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Kentucky students suffer writing ‘overdose’
The exorbitant amount of time, money and emphasis Kentucky's public-education system places on writing has not resulted in a better performance during the past five years, and is causing students to fall behind in other key subjects."
Kentucky misses the ‘write’ stuff
"Kentucky's recent performance on federal eighth-grade writing assessments are shockingly low when compared to other states, including California and Tennessee."
Trim state payroll for healthier Kentucky
Obese government threatens the economic life of Kentucky.
 Reducing the fluster caused by the clusters
Parents in Jefferson County have the right to request specific schools for their children. However, district officials determined to satisfy racial makeup requirements often ignore their wishes. |
A tangled web of government polices pushes up fuel, food prices
Reducing government interference would go a long way toward addressing the challenges posed by skyrocketing fuel and food prices.
Chair: New board members will help shape Kentucky’s future
The Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, Kentucky’s free-market think tank, recently welcomed three new members to its board of directors.
RX for health care policymakers: First, do no harm
Covering nearly everything with insurance puts health care policies in serious condition.
Government appetite for taxes insatiable
Kentuckians had to work until April 23 to pay government’s tab. It’s time citizens remove government from being master and return it to its proper role of servant.
‘CATS-SCAN’ reveals sick education system
Genuine reform of Kentucky’s mediocre education system is more important than propping up the failed CATS testing system or protecting bureaucrats’ legacies.
Atlas Economic Research Foundation awards $100,000 to Bluegrass Institute
The Atlas Economic Research Foundation announced that the Bowling Green-based Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions is the only think tank from the United States among its first class of recipients of Dorian & Antony Fisher Venture Grants.
Top-10 Reasons to Vote ‘No’ to More Cigarette Taxes
Increasing cigarette taxes is unfair, unsound and unproductive tax policy. Kentucky’s lawmakers should reject the idea.
BIPPS board chair talks taxes on KET, wins prestigious award
Kathy Gornik, president of Thiel Audio and chairman of the Bluegrass Institute’s Board of Directors, will appear on KET’s “Kentucky Tonight” at 8 p.m. tonight as part of a panel that will address the tax package passed last week by the state House of Representatives.
Dueling zoning regulations don’t work
‘Inclusionary zoning’ policies requiring new developments contain certain percent of new developments for low-income earners helps few, threatens developers’ liberties and drives up the cost of housing.
Kentucky can’t tax – or smoke – its way to prosperity
A 25-cent cigarette tax increase approved Tuesday by the House budget committee could harm businesses and negatively impact Kentucky’s economy.
Empowering families
The Prichard Committee wants Kentucky lawmakers to spend up to $70 million in additional tax dollars on state-run preschool programs. But New York Sun columnist Ken Blackwell offers a better way of 'reaching our youngest and most vulnerable children.'
Rally highlights growing support for school choice
Parents, pastors, legislators, community leaders and residents from throughout the commonwealth assembled today at a school-choice rally in the Capitol Rotunda to support more educational alternatives for Kentucky families.
Who wants to be a millionaire? Those willing to pay for a college degree
University of Kentucky economist John Garen asks: ‘If college is such a great investment, why do Kentuckians need state government to subsidize tuition?’
Save The Date
Save The Date
Rally to support school choice in Kentucky: Thursday, March 6, 2008 at Noon (EST)
Charter-school bill filed: Regaining the ‘promised land’
A school-choice bill filed Tuesday by Rep. Stan Lee would add Kentucky to a growing list of states with charter schools.
KentuckyVotes.org goes 'On The Record'
Among bills filed during the 2008 session of the General Assembly are measures that would require drug testing for welfare recipients, offer
special-needs students a choice of schools and shine the light on Kentucky's secretive budget process. David Adams, director of KentuckyVotes.org joins host Pat Crowley to analyze this session's
good, bad and downright ugly legislation.
Early-detection systems stave off disasters
On Dec. 7, 1941, the 'Day that Will Live in Infamy,' as President Roosevelt described it, the Japanese Imperial Navy conducted a devastating sneak attack on U.S. military installations in Hawaii. The most extensive damage occurred at the Pearl Harbor naval anchorage, thus the name that stuck, 'Pearl Harbor.' |
Open government, smaller government
Jim Waters, the Bluegrass Institute’s policy and communications director, called this week for more transparency in state government during the 2008 session of the General Assembly.
Ten reasons why Kentucky children deserve school choice
Wasteful spending, stagnant performances, dreadful graduation rates and widening achievement gaps offer strong evidence that Kentuckians deserve school choice. These serious problems will be solved only if parents, not education officials, determine where Kentucky’s children attend school.
School choice can ‘free’ education
A top state economist urges lawmakers to consider school choice as a path toward returning Kentucky to the education forefront.
Pension pranks make sleazy easy
In 2005, the legislature passed a bill that essentially gave lawmakers and judges a generous pension increase. Former Attorney General Greg Stumbo and new labor commissioner J.R. Gray stand to experience great personal gain at taxpayers’ expense as a result of this unsound policy. |
Petition: Emancipate Kentucky’s parents, kids
The Bluegrass Institute joins Dr. Frank Simon and the American Family Association of Kentucky in encouraging all Kentuckians to take a stand for freedom by signing a school-choice petition, a new initiative headed to lawmakers during the 2008 General Assembly.
Evolution of a revolution
The seeds of the Reagan revolution were sown long before our nation’s 40th president took the oath of office.
CATS in Decline: Federal Yardstick Reveals Kentucky’s Testing Program Continues to Deteriorate
Kentucky Department of Education officials described the 2007 CATS assessment as “new.” However, the resulting hugely inflated scores in almost all subjects and at almost all school levels not only appears to lack credibility, but it offers results similar to what happened the last time state education officials changed the CATS scoring scheme.
Bluegrass Institute debuts in Wall Street Journal
Bluegrass Institute columnist Jim Waters’ commentary on Kentucky’s gubernatorial campaign appeared in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal.
A valuable primer for education reporters
(and anyone else searching out the whole story)
Students suffer from the ongoing disconnect between contract bargaining and classroom performance.
Tax aimed at lobbyists could empty lobbies
The rise of a “tax out-of-towners” mentality in Frankfort signals a lack of understanding of the adage “penny wise, dollar foolish.”
A bungling education bureaucracy leaves the state and students behind
Changing the mediocre trends in Kentucky’s education system requires little money and plenty of honesty.
Department's ACT reporting change makes the grade
Bluegrass Institute education analyst Richard Innes tried for years to get the state Department of Education to release ACT college-entrance exam scores for Kentucky’s public high schools. Finally, Innes’ efforts – and the work of others – have born fruit. |
Misread and misled: Is student reading really improving in Jefferson County?
Officials claim that nearly 90 percent of Jefferson County students read ‘At or Above Grade Level.’ The facts don’t support this rosy assessment.
‘Educational surge’ requires tough short-term leader
The state Board of Education could help itself – and students – by hiring an active interim leader who can hit the ground running and bring real improvement Kentucky’s failing schools.
Kentucky flunks Teacher Quality 101
Kentucky receives an “Unsatisfactory” report card for teacher quality, and Frankfort’s plan to make the grade: more political games.
