At a recent Kentucky Board of Education meeting, we had a presentation from Dave Adkisson, president and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. Rather than take a position concerning the presentation, I thought some of the facts were very interesting and should be part of any future budget discussions.
Corrections Spending in Kentucky
· Spending has seen 44 percent increase since 2000, as compared to 33 percent increase in General Fund.
· It costs $19,000 per year to incarcerate a prisoner and only $9,200 a year to educate a child in P-12.
· Could we not save money on corrections by reducing our dropout rates and investing in early childhood education?
Medicaid Spending in Kentucky
· Medicaid budget is growing twice as fast as the General Fund budget.
· Medicaid enrollment increase is three times the predicted and budgeted amount.
· There will be a significant decrease in federal funding support for Medicaid in FY11.
· Medicaid moved from 6.5 percent of the state budget to the current 13.7 percent.
· Is there not a correlation that better-educated citizenry has better health?
Public Employee Health Care
· Increasing five times faster than General Fund budget (174 percent increase, compared to 33 percent General Fund increase since 2000).
· Health care for public employees currently comprises 12 percent of the state budget and 16 percent of the P-12 education budget.
· Health care costs are 17.2 percent of salary for public employees, compared to 10.8 percent for private companies’ employees.
I don’t envy the General Assembly as the members reconvene to deal with budget issues. These are difficult times that will require lots of collaboration and consideration of many ideas for improving efficiency and effectiveness of all programs.
I asked today if we thought Santa would drop a sack of dollars for Kentucky into the General Fund, and I am afraid that the answer will probably be “no.” However, no matter the funding, we must educate our children and ensure their future.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
A New Direction for the Kentucky Board of Education
The Kentucky Board of Education meeting this week signaled a new direction for the board’s meetings. The agenda items at the meeting were a comprehensive set of strategies that will eventually lead to regulatory and possibly statutory changes to implement Senate Bill 1.
The board acted on major recommendations from a recent Office of Education Accountability study of mathematics programs in schools in the Commonwealth. A key requirement will be common course codes for core subjects. This is related to Senate Bill 1, since the Common Core Standards (an initiative of the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association) will drive the need to have common course codes at the high school level. Algebra I in Paducah must be the same as Algebra I in Pikeville. While we would certainly want local teachers to set instructional materials, pacing and length of course and define instruction, we must assure parents and students that our mathematics courses and standards will adequately prepare all high school graduates to be successful in college and career.
Another key strategy is changing the definition for measuring high school graduation rates. The board approved regulatory changes that will allow use of a more standard graduation rate, which allows districts to disaggregate rates by ethnicity and gender. Kentucky will not be able to implement the national graduation rate, called a cohort graduation rate, which follows individual students from the 9th grade to graduation, until 2013-14; however, until that time, we must focus on preparing ALL children to graduate with the skills needed for college and career.
These are very exciting times in Kentucky. With the Race to the Top application and Senate Bill 1 deployment, the Kentucky Board of Education is very focused on a comprehensive system of improvement. Also, with Governor Steve Beshear’s Transforming Education in Kentucky Task Force set to begin work in January, 2010 should be a very interesting year for education. What excites me more than anything are the great teachers, principals and school staff that I see during visits to schools each week. In spite of budget cuts and challenging local situations, these folks are dedicated to helping every child be successful.
The board acted on major recommendations from a recent Office of Education Accountability study of mathematics programs in schools in the Commonwealth. A key requirement will be common course codes for core subjects. This is related to Senate Bill 1, since the Common Core Standards (an initiative of the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association) will drive the need to have common course codes at the high school level. Algebra I in Paducah must be the same as Algebra I in Pikeville. While we would certainly want local teachers to set instructional materials, pacing and length of course and define instruction, we must assure parents and students that our mathematics courses and standards will adequately prepare all high school graduates to be successful in college and career.
Another key strategy is changing the definition for measuring high school graduation rates. The board approved regulatory changes that will allow use of a more standard graduation rate, which allows districts to disaggregate rates by ethnicity and gender. Kentucky will not be able to implement the national graduation rate, called a cohort graduation rate, which follows individual students from the 9th grade to graduation, until 2013-14; however, until that time, we must focus on preparing ALL children to graduate with the skills needed for college and career.
