. Failure to see funds restored will result in significant layoffs for the 2014-15 school year. Parents will see the impact in larger class sizes and less support for children who are struggling. Kentucky will see declining graduation rates, higher dropout rates, fewer children reaching college- and career-ready requirements, and negative impacts on social, health, and juvenile justice programs. I hope readers will let their voices be heard.

Listening to the Voice of the Customer

It is extremely important for any organization to have listening processes to ensure the “voice of the customer” is heard. The Kentucky Department of Education utilizes advisory groups, surveys, focus groups, and other methods to ensure we are listening to the voice of the customer. For a complete listing of the advisory groups that I utilize as Commissioner of Education see this webpage.

One of the most important customer voices is that of students. A few years ago, I asked the team at KDE to develop a Next-Generation Student Council to ensure that I had a cross-section of Kentucky students to bounce ideas off of and to hear directly from students what their concerns and ideas were to improve education in Kentucky. KDE sent out a news release this week highlighting the membership of the Next-Generation Council. I am excited about the opportunity to talk directly to students and to hear their ideas.

Six Kentucky public high school students have been named to the Next-Generation Student Advisory Council, a group that provides input to Kentucky Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday.

The newly-selected members will serve for one year.

·         Nolan Calhoun – 10th grade, Grant County High School

·         Zachary Creekmore – 11th grade, Whitley County High School

·         Jiahui Hu – 12th grade, DuPont Manual High School, Jefferson             Co.

·         Karson Johnson – 10th grade, Marshall County High School

·         Deanie Pedigo – 10th grade, Barren County High School

·         Quincy Penn – 11th grade, Frankfort High School, Frankfort                   Ind.

The students were selected for the council based on their responses to application questions. A committee of department staff reviewed the applications and scored them on how well each student expressed his or her ideas and goals.

The six new members join five returning members on the council.

·         Vincent Cao – 12th grade, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School,               Fayette Co.

·         Morgan Casto – 12th grade, Russell High School, Russell Ind.

·         David Hormell – 12th grade, Martha Layne Collins High School,            Shelby Co.

·         Tiffany Parham – 12th grade, Murray High School, Murray Ind.

·         Guyron Spalding – 12th grade, Bardstown High School,                             Bardstown Ind.

The purpose of the council is to provide valuable feedback from Kentucky students and to engage student leaders in learning by doing. This group will meet with the commissioner and Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) staff, both in person and virtually, to discuss how decisions made at the state level are affecting public school students throughout Kentucky and will provide feedback -- from a student perspective -- on critical issues impacting Kentucky students and schools. The group’s first meeting will be in Frankfort on October 30.

The Next-Generation Student Council is a year-long program for Kentucky public school students in grades 10-12. The council is composed of a diverse group of students with ideas and insight into how public schools and student achievement can be improved.

Supporting Kentucky’s future – or not?

This week, I was reading the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) legislative update and received an e-mail from Stu Silberman over at the Prichard Committee. Stu had been reading the same update. Here is the body of his e-mail.

The Southern Regional Education Board has released its most recent legislative update. As you will see in the chart below, Kentucky funding is falling behind and steps must be taken in this next session so we can be competitive.

State	K-12 Budget	Higher Ed Budget
Alabama*	Up 3 %	Up 2.4%
Delaware	Up 4 %	Up 4% (approximate)
Florida	Up 13.9%	Up 34.2%            (state universities)
		Up 3.1%            (state colleges)
Louisiana*	Down 1.7%	Down 10.0%
Oklahoma	Up 3.3%	Up 3.5%
South Carolina	Up 8.5% Charters up 40%	Up 9.4%       (4-year colleges & universities) Up 3.1%       (2-year colleges)
Tennessee*	Up 4.3%	Up 9%

*Also provided pay raises for teachers

In Kentucky, base student funding (SEEK) has remained flat in recent years, but an increase in the number of students has effectively cut per pupil spending. Basic grants (Flexible Focus Funds) that are used to implement Senate Bill 1 (2009) have been reduced by more than $61 million per year. The SREB report, however, shows other states are re-investing in education.

The Kentucky Board of Education is currently reviewing priorities for FY15-16 budget request. At a minimum KBE wants to see restoration of SEEK funding and Flexible Focus funding to 2008-09 levels. For SEEK, this would require an additional $60 million in FY15 and $90 million in FY16. This level of funding would only get us back to $3,866 per student which is woefully inadequate when compared to other states. To restore Flexible Focus Funds would require an additional $61 million in both FY15 and FY16. Flexible Focus Funds provide textbooks, digital resources for teaching/learning, extended school services, pre-school funding, and professional development to help educators implement Senate Bill 1 (2009).