Narrow-minded policy offers fatal imbalance
State officials showcase a fatal imbalance in their economic-development approach by focusing most of their energy on offering tax incentives to lure alternative-fuel companies to Kentucky. |
Session will be costly, not ‘special’
Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s call today for a special session of the General Assembly seems little more than a political stunt designed to boost the governor’s reelection effort.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 5 No. 6
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
Kentucky finally gets trustworthy test scores
Recent scores released by the ACT reveal CATS scores are seriously inflated and confirm that the performance of Kentucky students in key academic areas remains unacceptable.
The entrepreneurial vocation
Creating wealth and jobs wherever they go, entrepreneurs are called not just to line their pockets, but also to meet the needs of Kentuckians.
The cost of freedom
Memorial Day was created to honor Americans who paid the ultimate price for the creation, definition and defense of freedom.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 5 No. 5
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
Lawmakers promise to deal with testing omission
Students throughout Kentucky have just put down their pencils from taking the 2007 CATS school assessments. But state lawmakers already know the results won’t show parents how their children compare with others in the state and across the nation.
Survey shows Kentucky parents support school choice
A newly released school-choice survey commissioned by the Bluegrass Institute indicates that the more Kentuckians find out about school choice, the more they favor it as an option for parents across the commonwealth.
Legislators give failing grade to changes in testing policy
Kentucky’s Department of Education and state Board of Education received pointed criticism recently from a committee of legislators for inappropriately changing testing policy.
Kentucky’s prevailing-wage policy: Plan B
Importing best prevailing-wage practices from other states, including bordering Tennessee, could, short of outright repeal of Kentucky’s current archaic wage policy, represent the best policy for lowering the cost of our state’s public projects.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 5 No. 4
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
Union votes should remain secret ballot
A new House bill takes a swipe at a hallmark of the democratic process by eliminating secret ballots for workers voting on union representation.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 5 No. 3
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
Raising Kentucky’s minimum wage: Low-skilled workers need not apply
Proponents say raising the minimum wage will help low-skilled, inexperienced workers. The research says otherwise.
Shine the light: Parents should teach education committee a lesson
The House Education Committee dithered away its time during its final meeting of the legislative session without addressing the needs of the parents of Kentucky’s special-needs children.
Market economics in the workplace
Principles successful in driving a market economy can also provide the foundation of an organization’s success.
Kentucky’s pension overhaul: No time to waste
Both the House and Senate have put forth proposals to cure the state’s seriously ailing pension systems. Neither offer the kind of comprehensive approach needed to deal with this costly crisis.
Shine the light: Gutting the golden goose
When it comes to the hated alternative minimum calculation (AMC) tax – a gross-receipts tax charged to companies that, in some cases, don’t even make a profit – it becomes clear that Frankfort’s leading politicians are known more by the company they don’t keep and even less by the words they speak.
Will Frankfort’s politicians skip town without helping special-needs children?
The House education committee is preparing to finish its work for the year without considering House Bill 30, which would create scholarships for Kentucky’s 109,000 special-needs children.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 5 No. 2
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
Shine the light: The intimidation factor
What happened?
In his 2006 “State of the Commonwealth” speech, Gov. Ernie Fletcher confidently stated that Kentucky could “build more and better schools to prepare for an expanding workforce by repealing prevailing wage.”
The AMC’s taxing scourge
A harmful gross-receipts tax burdened Michigan’s economy for nearly a quarter-century. Kentucky’s policymakers could force our state’s economy down the same road by failing to repeal the alternative minimum calculation (AMC) tax.
Special-needs students: Burden or privilege?
Recent reforms allow Kentucky’s disabled adults to benefit from choices that include private-care providers. Similar changes in our state’s education policy would allow special-needs students to obtain the education and services they need … public or private schools.
Shine the Light: Justified cynicism
In a recent Courier-Journal article, Jefferson County’s teachers boss Brent McKim belittles Rep. Stan Lee’s proposal to help the state’s 109,000 special-needs students by offering them the opportunity to obtain the education and services they need.
CON laws shrink health-care’s ‘Iron Triangle'
CON laws shrink health-care’s ‘Iron Triangle’ by failing to address quality, increasing barriers to needed services and failing to reduce costs.
The Bluegrass Institute on ‘Kentucky Tonight’
Jim Waters, director of policy and communications, promotes school choice for special-needs children in this show that aired Feb. 12 on KET.
Change prevailing-wage policy: Increase info, lower costs
Kentucky can reduce its staggering public-construction costs merely by asking more employers to reveal which wage prevails for their projects. After all, shouldn’t a ‘prevailing wage’ be the wage that prevails?
Save The Date
Rally to support special-needs children rescheduled: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 10 a.m. (EST)
Audit: ‘District leadership’ to blame for Covington school’s persistent failure
A recent state audit makes it clear: Holmes Junior Senior High School in Covington – the worst-performing high school in the state – should lose the authority to govern itself and the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) should reject a suggestion that Superintendent Jack Moreland take over the school.
Rally cancelled due to weather
Wednesday’s rally to support Kentucky’s special-needs children and their parents at the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort has been cancelled due to weather. The rally will be rescheduled at a later date.
Report: Covington schools fail disabled children
A new study by the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky’s free-market think tank, reveals the long-term plight of children with learning disabilities in the Covington Independent Public Schools through the eyes of the state’s own investigators. The report calls for more choices so parents can secure a better education for their special-needs children.
The Most ‘Left Behind’ of All: The plight of special-needs children in Covington public schools
A new report shows that Covington's special-needs students must endure an educational system that doesn’t help students achieve high test scores, can’t retain quality teachers and receives precious little state oversight.
Watch Chris Derry go ‘On The Record’
Bluegrass Institute President Chris Derry calls for eliminating the AMC tax, prevailing-wage policy and Certificate of Need with host Patrick Crowley, political writer for the Kentucky Enquirer.
Friedman: Dedicated defender of economic freedom, individual liberty
Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, one of the most influential economists of the last century, is being remembered across the nation today as a man whose ideas influenced an entire civilization and contributed to the spread of freedom around the world.
The formula for determining school accountability
Education analyst Richard G. Innes offered comments at a public hearing conducted by the Kentucky Department of Education on Jan. 25, 2007.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 5 No. 1
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
No overtime required: How to get a 24-percent raise in Kentucky
If lawmakers can’t find the political will to abolish Kentucky’s prevailing-wage law, they should at least act to neutralize the ability of the ill-conceived policy to limit competition on public-construction bids and drive up the cost of government buildings.
Bluegrass Institute featured on Kentucky Newsmakers
Jim Waters previews the 2007 session of the General Assembly on WKYT-TV’s Kentucky Newsmakers with host Bill Bryant on Saturday, Jan. 13, at 11 a.m. You can listen to the program on WVLK-AM (News-Talk 590) Saturday, Jan. 13, at 2:30 p.m.
‘Chicken Littles’ are wrong:
Eliminating AMC will not cause sky to fall
State policymakers now admit that passing the hated
Alternative Minimum Calculation (AMC) tariff was a really bad idea. They should act to eliminate this tax
during the 2007 session.