These are very exciting times in Kentucky. With the Race to the Top application and Senate Bill 1 deployment, the Kentucky Board of Education is very focused on a comprehensive system of improvement. Also, with Governor Steve Beshear’s Transforming Education in Kentucky Task Force set to begin work in January, 2010 should be a very interesting year for education. What excites me more than anything are the great teachers, principals and school staff that I see during visits to schools each week. In spite of budget cuts and challenging local situations, these folks are dedicated to helping every child be successful.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Kentucky's budget situation
In most of my speeches, I frequently make a comment about the current budget situation. The comment is usually this – “We adults made this mess, and we should not balance the budget on the backs of our children.” Sounds good on the podium; however, in reality, we are having a very difficult time making the statement one of fact.
In my 38 years of education and over 20 years as an administrator in charge of budgets, the past two years have been the most difficult budget situations I have ever encountered. As I travel across the state, I am hearing from local superintendents that they, too, are encountering very difficult budget situations. While the national economy has shown some signs of recovery, state and local revenues have not shown similar signs. Even more difficult are the budgets of families where one or more of the parents is out of work. In my travels, I see closed-up store fronts, vacant mills and signs of a struggling economy. Every night on the news, you hear more and more stories of families struggling due to the current economic crisis.
However, when I visit schools, I see signs of hope. I see teachers and communities who are working to ensure that the children have what they need in the classroom. I am seeing innovative methods of local superintendents and principals in dealing with budget shortfalls. I am seeing local boards of education who have voted to provide funding for schools in face of difficult local economic situations.
As Commissioner of Education, I have been asked to prepare a plan to deal with a projected state shortfall. The share of the budget shortfall that education has been asked to reduce is $20 million. This is the latest reduction of six that have happened in the past two years. We have made the easy reductions. We have reduced the travel, the professional development, the textbooks, the costs that are not closely associated with the classroom. We have frozen all hiring at the Kentucky Department of Education. We have not filled vacant positions. We have eliminated every discretionary dollar that we can find.
Now, we have run out of options. We must begin to reduce some program dollars. There are no easy choices. Every program that we are reviewing has a strong constituent base that truly believes any budget cut would decimate the program.
We have established a few priorities for this next round of reductions. We are attempting to save positions in schools and districts. We are trying not to further reduce school safety or extended school funds, which have already been greatly reduced. We are looking at dollars that have not yet been expended in programs so the reductions will not require districts to make up the difference. A mid-year 6 percent reduction is really a 12 percent reduction, so we know that whatever we do will have a negative impact on programs.
As commissioner, I will continue to work to find other ways to come up with $20 million. I also will continue to look for funding sources to replace these budget reductions. We are working hard to obtain federal Race to the Top grant funding and funding from philanthropic sources.
While we are in difficult times, I have every belief that our great nation can recover and our state and national leaders will find ways to ignite new growth in our economy. During these times, we must listen and work with each other rather than blame each other. As always, we are open to suggestions on how to reduce operating costs. Final decisions will not be made until early January. Thanks for reading!!
In my 38 years of education and over 20 years as an administrator in charge of budgets, the past two years have been the most difficult budget situations I have ever encountered. As I travel across the state, I am hearing from local superintendents that they, too, are encountering very difficult budget situations. While the national economy has shown some signs of recovery, state and local revenues have not shown similar signs. Even more difficult are the budgets of families where one or more of the parents is out of work. In my travels, I see closed-up store fronts, vacant mills and signs of a struggling economy. Every night on the news, you hear more and more stories of families struggling due to the current economic crisis.
However, when I visit schools, I see signs of hope. I see teachers and communities who are working to ensure that the children have what they need in the classroom. I am seeing innovative methods of local superintendents and principals in dealing with budget shortfalls. I am seeing local boards of education who have voted to provide funding for schools in face of difficult local economic situations.
As Commissioner of Education, I have been asked to prepare a plan to deal with a projected state shortfall. The share of the budget shortfall that education has been asked to reduce is $20 million. This is the latest reduction of six that have happened in the past two years. We have made the easy reductions. We have reduced the travel, the professional development, the textbooks, the costs that are not closely associated with the classroom. We have frozen all hiring at the Kentucky Department of Education. We have not filled vacant positions. We have eliminated every discretionary dollar that we can find.
Now, we have run out of options. We must begin to reduce some program dollars. There are no easy choices. Every program that we are reviewing has a strong constituent base that truly believes any budget cut would decimate the program.
We have established a few priorities for this next round of reductions. We are attempting to save positions in schools and districts. We are trying not to further reduce school safety or extended school funds, which have already been greatly reduced. We are looking at dollars that have not yet been expended in programs so the reductions will not require districts to make up the difference. A mid-year 6 percent reduction is really a 12 percent reduction, so we know that whatever we do will have a negative impact on programs.
