– Having no charter school law could amount to the same thing The US Secretary of Education is a big supporter of charter schools – public schools that operate under reduced rules – often including freedom from union restraints – because they are overseen by a chartering organization. In fact, the Secretary is putting our…
Wondering what’s behind all the noise about the supposed $996 million budget shortfall in Kentucky? It’s really not that complicated. The General Assembly wants to spend $9.296 billion in the year beginning July 1. Economists estimate they will only have $8.3 billion. So Gov. Beshear says there is a $996 million shortfall. The revised budget…
– Meanwhile, Kentucky’s reporting founders Oregon just announced improved high school graduation rate reporting next year. Once that starts, an Oregon Department of Education spokesperson admitted the state’s high school dropout rate will probably rise dramatically, but Oregon is clearly intent on joining other states like California that are getting honest about this important information.…
Gov. Steve Beshear has announced a special session of the General Assembly will convene June 15. Several Republican Senate members I spoke to this afternoon said no agreements about revenues, spending cuts, or hot-button issues like casino gambling have been reached. Cook up some popcorn for this one. Should be quite a show.
Susan Pace Hamill of University of Alabama School of Law put out a report on state and local public policy which lists Kentucky as one of the “Shameful Sixteen” states. She claims that our taxing and spending policies hurt poor people and “violate the moral principles of Judeo-Christian ethics.” Read the report here. Hamill’s grand…
In the latest edition of liberty’s lovers and losers: A national newspaper changes its mind about school choice, expanded gambling is viewed as a bailout for playing wrong cards in the past and Louisville’s mayor wisely uses his veto pen. Click here to read the entire column.
Jim Waters, Bluegrass Institute director of policy and communications, will appear on KET’s “Kentucky Tonight” on Monday at 8 p.m. (EST) to address the possibility of a special legislative session. Waters will be joined in his call for more responsible tax-and-spending policies by Andy Hightower, executive director of the Kentucky Club for Growth. Watch the…
Lexington attorney Kent Masterson Brown went to Washington D.C. last Friday for a hearing in a very important case. If he wins, Americans will be able to opt out of Medicare. This case continues quietly as most of our elected officials on the national level are trying to force all Americans onto “free” government insurance.
– State’s student tracking software has major problem Infinite Campus is the new student tracking software program that the Kentucky Department of Education just brought on line. – Well, sort of. It turns out the software is fouling up the calculation of absolutely critical average daily attendance figures for every school district in Kentucky. Those…
Say what you will about it, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) definitely renewed interest in high school graduation rates. That new interest comes none too soon, because far too many kids in Kentucky and around the rest of the country are not graduating from high school. In today’s economy this spells trouble not…