Prognosis for ailing health-care system will improve only with competition, transparency
The condition of America’s health-care system is worsening. Without a strong dose of competition, this ‘patient’ has little hope of recovery.
Save the date
Rally to support Kentucky’s special-needs children, Wednesday, February 7, 2007 at 11 a.m. (EST) in the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort
Kentucky schools' math performance doesn't add up
Failing to teach the basics of mathematics just doesn’t add up, says education analyst Richard Innes. Hear Innes talk about the importance of schoolchildren having a strong math foundation on Bluegrass Notes, a radio program produced by the Bluegrass Institute for the Kentucky News Network. (audio)
Remodeling Kentucky’s prevailing-wage policy
Taxpayers, schoolchildren and contractors would benefit from improvements to Kentucky’s prevailing-wage policy that streamlines the rate-determination process and encourages more participation by nonunion contractors.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 4 No. 12
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
The 2007 General Assembly: Perils, promises and political footballs
Kentucky’s politicians want to ring in the new year with an explosion in state spending. Yet there’s at least one reason for businesses across the commonwealth to have hope in 2007.
Watch Caleb O. Brown on Kentucky Newsmakers
KentuckyVotes.org director Caleb O. Brown recently discussed the upcoming legislative session and other issues of statewide interest with Bill Bryant on Lexington’s WKYT-TV.
Special-needs scholarships keep parents out of courtrooms
Offering scholarships to parents of Kentucky’s special-needs children would likely reduce the number of students erroneously labeled as having learning disabilities.
Delayed decision better than wrong vote on new ACT testing policy
The Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) should delay its vote this week concerning how to implement a new law designed to improve the state’s testing program for students in the eighth, 10th and 11th grades.
Get rid of the labels
Public debate is hampered by a tendency for people to slap someone with a label and dismiss his or her ideas.
New York Times highlights Bluegrass Institute, 'liberty
movement'
The Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky's
free-market think tank, is featured in a story in
today's New York Times that chronicles the impact of state policy groups in
advancing liberty across the nation.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 4 No. 11
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
Report: Over-identifying special-needs children could cost state $500 million
Offering scholarships to Kentucky’s special-needs children would benefit families, taxpayers and school districts, according to a new report by the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky’s free-market think tank.
Enable the Disabled: An analysis of the Kentucky Students with Special Needs Scholarship Program
Research indicates that a proposed scholarship program would produce substantial savings for Kentucky's public schools while offering special-needs children the chance for a brighter future.
Jim Waters speaks on the Kentucky Focus radio program.
Jim Waters recently talked about a proposed scholarship program for special-needs students on KNN’s Kentucky Focus program with host Michael Clark. Click here to listen to the interview.
The pinch of prevailing wage
Bricklayers aren’t the only ones feeling the heavy load of the state’s skewed prevailing-wage policy. Schools aren’t getting built and the cost of public projects is going higher.
Opponents mistaken about special-needs scholarship proposal
Opponents claim offering scholarships to special-needs children would harm public schools. The facts say the program would benefit both schools and learning-disabled students who need choices.
Eliminate CON, embrace competition
Kentucky’s health-care Certificate of Need (CON) law gives existing hospitals cartel-like control that keeps prices high … and the competition out.
KentuckyVotes.org releases 2006 Honor Roll
KentuckyVotes.org, the free voter-information service of the Bluegrass Institute, is pleased to release the 2006 Honor Roll of legislators who missed the fewest votes during 2006, which included two legislative sessions.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 4 No. 10
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
An unthinkable tragedy
Parents in other states have access to public funds to provide their special-needs children with a quality education and vital services. Kentucky families deserve the same opportunity.
Hear KentuckyVotes.org director Caleb O. Brown on MSPR
Caleb O. Brown discusses KentuckyVotes.org with host Dan Conti on Morehead State Public Radio’s “The Front Page.” (audio)
Scholarship program would help special-needs children
A proposed policy that allows public dollars to follow parents’ decisions about where their special-needs children attend school would not cost Kentucky taxpayers one additional dime.
Coalition to LRC: Post the votes!
A coalition of state lawmakers and activist organizations is calling upon the Legislative Research Commission (LRC) to post committee votes on the agency’s Web site.
Labor’s yoke threatens economic freedom
A new report indicates that Kentucky’s economic climate continues to provide less-than-favorable conditions for attracting entrepreneurs and developing opportunities for more prosperity.
Fewer schools achieve CATS goals; many students languish in mediocrity
With the release of the 2006 CATS scores on Thursday, the defenders of Kentucky’s mediocre public-education system offered their usual spin.
Prevailing wage: Kentucky’s self-inflicted inflation
Kentucky’s prevailing-wage policy is a great idea … if you’re a union worker on a public-construction project. But it’s unsound fiscal policy for everyone else.
All children deserve a ‘public education’
The parents of Kentucky’s special-needs children need choices … not more grief from their political representatives.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 4 No. 9
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
A parent’s guide to the Kentucky Students with Special Needs Scholarship Program
Children with learning disabilities deserve to attend schools that offer them the best chance for future success. A new bill in Frankfort creates Kentucky’s first school-choice program by offering scholarships to children who need them most.
Bill would enable Kentucky’s disabled students
A proposed scholarship program that would bring school choice to parents of Kentucky’s special-needs children could save taxpayers nearly $200 million, according to a soon-to-be-released report by the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky’s free-market think tank.
Smearing education choice
ABC News correspondent John Stossel claims recent assertions by the U.S. Department of Education that students in public schools are performing as well or better than their private-school counterparts are based on tortured data. Stossel’s recent “20/20” special on public education was, “Stupid in America: How We Cheat Our Kids.”
No more free passes for Kentucky senators
Too many Kentucky lawmakers feel perfectly comfortable casting votes that literally mean nothing.
Regulators gone wild
The fervor with which federal agencies expand the scope of their power while hiding behind the Clean Water Act has resulted in some landowners being part of an ever-expanding gallery of wetland desperados.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 4 No. 8
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
Environmental regulation of surface mining and land development in Kentucky
Led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, federal control of wetlands is on the upswing and threatens to drown the property rights of conscientious landowners in a swamp of regulation.
Will Buffett’s billions transform education or be wasted?
Warren Buffett and Bill Gates want to invest billions of their dollars into public education. But past experience shows that more money alone will not effectively reform our nation’s K-12 public education system.
 Intern threatened with arrest
A Bluegrass Institute intern, who was threatened with arrest while talking to parents and students about school choice, tells her story. |
Shun KDE’s close-mindedness; make the ACT count
Legislators and education leaders nationwide hailed passage of Senate Bill 130 (SB 130) during the 2006 Kentucky General Assembly. But will they still be applauding after the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) decides how the new law will be implemented this week?
Make the ACT count
Education officials should abide by both the spirit and letter of a new law requiring all Kentucky students to take the ACT. This policy report offers a new accountability formula that allows ACT content and questions to play a prominent role in the state’s testing regimen.
Incumbents’ ace in the hole
Kentucky’s incumbent lawmakers deal voters a losing hand by rigging the electoral game to protect themselves from serious and credible challengers.