As commissioner, I will continue to work to find other ways to come up with $20 million. I also will continue to look for funding sources to replace these budget reductions. We are working hard to obtain federal Race to the Top grant funding and funding from philanthropic sources.
While we are in difficult times, I have every belief that our great nation can recover and our state and national leaders will find ways to ignite new growth in our economy. During these times, we must listen and work with each other rather than blame each other. As always, we are open to suggestions on how to reduce operating costs. Final decisions will not be made until early January. Thanks for reading!!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Assessments and Common Core Standards
This week’s blog begins a conversation on development of assessments to support the national common core standards.
The conversation about common core standards developed due to states coming together to address the concerns of many parents, legislators and business leaders about the wide variability in the academic standards across the states. The common comparison tool was the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The results of this assessment were used to correlate the level of proficiency on state tests compared to the NAEP level of proficiency. States that had large gaps were said to have lower standards.
In order to remove this debate, the states and National Governors Association (NGA) collaborated on the common core standards movement. If the debate on standards is valid, then it would seem to follow that states develop common core assessments. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has set aside $350 million for this work. The timeline for states to access this funding will probably include a March application deadline and funding availability in June 2010. Kentucky will certainly apply for this funding and be involved in this process. Our position is strong, since we will adopt the common core standards in February, and Senate Bill 1 requires our development of new assessments.
A couple of issues are coming up for discussion. One issue deals with consortia of states who might apply for funding to develop assessments. Why would we have five to ten consortia competing against each other when the final product should be a common core assessment available to each state? Why would we develop a national assessment and then continue to have NAEP administered? Is this not a waste of time and money? I would think that NAEP would need to be revised to match the expectations from the common core standards. Should the new assessment not be benchmarked against international competition? Should the assessments not include levels of formative assessment to help inform instruction?
The answers to these questions will drive the final product. The U.S. Department of Education is currently holding national feedback sessions prior to developing guidance for the application process for assessment dollars. As with any organization, it is what is measured that eventually gains the most attention.
Education is a national defense, moral, civil rights and economic issue. We must make certain that this assessment process has strong support from every stakeholder and that we can ensure the results are valid and reliable predictors of success for individual students, schools, school districts, states and our education system.
The conversation about common core standards developed due to states coming together to address the concerns of many parents, legislators and business leaders about the wide variability in the academic standards across the states. The common comparison tool was the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The results of this assessment were used to correlate the level of proficiency on state tests compared to the NAEP level of proficiency. States that had large gaps were said to have lower standards.
In order to remove this debate, the states and National Governors Association (NGA) collaborated on the common core standards movement. If the debate on standards is valid, then it would seem to follow that states develop common core assessments. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has set aside $350 million for this work. The timeline for states to access this funding will probably include a March application deadline and funding availability in June 2010. Kentucky will certainly apply for this funding and be involved in this process. Our position is strong, since we will adopt the common core standards in February, and Senate Bill 1 requires our development of new assessments.
A couple of issues are coming up for discussion. One issue deals with consortia of states who might apply for funding to develop assessments. Why would we have five to ten consortia competing against each other when the final product should be a common core assessment available to each state? Why would we develop a national assessment and then continue to have NAEP administered? Is this not a waste of time and money? I would think that NAEP would need to be revised to match the expectations from the common core standards. Should the new assessment not be benchmarked against international competition? Should the assessments not include levels of formative assessment to help inform instruction?
The answers to these questions will drive the final product. The U.S. Department of Education is currently holding national feedback sessions prior to developing guidance for the application process for assessment dollars. As with any organization, it is what is measured that eventually gains the most attention.
Education is a national defense, moral, civil rights and economic issue. We must make certain that this assessment process has strong support from every stakeholder and that we can ensure the results are valid and reliable predictors of success for individual students, schools, school districts, states and our education system.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Future Educators Association: A “Grow Your Own” Program
The Future Educators Association (FEA) went statewide in Kentucky as result of House Joint Resolution 188 in 2002. The FEA has a long history in Kentucky in many school districts. Since the mid-1980s, Jefferson County has used this creative solution to teacher preparation. While working in South Carolina in the 1980s, I remember that the state used the Jefferson County model to create the Teacher Cadet program, which became a national model for getting students interested in becoming educators while in high school.
As I spoke to the group this week (there were over 1,000 students present), I was very impressed with their enthusiasm and team spirit. Many of the groups had special t-shirts and promotional materials for their schools. The students engaged in competitions, and the universities were present to recruit this outstanding group of young people.
