BLOG

Gov. Steve Beshear expressed excitement and pride in a high national ranking that doesn’t hold up to much scrutiny.

“Kentucky is proud to finish as one of the top 10 in the nation for business expansion activity during 2008,” said Gov. Steve Beshear. “This ranking demonstrates that even through tough economic times, Kentucky can still be competitive in expanding our industrial base.”

Yeah, not quite. Site Selection Magazine explains on its own web site that the ranking is based on a count of “new or expanded capital projects the previous year.”

That means we did a lot of corporate welfare and road/infrastructure projects, mostly with borrowed money, nothing more.

A funny indicator that this list of 2008 big-government happy talking boosterism is just more silliness is the fact that a drawing of the governors racing their way to 2008 taxpayer-soaking paydirt is that Gov. Steve Beshear is shown here trailing current Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, who didn’t ascend to his current office until 2009 after Rod Blagojevich, well, you know…

The New York Times reports a new public school grade inflation scandal has just been uncovered in New Jersey.

This latest education scandal didn’t happen in Kentucky. However, with CATS scores soaring through the roof and with pressure of KEES scholarship money tied in part to higher grades, who knows?

Could grading inflation be an issue in Kentucky? Those fast-rising CATS scores offer one clue that games might be getting played. Our continued high levels of college remediation despite increasing high school grade point averages offer another.

If grades are being artificially boosted, it’s going to be up to honest educators – make no mistake, we have a ton of them – to come out like the brave new superintendent did in Fort Lee , New Jersey and promptly expose wrong-doing. Because, sooner or later, the truth almost always surfaces, just like it did in that major metropolitan area school system just across the river from New York City.

I will be a guest on Jack Pattie’s radio show at 9:00 Monday morning talking about the coming Bluegrass Tax Revolt. It’s WVLK AM 590 or www.wvlkam.com.

In what probably come as a surprise to some, the new US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, said several days ago that he was not in favor of shutting down the Washington, DC voucher program.

Duncan is quoted as saying, “I don’t think it makes sense to take kids out of a school where they’re happy and safe and satisfied and learning,” Duncan told said. “I think those kids need to stay in their school.”

This puts Duncan at odds with Democrats in the Congress who want to kill the DC voucher program.

Meanwhile, Kentucky not only has no voucher program, but it doesn’t even have the much more popular charter school program (which is now found in 40 states). So, more than a few of our kids are trapped in public schools where they may not be happy, or safe, or satisfied or learning.

Senate President David Williams, speaking at the 5th Congressional District GOP Lincoln Day Dinner, took credit for lowering a long list of various taxes since Republicans took control of the state Senate.

He also pointed out that the alcohol tax would cost someone who spent $100 on alcohol only $6.

Williams made no mention, however, of the increased debt load or the exploding public employee pension mess he just voted to make worse.

The House Education Committee announced Friday afternoon it will consider on Monday SB 1, to repeal the disgraced CATS school assessment program. The bill previously passed the Senate unanimously.

In 2008, a similar bill failed to gain approval by even a single Democratic Senator before dying in the House without a hearing.