Consistency: The key to easing Kentucky’s prevailing-wage problem
Applying common-sense reforms to the commonwealth’s arbitrary prevailing-wage laws will create a more fair process for employers, protect laborers from unprincipled contractors and lower the cost of public projects for taxpayers.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 4 No. 7
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
Dangerous constitutional cocktails
Kentucky’s legislators are required to support the constitution and pass a budget. One out of two ain’t bad.
Kentucky State Parks update: Improving … but still much ground to cover
While portions of the Kentucky State Park system are slowly shaping up, efforts to reduce an annual $28-million deficit remain lost in the woods. Efficiencies won't emerge unless – and until – more park services are opened to competition.
A missed opportunity for Kentucky
Kentucky’s legislators passed up the opportunity to remove the painful burden of the AMC. Let’s hope they fix the mistake soon.
School choice: A better path to desegregation
Critics claim white parents use school choice to re-segregate schools. They are wrong. In fact, allowing parental choice not only forces failing schools to improve, it makes a hearty contribution toward diversity.
Don’t put county jails – or jailers – on lockdown
The only appropriate response to a proposal by state Auditor Crit Luallen to consolidate Kentucky’s county jails into a state-run system: Lock this plan up … and throw away the key.
Don’t trifle with poisonous tax
The special session of the Kentucky General Assembly scheduled to start on Thursday should last just long enough to produce one single action: Provide significant tax relief to every Kentucky business person by abolishing the despised alternative minimum calculation (AMC).
Hiding in Frankfort’s budget bowels
Avoiding scrutiny on budget policies fritters away taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars and tempts lawmakers to violate their oath to uphold Kentucky’s constitution.
Business taxes: Who pays?
It may be politically popular to raise taxes on businesses. However, it wouldn’t be all the rage if more Kentuckians know who actually pays for the hike.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 4 No. 6
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
Good intentions, wrong decision
Public school officials occasionally make harmful decisions with the best of intentions. Such is the case with the Christian County school board’s decision to deny some parents school choice.
A taxing ‘alternative’ we can live without
Kentucky’s current business taxing scheme punishes entrepreneurship at a time when creating more jobs should be its number one priority.
Tracking Frankfort’s legislative ‘grind’
Scrutinizing legislators’ actions in committee can only make them more accountable to voters.
Unions fight to protect the nightmare
Something’s wrong when a teacher who goes the extra mile for her students invokes the wrath of her own union.
Frankfort’s missing ingredient
The famous TV show “Let’s Make a Deal” used to ask contestants to pick the door leading to a good outcome. In order to improve performance, Kentucky should choose the door that leads to more competition.
Union bosses get in the way of common sense
If you believe teachers unions’ policies promote the best interests of children, think again.
‘Mission: Possible’
The great civil rights issue of our day will not be decided by guns and prison sentences. Rather, ideas, persuasion and parents committed to liberty will prevail in this Herculean struggle.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 4 No. 5
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes:
Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
ACT scores available at kentuckyalliance.org
In the spirit of Senate Bill 130 approved during the 2006 General Assembly, which requires that all future students take ACT college-entrance tests, the Kentucky Alliance for School Choice now offers parents the opportunity to conveniently access the latest ACT scores generated by their children’s schools.
Finally … tests worth taking!
By requiring all Kentucky students to take ACT tests, policymakers in Frankfort have finally taken a positive step toward genuine education reform.
The teachers unions are mad at me
Choice has given Americans better computers, movies and supermarkets. Our children also deserve the benefits of market competition.
Parents know best: Kentucky's quest for school choice
Kentucky remains one of six states without school choice. What do policymakers in the 44 states, District of Columbia and other countries with school choice understand that Kentuckians do not?
Public schools evade real accountability
Teachers unions don’t get it: Competition brings accountability.
Coalition calls for more education accountability, school choice
Sister Mattie Jones, chairman of the board of the Justice Resource Center, members of the center’s staff and Jim Waters, director of policy and communications for the Bluegrass Institute, announced a new campaign today by an alliance of concerned Kentuckians to promote more accountability in Kentucky’s public education system.
A lack of business – as usual
Unless Gov. Fletcher keeps his promise to make significant cuts in the current bloated budget, it will be business – or rather a lack of business – as usual.
Kentucky State ‘Porks’ System
Only Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s veto pen stands
in the way of millions of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars being spent on the
deficit-ridden Kentucky State Park system.
I still want to teach
The head of New York City’s teachers union dared ABC News “20/20” co-anchor John Stossel to “teach for a week.” Apparently, she did not count on Stossel to accept the challenge.
Planning for failure:
Is the road to 2014 leading toward proficiency for all Kentucky students?
Absent significant changes, Kentucky’s CATS program only guarantees mediocrity in 2014 by requiring little improvement beyond current performance in most of the state’s public schools.
Higher Ed: Determine highest priorities
Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who is promising to make “significant” cuts in the current budget, can save $566 million by requiring the state’s universities and colleges to prioritize their spending needs.
Local projects, state pork
Barns in Shelby County, a farmer’s market in Hardin County, theaters, expo centers, museums, recreation centers and furniture for local libraries. These projects and hundreds more will soak up your tax dollars for years to come – unless Gov. Ernie Fletcher takes out his veto pen to cut these excesses from Kentucky’s budget.
Governor: Warm up to taxpayers
Unless Gov. Fletcher demonstrates political will and applies his veto pen to the budget awaiting his signature, Kentucky taxpayers will again be left out in the cold.
Bluegrass Digest Vol. 4 No. 4
The Bluegrass Digest is a collection of ideas focused on six general themes. We concentrate upon the first three, Tax and Spending Reduction, School Choice, and Labor Freedom, as they represent our major policy initiatives. Health Care Reform looks at specific issues related to the rising cost of health care and offers practical solutions. That’s Outstanding! and That’s Outrageous! portray the best and worst examples of government policy we can find.
Entrepreneurs join institute’s board
The Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, Kentucky’s free-market think tank, announced today that two highly successful entrepreneurs have joined its Board of Directors.
Pork-stuffed budget train careening out of control
“Enough is enough,” say two courageous, principled legislators who voted against the reckless budget passed this week by the Kentucky General Assembly. The spending plan reneges on promised tax cuts for Kentucky companies and contains record amounts of debt.
Legislators decline Frankfort’s ‘all you can spend’ pork buffet
Only two lawmakers voted against the record spending plan passed by the General Assembly. But a majority of Kentuckians are concerned about how much pork is being produced in Frankfort.
Borrow now, pay later
Kentucky should curtail its overspending addiction by resisting the ongoing trend to borrow against the future in order to fund wasteful projects today.
Competition works
Competition works because it gives people incentives to produce – it inspires them to work constantly at trying to find better ways to please their customers.
Doing business in Kentucky not a ‘privilege’
Frankfort’s latest version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde features politicians grinning at ribbon-cutting ceremonies even as they tax entrepreneurs for the “privilege” of doing business in Kentucky.
General Assembly may not be spending, borrowing enough
As Kentucky’s budget process concludes, the Bluegrass Institute believes state lawmakers may have overlooked five golden opportunities to spend taxpayers’ money...
Where is Gov. Fletcher when Kentucky parents need him the most?