Here is the big problem facing our legislators: there is no new money! Recently, the Consensus Forecasting Group, a non-partisan team of economists, predicted that FY15 state revenue would be fairly flat and indicated that with state obligations such as pensions and debt retirement, there is no new money for education.

Our schools have made remarkable progress in the last 25 years. More students are graduating from high school and reaching college- and career-readiness than at any point in our history. Our educators are taking money out of their own pockets to support children. Our parents are doing more fund raising to support basic needs in schools than ever before. However, this heroic effort by educators and parents cannot continue without a negative impact on morale. Teachers and parents will become extremely frustrated (if not already so) because they are being asked to fund items for students that should be provided through state and local funds.

The answer to this issue is NOT to pass on the reduced state funding costs to local property owners. Funding basic education needs through local property tax only exacerbates the inequities in education funding across 173 school districts (remember the Rose case). The answer to this issue is bold leadership from our state legislators.

As commissioner I am using this blog to announce my strong support for state legislators to address two possible funding sources during the 2014 session. I strongly support efforts at tax reform and also strongly support expanded gaming. These are not popular issues and they are extremely difficult to deal with during an election year, however, my job is to alert decision makers that without adequate funding, Kentucky educators will not be able to maintain current levels of student performance and certainly will not be able to continue improving student performance.

It is apparent from the SREB Report mentioned above that other states are re-investing in education because they know that education will have a positive impact on employment and the economy.

The upcoming session will be a make or break year for education in Kentucky. There are basically two choices – support restoration of funding for education so we can continue to make progress or don’t support restoration of funding. By not supporting restoration of funding, decision makers will be supporting the decline in outcomes for children that will have long term negative impacts on the futures of our children and the future of the Commonwealth.

Summer Reading: Global Competition

Over the past few weeks, I have given several speeches that focus on the 3 E’s. I have been giving this speech for several years. The 3 E’s refer to education driving employment which drives a state and national economy. As part of my speech, I focus on the leadership of Kentucky in pushing the 3 E’s through Senate Bill 1 (2009). For summer reading, I am recommending that educators look closely at several publications. Jim Clifton wrote a book a few years ago entitled The Coming Jobs War. Also, Valerie Hannon and others have written an excellent book called Learning a Living. Finally, I recommend a McKinsey Center for Government report entitled Education to Employment: Designing a System that Works. All three of these publications provide excellent insight into the global competition for jobs and the potential impact on not only the U.S. economy but the global economy.

Jim Clifton offers several interesting statistics. There are 7 billion people on earth. More than 5 billion are age 15 or older. More than 3 billion people say they must work or want to work. Currently there are only 1.2 billion full-time, formal jobs. That means there is a shortfall of 1.8 billion jobs. Readers can see evidence of this with the global unemployment rate of more than 8 percent and the unemployment rates for 18-24 year olds in European countries (more than 25 percent in some countries).  Clifton talks additionally about the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is currently at $60 trillion. The U.S. has one-fourth of the GDP with a national GDP of more than $15 trillion. With projected population and economic growth, the world’s GDP will grow to $140 trillion. This offers enormous opportunities for the nations who seek economic growth. However, a key fundamental for economic growth is education and the creation of jobs. Clifton sums it up very well: “If countries fail at creating jobs, their societies will fall apart.”

In Hannon’s book (Learning a Living), and in the McKinsey report, there are many excellent U.S. and international examples of specific strategies states and nations are implementing to ensure education and job creation. In Kentucky, we have programs like Toyota Advanced Manufacturing and similar initiatives by UPS, Ford and GE.

At a recent global conference I attended, the discussion was lively around an interesting topic: Will this century be the “American” or “Asian” century?  Certainly, the last century was the American century, with tremendous economic leadership from the U.S. However, for the fastest growing economies, we have to look to China, India, and other Asian countries. It is important that the U.S. and Kentucky focus on the 3 E’s in order to remain competitive. I encourage readers to take the summer and read the publications I mentioned. I will return to this theme throughout the fall as Kentucky progresses on our journey to improve the 3 E’s.

Key Education Issues for 2013

Over the holiday season I was catching up on my professional reading. Also, I was tracking education writers and their predictions for 2013. I thought it would be good to summarize what I think will be key issues for Kentucky education at the state and national level.