Many research studies have shown that a school system will only be as successful as the quality of teachers in the classroom. The great school systems in the world recruit the brightest and the best to become teachers. If the group I saw this week at the FEA conference is any indication, we will have a terrific group of teachers in Kentucky in the coming years.
Through its support of FEA, Kentucky now holds the distinction of having the most chartered FEA chapters in the nation. This “Grow Your Own” program is very important to our future as a commonwealth. Thanks to all the sponsors, teachers, administrators, parents and students who support these terrific programs at middle and high schools in Kentucky.
As I spoke to the group this week (there were over 1,000 students present), I was very impressed with their enthusiasm and team spirit. Many of the groups had special t-shirts and promotional materials for their schools. The students engaged in competitions, and the universities were present to recruit this outstanding group of young people.
Many research studies have shown that a school system will only be as successful as the quality of teachers in the classroom. The great school systems in the world recruit the brightest and the best to become teachers. If the group I saw this week at the FEA conference is any indication, we will have a terrific group of teachers in Kentucky in the coming years.
Through its support of FEA, Kentucky now holds the distinction of having the most chartered FEA chapters in the nation. This “Grow Your Own” program is very important to our future as a commonwealth. Thanks to all the sponsors, teachers, administrators, parents and students who support these terrific programs at middle and high schools in Kentucky.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Kentucky’s Educational Cooperatives
Kentucky has a great network of regional education cooperatives. I have visited seven of the eight within the first few months of my new job and have the final visit scheduled for early December.
These cooperatives are established with the support of local superintendents to address purchasing, professional development, special education, business operations and other school district functions in a cooperative manner, which ends up being more effective and efficient than individual districts could manage. Many of the cooperatives also partner with colleges and universities to provide support for schools and districts. Also, a number of the cooperatives have federal grants that are substantial methods to help districts implement special programs for students.
I met this week with the directors of the cooperatives to discuss how we could partner to roll out Senate Bill 1 and federal Race to the Top initiatives. Our collaborative efforts would focus on cooperatives bringing teacher teams together to help the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) with key processes around standards and assessments required by Senate Bill 1 and Race to the Top. Also, cooperatives could assist KDE by partnering with regional universities to provide support for teacher, principal and superintendent effectiveness. In other words, cooperatives, through regional collaboration, could help provide professional development and support for teachers, principals and superintendents as we deploy the initiatives for Senate Bill 1 and Race to the Top. Finally, the cooperatives would be of great assistance in helping KDE address the number of schools and districts that may need assistance in improving student learning.
Our conversation ended with cooperative directors going back to their local superintendents and discussing the proposal that we find effective and efficient ways to partner to get the work done. Last week, I highlighted what a terrific partnership we have with the colleges and universities across Kentucky. I feel equally positive about the terrific leadership of our cooperatives. Given the challenging budget years we are facing, it is essential that we look to delivery models that reduce travel and provide support to build local district and school capacity. Frankfort cannot be the location for the solutions. The solutions happen when Frankfort collaborates with the great partners across the commonwealth.
P.S. -- In my blog last week, I neglected to include the University of Louisville (UofL) as one of our great partners. During a recent visit to Atkinson Elementary in the Jefferson County school district, I saw first-hand what a commitment UofL President Jim Ramsey, Dean Blake Haselton and the School of Education are making to support learning not only for children in the school, but also those students in the teacher preparation program.
These cooperatives are established with the support of local superintendents to address purchasing, professional development, special education, business operations and other school district functions in a cooperative manner, which ends up being more effective and efficient than individual districts could manage. Many of the cooperatives also partner with colleges and universities to provide support for schools and districts. Also, a number of the cooperatives have federal grants that are substantial methods to help districts implement special programs for students.
I met this week with the directors of the cooperatives to discuss how we could partner to roll out Senate Bill 1 and federal Race to the Top initiatives. Our collaborative efforts would focus on cooperatives bringing teacher teams together to help the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) with key processes around standards and assessments required by Senate Bill 1 and Race to the Top. Also, cooperatives could assist KDE by partnering with regional universities to provide support for teacher, principal and superintendent effectiveness. In other words, cooperatives, through regional collaboration, could help provide professional development and support for teachers, principals and superintendents as we deploy the initiatives for Senate Bill 1 and Race to the Top. Finally, the cooperatives would be of great assistance in helping KDE address the number of schools and districts that may need assistance in improving student learning.