Then-Rep. Ernie Fletcher voted in 2003 to increase educational choices available to low-income residents of Washington, D.C. However, as Kentucky’s governor, Fletcher has failed to lead an effort to offer the commonwealth’s families more educational liberty.
Politicos’ plan fuels new round of overspending
Frankfort lawmakers’ previously stated concern about soaring gasoline prices now appears to have only been a political smokescreen.
Open government is good government
Recent proposals to limit the openness of Kentucky’s government should cause citizens of the commonwealth great consternation.
Kentucky can’t tax its way to prosperity
Taxing revenues instead of profits can only make companies think twice about setting up shop in Kentucky.
Pork producers should leave Kentucky’s farmers alone!
The meddling pork-meisters in Frankfort should let the free market determine how farmers and their customers operate local farmers’ markets.
Prevailing-wage law: Noble goal, costly projects
The following was testimony offered by Aaron Morris, fiscal policy analyst for the Bluegrass Institute, to the Kentucky House Labor and Industry Committee on March 7, 2006.
Employee choice: The small change that will create a big difference
Allowing Kentucky employees to make their own decisions about union membership would remove the state from companies’ no-call lists and result in more and better jobs.
Employee choice would send strong signal for economic development
Companies planning to expand or relocate are flying over Kentucky because policymakers remain beholden to labor unions and refuse to make Kentucky a right-to-work state.
Principals who expect more, get more
Accurately measuring progress, holding teachers and principals accountable and raising expectations caused Edmonton’s schools to improve. The same steps offer the path to real reform in Kentucky’s public schools.
Left out, not just behind
Recent policies enacted by the state Department of Education have resulted in a multitude of Kentucky’s learning-disabled students being left out – not just behind – in the NCLB’s reporting process.
Hats off to teachers
Teaching may be the world’s most important work. Enabling them to do their job well may be the greatest challenge.
Cauldron of wasteful spending continues to churn
An independent commission formed by South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford to evaluate government spending helped save the Palmetto State $34 million last year. Kentucky needs a similar effort.
Is seat-belt law about safety or ‘Benjamins’?
Politicians are lining up behind the seat belt bill, claiming they support the policy because it will save lives. But policies don’t save lives, personal responsibility does; and this is something government can never legislate. So why are politicians so interested?
How to have school choice and a happy teachers union
One Canadian school district’s reforms have been so impressive that even private schools are turning public and the teachers union proudly boasts of being a partner in the process.
Jim Waters talks education on “The Joe Elliott Show”
Jim Waters, the Bluegrass Institute’s director of policy and communications, will talk education Thursday at 9 p.m. (eastern) on “The Joe Elliott Show” on Louisville radio station WHAS-AM (840). Listen live.
Too many Kentucky schools shooting blanks
Kentucky taxpayers have long doubted they are receiving a solid return on their huge investments in our public-education system. A new report by the Bluegrass Institute confirms their doubts: Kentuckians are not getting enough "bang" for their education "bucks."
Bang for the Buck: How cost effective are Kentucky's public schools?
This report comprises the first formal study gauging the “return” that taxpayers — the people who support Kentucky’s public schools — receive on their “investment.” This is the amount of “bang” that Kentucky taxpayers receive for their education “bucks.”
What is a prevailing wage?
Paying workers on government construction projects “steamroller” wages unfairly discriminates against workers who work for market wages in the private sector.
Eliminating ‘prevailing wage’ reduces the cost of college
Eliminating prevailing wage is a common-sense approach for constructing more college buildings without raising tuition or taxes.
Raise minimum wage, shorten employment ladder
While increasing the minimum wage may well benefit a few low-wage workers, many more people will see their jobs disappear or be denied the opportunity to get a job at all.
Just the facts, please…
An obscure magazine claims Kentucky lawmakers and taxpayers are cheapskates when it comes to funding public education. Don't believe it.
Tennessee beats Kentucky again
Without a right-to-work law and tax relief for businesses, other states will continue to outpace Kentucky in economic growth.
Repeal prevailing wage policies
Prevailing-wage policies are leftover relics of the past that remove competition from government building projects, shutting nonunion construction firms out of the process and driving up the cost of schools, jails and justice centers.
Time for Kentucky to pick sides
Kentuckians must choose between right-to-work legislation and joining the new economically vibrant South, or clinging to the state’s current policy of forced unionism that leaves our economy languishing in the industrial rust belt.
Kentucky teachers among nation’s highest paid
If high teachers’ salaries determine student achievement, Kentucky schools would be among the best in the nation.
 Unbridled Pork: The Kentucky Piglet Book
To help trim the fat out of state spending, the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions and Citizens Against Government Waste are proud to release the first “Kentucky Piglet” book. |
‘Piglet Book’: Taxpayers smothered by fat
For many Kentuckians, New Year’s Day brings new resolutions. Many resolve to cut the fat out of their diets and make better spending decisions with their money. Our lawmakers in Frankfort would do good to make similar vows during the new legislative session.
Kentucky’s prevailing wage yields union rates
Like most legislation, Kentucky’s prevailing-wage laws have the right idea at heart. Also like most legislation, the practical application of it misses its mark by a mile.
KentuckyVotes.org releases 2005 Honor Roll
KentuckyVotes.org, the free voter-information service of the Bluegrass Institute, is pleased to release the 2005 Honor Roll of legislators who missed the fewest votes during the most recent legislative session.
Media outlets extend reach of KentuckyVotes.org
KentuckyVotes.org, the free voter-information service of the Bluegrass Institute, has partnered with three television stations and Louisville’s largest alternative newsweekly to provide detailed legislative coverage during the 2006 General Assembly.
Institute supports amicus brief protecting property owners
The Bluegrass Institute is one of 13 organizations supporting an amicus brief filed by the Property Rights Alliance in support of Oregon property owners. The filing comes after an activist judge overturned a measure approved by more than one million Oregonians protecting property owners from regulations restricting the use of private property.
How to build new schools without cutting programs or raising taxes
A politically palatable way exists to enable legislators to raise more money for K-12 education during the 2006 legislative session without threatening current programs or increasing taxes.
Left Behind
Kentucky should replace its badly flawed CATS testing system with more reliable measurements of students' academic performance.
Daeschner: Superintendent of the Year?
Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Stephen Daeschner has been named "Superintendent of the Year" by the Kentucky Association of School Administrators (KASA). But did the KASA do its homework before awarding this accolade to the superintendent of Kentucky's largest school district?
Suggested increases in public-school ACT scores misleading
Education officials wrongly suggest that the increase in Kentucky's ACT College Entrance Test Composite Score indicates improvement in the state's public schools. Rather, strong participation by nonpublic-school students is making the difference.
Providing school choices key to advancing state
When will Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher provide strong leadership in favor of school choice? Other governors, including South Carolina's Mark Sanford, recognize that
school choice will make their states more competitive.
Omnibus bills yield ominous results
Kentuckians would benefit greatly if Frankfort's political leaders worked as hard at producing good policies as they do at hiding bad ones.
CATS: An Inadequate NCLB Basis for School Improvement
New research by the Bluegrass Institute reveals that Kentucky’s education system is abandoning an increasing number of our children. Numerous schools are legally avoiding the reporting requirements mandated by the nation’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law.