Funding – Funding for education will continue to be on the front burner. At the state level, we see several key issues that will impact funding. The state pension system reform will require significant resources that will eventually have a negative impact on state education funds.

At the national level, the fiscal cliff deal only delayed sequestration decisions for two months. In addition, there will be cuts to federal education funds as Congress has to cut $24 billion due to the two month delay in sequestration.

At the state level, we will see significant discussion over the report by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform. My guess is that this issue will be dealt with in a special session. Overall, my prediction on education funding is that we will see continuing reductions in state and federal funds due to the many pressing issues and lack of willingness to increase revenues.

Programs – Early childhood will be one of the top priorities at state and federal levels. Investments in early childhood provide the best return on investment for education dollars. We will also see a state push to raise the dropout age from 16 to 18. A number of other states will also have legislation proposed. This will be a year where Title II issues such as teacher preparation and teacher evaluation gain a lot of momentum and the Secretary of Education will release new guidelines for Title II funding that will support this reform agenda. I have absolutely NO hope to see reauthorization of No Child Left Behind in 2013, however, the state waiver process will inform the debate on reauthorization and lay the groundwork for reauthorization in 2014.

School safety – Everyone agrees that we need to focus on school safety, however, there will not be agreement on specifics. Armed guards have been proposed but funding limitations will hinder that proposal. More focus on gun control laws will be debated and we will see legislation proposed to allow teachers to have concealed permits to carry arms on campus. We will see a lot of debate about reforming mental health. We will also see significant discussions about a culture of violence promoted by media and video games. In the end, I am not certain if much will be accomplished due to the polarization of this issue.

All in all, 2013 does look like a very busy year and a year that I believe will see some significant reform on several fronts. As always, Kentucky educators will be leading on key issues and heavily involved in others.

Social Media and Use by Commissioner of Education

In the past, I have received some criticism for using Twitter and Facebook during the work day. While some folks use Twitter and Facebook for personal reasons, my primary use of both is business. I like to visit schools and districts and take photos of exciting things happening and then tweet the photos. I also enjoy sharing articles that I get from Twitter links that highlight interesting issues in education. Facebook serves pretty much the same purpose, so I have been utilizing Twitter much more than Facebook in recent months.

For example, I recently connected with a major study that was interesting and has implications for Kentucky education. A research study was highlighted this week from the Consortium for Policy Research in Education. This report identified seven major trends and changes shaping the teaching profession in the United States. You can see the study at http://cpre.org/seven-trends-transformation-teaching-force-0.

The seven trends are:

1.      The profession is becoming larger – teachers are the largest occupational group in the nation and have increased by 48 percent during the 1987-2008 period, while student enrollment increased 19 percent.

2.      The profession is becoming grayer.

3.      The profession is becoming greener; the distribution of teachers is becoming bimodal – the numbers with 25-plus years of experience are increasing, and those with less than five years are increasing, while those in between are decreasing

4.      The teaching profession has become increasingly more female.

5.      There is a gap between the percentage of minority students and minority teachers, and the rates at which minority teachers leave schools are considerably higher than that of white teachers.

6.      Students who become teachers have lower SAT scores than those who do not go into teaching.

7.      The profession is becoming less stable with increasing turnover rates.

This study has implications for recruitment, training, hiring, professional learning, retention and retirement issues connected to our Kentucky teaching force. Superintendents and deans of education would be well served by connecting to this research.

All in all, I think Twitter and other social media software have more advantages to disadvantages, and as one user, I gain a great deal of information in a fast and useable method through the use of social media. We at the Kentucky Department of Education believe that these tools are an excellent way to not only get information, but also to communicate information about Kentucky education. Visit me on Twitter @kycommissioner and check out the Department of Education’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/kydeptofed.

Career and Technical Education in Kentucky

On October 16, pursuant to an executive order issued by Governor Steve Beshear, the Office of Career and Technical Education was merged with the Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE’s) Carl Perkins branch to form the KDE Office of Career and Technical Education (CTE). Associate Commissioner Dale Winkler will head this new office. I am personally very excited about the potential to elevate and integrate career and technical education within the department.

Why is this so important to education and the economy in Kentucky? Here is one example.

Governor Beshear recently proclaimed October 5 as Manufacturing Day in Kentucky. The National Association of Manufacturers, the Manufacturing Institute, Kentucky Association of Manufacturers and the Foundation for Kentucky Industry have designated the day as a launch point to emphasize the many values of manufacturing.