Our conversation ended with cooperative directors going back to their local superintendents and discussing the proposal that we find effective and efficient ways to partner to get the work done. Last week, I highlighted what a terrific partnership we have with the colleges and universities across Kentucky. I feel equally positive about the terrific leadership of our cooperatives. Given the challenging budget years we are facing, it is essential that we look to delivery models that reduce travel and provide support to build local district and school capacity. Frankfort cannot be the location for the solutions. The solutions happen when Frankfort collaborates with the great partners across the commonwealth.
P.S. -- In my blog last week, I neglected to include the University of Louisville (UofL) as one of our great partners. During a recent visit to Atkinson Elementary in the Jefferson County school district, I saw first-hand what a commitment UofL President Jim Ramsey, Dean Blake Haselton and the School of Education are making to support learning not only for children in the school, but also those students in the teacher preparation program.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Collaboration is the Key
During these difficult budget times, it is apparent that we will not be able to continue doing everything we previously have done at the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE). As a result, I am asking staff to look closely at revising our mission statement and to review the work they are doing to ensure we are aligning the work and the budget to the key strategic goals of high student performance, high-quality teachers and administrators, supportive environments, and high-performing schools and districts.
As a result, we will be abandoning some work that we have done in the past due to budget constraints and decisions made based on priorities. The simple fact is that we have about 60 percent of staff we had in the ‘90s, and we have seen significant budget reductions in operations. As we make these decisions, we are working closely with key partners throughout the state to ensure we do not completely abandon important support for existing programs. That is the theme of this blog – COLLABORATION.
I have been amazed at the level of collaboration in Kentucky. When we have called for representatives on key committees such as those for Race to the Top and Senate Bill 1, our partners have responded to the call. As I present to key committees of the General Assembly, I have been impressed with the level of knowledge of our legislators with regard to education reform. We have many legislators who are former principals, teachers and superintendents. Several teachers who are currently in the profession also serve in the legislature.
One area of collaboration that I have been very surprised to find is that of postsecondary education. I can assure you that this collaboration does not happen in all states. From his position as president of the Council on Postsecondary Education, Robert King has established a clear vision of a pipeline for early childhood, P-12 and postsecondary education that will ensure Kentucky has a bright economic future.
It has been a pleasure to work with Dr. King and to visit college campuses. I have visited with teams of educators at UK, NKU, WKU, EKU and Pikeville. I met with most of the deans, provosts and chief academic officers to discuss our vision for professional development and support for teachers and principals. I have seen firsthand how the colleges, through their outreach programs, are currently supporting P-12 education in Kentucky.
I truly believe that this collaboration will position Kentucky in a strong role as a leader in national education reform. However, the most important impact will eventually be on our children. As we work hand-in-hand with our colleges, we will improve the levels of support for children, teachers, administrators and our communities. I am proud to be a part of this work!
As a result, we will be abandoning some work that we have done in the past due to budget constraints and decisions made based on priorities. The simple fact is that we have about 60 percent of staff we had in the ‘90s, and we have seen significant budget reductions in operations. As we make these decisions, we are working closely with key partners throughout the state to ensure we do not completely abandon important support for existing programs. That is the theme of this blog – COLLABORATION.
I have been amazed at the level of collaboration in Kentucky. When we have called for representatives on key committees such as those for Race to the Top and Senate Bill 1, our partners have responded to the call. As I present to key committees of the General Assembly, I have been impressed with the level of knowledge of our legislators with regard to education reform. We have many legislators who are former principals, teachers and superintendents. Several teachers who are currently in the profession also serve in the legislature.
One area of collaboration that I have been very surprised to find is that of postsecondary education. I can assure you that this collaboration does not happen in all states. From his position as president of the Council on Postsecondary Education, Robert King has established a clear vision of a pipeline for early childhood, P-12 and postsecondary education that will ensure Kentucky has a bright economic future.
It has been a pleasure to work with Dr. King and to visit college campuses. I have visited with teams of educators at UK, NKU, WKU, EKU and Pikeville. I met with most of the deans, provosts and chief academic officers to discuss our vision for professional development and support for teachers and principals. I have seen firsthand how the colleges, through their outreach programs, are currently supporting P-12 education in Kentucky.
I truly believe that this collaboration will position Kentucky in a strong role as a leader in national education reform. However, the most important impact will eventually be on our children. As we work hand-in-hand with our colleges, we will improve the levels of support for children, teachers, administrators and our communities. I am proud to be a part of this work!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)