Ten great reasons why Kentucky children deserve school choice
A year ago, we pointed out that wasteful spending, stagnant performances, dreadful graduation rates and widening achievement gaps offered strong evidence that Kentuckians deserve school choice. A year later, serious problems remain that will be solved only if parents, not education officials, determine where Kentucky’s children attend school.
KentuckyVotes.org: Your representatives. Your issues.
Kentucky’s citizen-activists now have free access to a host of new tools that will help them track legislation like never before.
KentuckyVotes.org, the new voter-information service, is offered as a free public service of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions and aims to give voters a complete online voting record for every legislator in the General Assembly.
Imminently concerned: A local view of eminent domain
Kentucky's policymakers should act during the upcoming session to minimize the impact that the Supreme Court's Kelo decision could have on private-property rights. America's founders intended for eminent domain to be used sparingly and for property owners to be justly compensated.
Merit system morphs into monster
A system designed to serve taxpayers well has morphed into one in which longevity and an aversion to risk are the primary requirements to sustain annual pay raises.
Magical kingdom not so enchanting after all
Good magicians successfully hide their secrets. But all the political magic in Kentucky can’t stop the secret from getting out: Publicly funded arenas do not represent a sound investment of taxpayers’ money.
Privately funded arenas best in the long run
Gov. Fletcher points to the success of Washington’s MCI Center while trying to garner support for his proposal to publicly finance a $299-million arena in Louisville. But what happened in D.C. is vastly different than what the governor plans for Louisville.
Fletcher commits flagrant economic foul
In his October radio address, Gov. Ernie Fletcher claims that the new proposed Louisville arena is “good economics for all of Kentucky” and is asking the state to contribute $75 million toward the endeavor. But sound research portrays such projects as shoddy investments for taxpayers that are sold with false promises.
Let Kentuckians explore MARS
Kentucky Auditor Crit Luallen deserves credit for advancing the Bluegrass Institute's mission: Best practices for a better Kentucky. A new report from Luallen's office reveals why the commonwealth's contracting system adds costs instead of saving them.
KentuckyVotes.org: Shining the light produces the heat
KentuckyVotes.org enlightens voters while exposing legislative flip-floppers.
Court should stem referendum’s tide
The Kentucky Supreme Court will hear arguments today on whether a referendum can be held to allow the city of Lexington to condemn its privately owned water company. The state’s high court should recognize that much more is at stake with this ruling than the future of a single company.
Kentucky House Speaker frees up voting records of General Assembly
After months of mounting pressure from the Bluegrass
Institute, Kentucky House Speaker Jody Richards told the Bowling Green Daily
News in a story published Tuesday (“Think
tank in dispute over records”) that he will push for legislators’ votes to
be posted online.
 Smoking bans cloud free market's ability to thrive
Smoking ban proponents’ all-or-nothing approach fails to respect the rights of business owners and the magic of free-market incentives. Health officials should return to informing the public about the dangers of smoking and leave smoking preferences up to the individual. |
Bluegrass Institute television appearance
Watch Bluegrass Institute President Chris Derry appear on Patrick Crowley's "On the record" television show here.
Pass the pork, please
The destruction left behind by Hurricane Katrina has opened a floodgate of sympathy and support from individuals across the United States. A growing number of people are urging Congress to eliminate egregious earmarks included in the $295 billion Highway Bill and redirect funds to assist in hurricane-relief efforts.
Squeeze taxpayers’ dimes harder
A few state government agencies stayed within their budgets and had leftover funds at the end of the last fiscal year. Now, the question is: What will lawmakers do with the money?
Report: Med-mal crisis hurts Kentucky
Medical malpractice law “is in a state of national crisis,” writes law professor Michael Krauss in a new Bluegrass Institute report.
He debunks many of the flawed explanations for Kentucky’s medical-malpractice predicament and offers solutions to fix this unsustainable part of the commonwealth’s tort system.
Let demand determine price at pump
The Kentucky Attorney General's plan to prosecute those deemed to be "profiteering" from Hurricane Katrina is economically unsound and ignores historical warnings against government interference at the gasoline pump.
Gas, taxes and Middle East policy
The current crisis at the pump drives home the need to eliminate unrealistic environmental regulations, which will encourage the building of new refineries and lessen America’s dependence on foreign oil.
 Ghost-ly statistics
It’s not even Halloween, yet education officials are howling about statistical apparitions that mask the real problems with Kentucky’s public schools. |
 Borrowing, spending and counterfeiting
What happens in Washington affects all Kentuckians. Government’s increasing penchant for spending like drunken sailors threatens our prosperity and future. |
 Simply unacceptable
The Internet gives us hundreds of ways to follow our favorite sports team. Yet Kentuckians must resort to primitive methods to find out how their legislators vote. |
Check-out inefficiency, check-in privatization
The Kentucky Department of Parks rightly eliminated free golf for state employees. However, it still has not sufficiently curbed a voracious appetite for wasteful projects.
 Tax reform is a shell game
Congress has just concluded its annual pork fest. Unless such rampant spending is restrained in the future, tax reform will remain an elusive shell game. |
An education game Kentucky’s children can’t win
Frankfort’s latest version of Education Monopoly ensures that parents will not be able to draw a “Chance” card for better opportunities for their children.
KDE’s rules change: Is it illegal?
Continuing a trend that began right after NCLB was passed, Kentucky’s education establishment changed reporting rules for the third time in three years. Consistently, it promotes ways that protect the vested interests of the education system with seemingly little concern for its customers.
 Lessons from the Kelo decision
The Supreme Court’s Kelo ruling supports the tyrannical policies of local governments that threaten Americans’ property rights. |
 KentuckyAlliance.org: A better school is a click away
When parents send their kids off to school this fall, will it be to a school with a solid academic reputation or the one they’ve been told to attend? Until today, most Kentucky families have had a difficult time finding the facts about the performance of their children’s school. |
Unions, unite!
A new group of labor unions plans to - gasp - compete with the AFL-CIO. Iconically, the only way private-sector unions can regain their influence is by reducing competition. That's not likely to happen in today's global economy.
Advocates of smoking bans lack sensible solutions
Professor Richard Wilson has cast a public-policy rock through an open window at the Bluegrass Institute. Fortunately, the free market is always the best judge as to the damage such throwing ultimately inflicts.
‘Blighted’ ruling endorses plunder
Private-property rights are under assault from the Supreme Court to City Hall. Kentucky's policymakers must act to protect those rights from overzealous bureaucrats and activist judges.
Award-winning broadcaster will guide KentuckyVotes.org
Caleb O. Brown, an award-winning broadcaster and journalist, will join the Bluegrass Institute on July 18 as director of KentuckyVotes.org.
 The Founders’ Cornerstones
After the firecrackers pop and the band plays our national anthem today, every Kentuckian should reflect on the source of our liberty and the basis upon which our prosperity lies. With these founding ideas etched in the mind of every Kentuckian, future generations will have the same opportunities we enjoy today. |
 Prichard’s silence is deafening
Instead of offering bold, new ideas, the Prichard Committee has become a staunch defender of the status quo with a "me too" approach toward reforming Kentucky's ailing public-education system. |
Eminent domain ruling ‘disastrous’
A ruling handed down today by the Supreme Court paves the way for local governments to seize private property and hand it over to developers and other private businesses. The Bluegrass Institute joins many voices across the nation who decry and lament this irrational edict.