Governor Beshear stated that “manufacturing is a wonderful career path for highly skilled workers within a crucial sector of the economy. The manufacturing community is a key economic driver in the Commonwealth, representing $27 billion, or 17 percent, of Kentucky’s GDP, with more than 215,000 people working in manufacturing in Kentucky.”

This week, I had the opportunity to tour an exciting program that is focused on manufacturing. I visited the Toyota Advanced Manufacturing Technician Program (AMT) at the Toyota Georgetown manufacturing plant. The AMT program has become a national model of how business can collaborate with education to create bright futures for students. In collaboration with numerous school districts in the region, Bluegrass Community and Technical College and other local businesses, students are offered a two-year intensive program that combines the technical, work and academic skills to prepare students for manufacturing jobs.

Of interest to me was the statement that over 600,000 manufacturing job openings are available in the U.S., and industry is having a hard time finding workers with the technical skills and work skills to fill these jobs that pay a living wage. What great news for students in this program and other similar programs across the U.S. It also was exciting to hear that there is significant interest to expand this type of program in Kentucky.

In talking with the students and instructors, I heard several suggestions for the new Office of Career and Technical Education. Among these suggestions was the expansion of our Project Lead the Way program, integration of more rigorous academic skills in career and technical courses, focusing instruction on projects and application of academic and technical skills in an integrated fashion, allowing communities to focus on specific job sector courses rather than one-size-fits-all courses, and heavily involving business and industry in career and technical programs.

Kentucky has focused on elevating and integrating career and technical education. Our Unbridled Learning accountability model gives equal weighting to college and career readiness with bonus points for students who graduate with both. Jobs are available for students who graduate with career and technical skills, as evidenced by the number of job openings in manufacturing.

Over the next few years, I hope our CTE program -- through the integration of academic and career/technical -- will provide numerous opportunities across the state that are similar to the Toyota Advanced Manufacturing Program.

Restoring Faith in Public Education

A good friend and professional colleague, Malbert Smith, sent me this article from Education Week. Malbert co-authored the article and the white paper that supports it. Malbert is research professor for early childhood, special education and literacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I encourage readers to review the article, but here are a few highlights.

The premise of the article is that America is losing faith in public education. Gallup’s June 2012 Confidence in Institutions survey shows confidence in public schools has eroded from 58 percent who have a “great deal” or “quite a lot of confidence” in public schools in 1970 to 29 percent in 2012. Of course, the good news is that public schools rank much higher than the U.S. Congress, but, that is indeed a low bar.

Malbert shows the interesting paradox between public confidence and actual school performance. Measures such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show significant gains in math and reading scores since 1970. Dropout rates are down, and graduation rates are up. While many think that our international rankings were once among the top in the world, this assumption is incorrect, and actual international rankings have actually improved in a few areas and remained flat in others. Certainly, there are many who debate the international rankings and the national test scores; however, the bottom line is that public faith in public education has eroded as has public faith in most institutions. The real question is what can we do to restore public faith in education? Malbert suggests a couple of strategies.

1 – To remain economically and politically relevant, our high school graduates must be prepared for the demands of a global economy. Adoption of college- and career-ready standards for all graduates is a good first step. Kentucky has led the way in these efforts with Common Core State Standards.

2 – Implementation of the Common Core Standards will help restore confidence. Again, Kentucky has led the way with the implementation of Common Core in 2011-12 and with testing and accountability models implemented in 2011-12. Readers should look to the results of our measures for college and career readiness to be released at the end of the month.

3 – Our leaders of both political parties have to take responsibility for restoring confidence in public education by being clear about priorities and strategies to improve public education.

4 – Educators must improve outcomes for children, and we must share not only our areas for improvement but also our success stories.

From my experience this week at the Kentucky Board of Education meeting, I would add another strategy. The media has to become more balanced.

This week, the Kentucky Department of Education reported the results from our field test of a common kindergarten screener and estimates of the number of 2012 graduates who reached college- and career-ready standards. The media only picked up on the kindergarten screener results, since the numbers indicated that only one in four students are ready for kindergarten. The media completely ignored the great news that we had seen double-digit gains in students graduating college/career-ready.

We increased the number of high school graduates who met college/career-ready standards by over 4,000. We helped parents and students save more than $5 million in cost avoidance for developmental courses. We doubled the chances of these students to graduate from a two- or four-year college. As we prepare our communities for the release of the new accountability results, hopefully this article will help you in addressing public confidence in public schools.