A truce in the smoking wars
Just like the movement to ban alcohol did not work in the early 1900s, the crusade against smokers is an un-winnable war. An alternative is available that considers the health of Kentuckians while protecting private-property rights. |
The NIMBY view on bad schools
Even if Americans knew how their local schools were performing, it isn’t as though they have much choice in the matter.
 Cheetos or choice?
Kentucky legislators have passed a school-nutrition law. Now, it's time for school-choice legislation. |
Alliance hopes school-choice petition drive will net 100,000 signatures, legislation
Organizers of a new school-choice petition drive say parents, not zip codes, should determine where Kentucky’s children attend public and nonpublic schools. And when parents choose a new school, state funding should follow the child to the school of the parents’ choosing.
Chris Derry on The Bluegrass Experience
Chris discusses the founding, history and mission of the Bluegrass Institute for Atlas Highlights.
Anti-smoking nightmare on Main Street
Elected officials should resist the siren song of smoking-ban extremists and instead respond to the sound logic of protecting the private property of their constituents. |
To own or be owned: That is the question
President Bush's "Ownership Society" proposals offer a timely opportunity to renew our understanding of the general concept of ownership. True ownership implies control, and the controller of an asset is the de facto owner.
Why Limit Government?
Limiting government is essential for human liberty to thrive. While government approaches problems with the best of intentions, the creativity of free people generates better ideas when the lamp of liberty shines brightly.
 Shift the Internet sales-tax shaft
The proposed Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP) is revenue-positive, bad for small business and places Internet merchants at a competitive disadvantage. Instead Kentucky should work toward simplifying our tax code and lowering compliance costs. |
A new plan for old problems
A famous philosopher said, “If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten!” Without changes in the way spending plans are created, Frankfort's tortuous cycle of short-term relief followed by divisive budget crises will continue.
 Education pundits 'cherry-pick' data
Misguided advocates misuse data in a blatant attempt to conceal just how poorly Kentucky's public-education system is performing. Meanwhile, credible research that shows poor graduation and remediation rates among Kentucky's students is completely ignored. |
 A tax-free day: Is it possible?
Is it possible to live an entire day without paying a single tax? Only if we do no productive work, purchase nothing, travel nowhere -- except where we could walk in our bare feet -- and that we not die! |
Smoking bans are unnecessary: The public places charter
In Great Britian private property owners and communities have reached a voluntary agreement on smoking policies to benefit everyone. Cities in Kentucky should do the same and preserve property owner's rights.
 Judicial malpractice threatens treatment for elderly
Skyrocketing malpractice insurance premium rates already force some expectant Kentucky mothers to drive hours to deliver their babies. Now, a new court ruling could threaten the availability of medical care for another vulnerable population -- the elderly. |
 Give choice a chance
How are students actually performing in Kentucky’s public schools? We have turned a challenge of our “Ten great reasons why Kentucky children deserve school choice” into further evidence that the emperor’s “new clothing” may still be missing. |
Privatize new state park
Kentucky's state parks lose $29 million a year. Now, policymakers are proposing a new park that will cost taxpayers even more unless sensible alternatives are considered. |
 Celebration or consternation?
Kentucky taxpayers groan while politicians celebrate. The 2005 budget is unprecedented in spending on special projects and political pandering to special interests. |
Choice Stifled
Calloway County education officials intend to discourage students from transferring to other districts by ending a longstanding and successful open-enrollment policy. Instead, the decision to repress educational freedom has sparked a statewide debate among parents with implications these same officials probably won't like.
 A first-class demotion
It's March Madness and most tournament-bound teams think they deserve a higher seeding. Yet one Kentucky city has lowered its standing. Find out why in this article by Joel Peyton. |
Rolling up the sidewalk to your home
Today we are participating in an amicus brief being filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals on behalf of the Stearns Corporation in Lexington. If Stearns loses this appeal, every property owner’s unalienable right to use his or her property – without first asking government’s permission – is at risk.
 File a frivolous lawsuit and call me in the morning
While politicians drag their feet, Kentucky's medical malpractice crisis worsens. Free-market reforms are needed to prevent a mass exodus of physicians from the state, which would greatly diminish the availability and quality of health care. |
Watch Aaron Morris on Kentucky Tonight!
See the archived show aired February 21st on KET here. Bluegrass Institute fiscal policy analyst Aaron Morris discusses the Social Security system and how to fix it.
Don't take the bait
House legislators just passed a five-year “revenue-neutral” tax plan meant to jumpstart Kentucky’s economy. Gov. Fletcher has expended a lot of time and energy trying to land this whopper, but he may just be hooked to the bottom!
Governor's tax plan is not revenue neutral
While there are positive measures in Gov. Ernie Fletcher's tax modernization plan, the proposal would increase the overall tax burden on Kentucky's families and businesses. The Bluegrass Institute joins with Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, in urging lawmakers who have signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge to keep their promise and oppose the governor's proposal.
Get smart about school testing
In the face of uneven results in their schools, several Northern Kentucky superintendents want to use a college entrance examination, the ACT, to test all of their 11th graders. Do you get the picture?
 Crabgrass for the Bluegrass State
Gov. Ernie Fletcher rightly proposes cutting income-tax rates but wrongly insists on large tax hikes for certain groups of Kentuckians. It’s the equivalent of a homeowner sowing weeds on an otherwise perfectly manicured lawn. |
Minimum wage, maximum harm
Forcing employers to pay entry level workers a higher wage will cut the first rung off Kentucky's employment ladder. Increasing the minimum wage is a mistake that will result in fewer jobs for young workers.
When is a pledge not a commitment?
Some politicians believe the promises they make in good times can be broken when circumstances are less favorable. If so, what is the value of the pledge in the first place?
AMC is a gross misjudgment
Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s tax modernization plan incorporates an alternative minumum calculation (AMC) that imposes a tax on either gross receipts or profits, whichever delivers more money to Frankfort. It will not stimulate economic activity in the direction the governor wants.
Are teachers underpaid?
Hundreds of millions of additional tax dollars are not enough to retain Kentucky's quality teachers or lure our brightest students into the classroom. Instead, the system must change from one that rewards longevity and certification to one that recognizes excellence and results.
Endangering the dream: What if? (part three of a three-part series)
When parents are denied choices for education alternatives, their children suffer. In other locales, the racial achievement gap is narrowing when choices expand. What would happen in Kentucky if parents had more options?
 The unfinished work of the civil rights movement
"The racial gap in academic achievement is an educational crisis, but it is also the main source of racial inequity. And racial inequity is America’s great unfinished business, the wound that remains unhealed." -- Abigail Thernstrom |
Schwarzenegger to Fletcher: What it means to govern
On Feb. 2, Gov. Fletcher will deliver his State of the State speech, providing Kentuckians with the direction he will take in his second year in office. “Governator” Schwarzenegger in California has already blazed a path that Fletcher should follow.
Is it time for a divorce?
Get ready for an inside look at the operation of a Kentucky state park that reveals the difficulty involved in trying to satisfy private-sector expectations with public employees.
The golden calf of democracy
Democracy may be the world’s single most oversold concept of political governance. It works best when the reins of political power transfer, and least on property rights issues that require the uncompromising relevance of our constitution.
Public education for the public good
Our nation’s public schools should once again serve as a source of national unity. Giving parents the choice of where to educate their children is the first step toward reversing our educational system’s downward spiral.
A taxpayer's bill of rights for Kentuckians
Should Kentucky taxpayers be able to restrict the taxing and spending ability of the elected officials they sent to Frankfort?
Keep an eye on your wallet
The Kentucky General Assembly is back in session, which means Kentuckians should start keeping a closer eye on their paychecks.
Turn out the lights on mayor’s plan to acquire LG&E
Louisville's effort to take over LG&E is no more than a power grab to increase the size of government at the expense of taxpayers and customers. LG&E is better left in private hands.
Fixing what is not broken
For more than 25 years, parents, not education officials, have chosen where their children should attend school in Calloway County. Tomorrow’s parents may be forced to abide by a new set of rules.
Election opens door for real change
Kentucky voters have spoken and the new stage is set.
Now let’s focus on the kind of public policy reforms that will benefit all over the long term. Here is where policy makers should start.
Is the dream of KERA over?
A foundational goal of KERA has always been that all Kentucky children can learn at high levels. However, a new GED program lowers our state’s educational standards and increases the likelihood that students capable of obtaining their high-school diploma will settle for second-best.
When will conventional public schools be as accountable as charter schools?
Critics of charter schools point to the closing of a few charter schools around the nation as evidence of the failure of such alternatives. Actually, it’s just the opposite.
What’s missing from governor’s vision?
Gov. Ernie Fletcher unveiled his vision for the future of Kentucky’s public education system today in Frankfort. Unfortunately, for parents across the Commonwealth, tomorrow’s vision looks dramatically similar to today’s reality.
Sold out: Lawmakers abandon taxpayers
The threat by teachers to throw a statewide temper tantrum by conducting an illegal strike - if they do not get what they want - is widely resented by taxpayers in our region. It will come back to haunt them.
The Wrong Prescription
The budget is on life support and teachers' unions are threatening to strike. Calling a special legislative session may be good politics, but it
is the wrong policy prescription that will
benefit all Kentuckians. A budget comes first.
The Wisdom of Choice
Education officials claim children are their top priority. Diluting a law requiring that school-choice decisions be made based on what's in the child's best interest suggests otherwise.
Public support for illegal strike unlikely
What possible benefit do Kentucky’s education union bosses hope to attain from such an ill-advised idea? This unlawful activity, evidenced by a previous court order, will further erode public support for a state-run education system that is already failing too many Kentucky students.
Breaking the law helps unions, hurts kids
Kentucky’s teachers are underpaid and under-appreciated by the unions who are supposed to represent them and the education bureaucracy responsible for their salaries. But instead of walking off the job, they should demand that the state’s education establishment make the needs of students – and not a costly bureaucracy and its lackey unions – its top priority.
Endangering the Dream:
The soft bigotry of low expectations
(Part two of a three-part series)
Conventional wisdom blames poverty, single parents and run-down neighborhoods for the achievement gap between Kentucky’s black and white students. The emerging truth reveals that the gap narrows when parents raise their expectations for their children and the schools they attend.
 Court rules use of tax incentives unconstitutional
"This decision only highlights existing problems in our tax and incentive
structure,” said Aaron Morris, fiscal policy analyst with the Bluegrass
Institute for Public Policy Solutions. “Lawmakers should focus on lowering
overall tax rates for all individuals and businesses in Kentucky instead of
providing handouts from already oppressive taxes to a few select firms.” |
Planning for Kentucky's Future
The Bluegrass Institute is proud to offer our input on how Kentucky's budget impasse can be solved by rethinking the role and priorities of government. This handbook is for officials – elected or otherwise – who manage the affairs of citizens. It is designed to assist taxpayers in determining if the people they have placed in power are doing a good job.
Handouts – not outsourcing – the source of Kentucky’s economic development woes
It’s the job of the free market – not politicians – to decide which companies will be winners and losers. The role of elected leaders is to ensure a level playing field by eliminating barriers to competition and reducing inane regulations that are offensive to companies interested in a long-term relationship, not just a corporate handout.
Privatize prisons, unlock savings
While government is responsible for providing essential services, private companies should be enlisted to meet those obligations more efficiently.
Union officials can say private firms cannot house
prisoners safely and cost-effectively. The facts say otherwise.
Too many children are being left behind
Kentucky education officials are expressing glee over
preliminary results of the 2004 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) test scores released
Tuesday. Actually, there is very little to be delighted about but much cause for concern
among Kentucky families. |
Privatization means more funding in classrooms
In the face of budget-cutting efforts nationwide, public school districts are discovering innovative ways to deliver non-core school services. Here is how Kentucky superintendents can redirect needed funding back into the classroom.
Zealots blow smoke on property rights
When government’s heavy hand is used to ban smoking in private establishments, the rights of individuals to choose and property owners to determine their own manner of conducting business are in jeopardy.
Legal Shakedown
Like a malicious infection, groundless litigation eats away at effective, affordable health care. Will someone please save this patient before it’s too late?
The Miracle and Morality of the Market
A classic explanation of the "invisible hand," which lifts people out of poverty, creates wealth from simple ideas, and brings about peace between the fiercest of nations.
Leadership run amok in Lexington
The backhand of democracy is poised to strike a calculated blow. A blatant disregard for the property rights of a public utility by certain elected officials is a wakeup call for voters who value their liberty.
Kentucky Tonight appearance
Watch Jim Waters on KET's Kentucky Tonight about the achievement gap in public education
Uncertainty
Like well-worn work gloves, the life lessons simply stated by reflecting on a lifetime of careful endeavor deserve the attention of young people facing an uncertain future.
No budget, no pay
Well understood by working people all across Kentucky, here is an easy way to remind elected officials what their constituents expect from them.
Where's the wolf?
Successful public leaders understand that saying ‘no’ endears themselves to voters as effectively as ‘yes,’ especially when public monies are involved.
Kentucky’s new GED mill: Grinding kids down, not building them up
Introducing the GED as a measure of educational attainment lowers the expectations of students, whose future employers will reward them accordingly.
Warning: Smoking ban hazardous to the tenure of Supreme Court justices
Justices who bow to the pressure of public sentiment when rendering constitutional judgments will find that sword cuts both ways.
Endangering the Dream: Kentucky's racial divide
A widening racial achievement gap clearly identifies the disparate academic results of black and white students in the same classrooms across Kentucky. At risk are both the cultural progress we’ve made and the expectation of a high standard of living for all Kentuckians.
Good news from Korea, China and Vietnam
Largely taken for granted in the free world, the principles of free markets, human liberty and limited government are taking hold across the world by people who have never known them. Renewing these values should be a cause for all Kentuckians.
Bypassing school choice a wrong turn for Kentucky
Administrators who direct failing schools fear the educational liberty conveyed by the No Child Left Behind law, which simply gi | 
