The Winchester Sun: Winchester, KY

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Kentucky’s ‘Race to the Top’
By Don Pasley
March 11, 2010

FRANKFORT – When it comes to education, few days in recent years could rival March 4, when the state learned in the morning that it is a “Race to the Top” finalist and the Kentucky House voted overwhelmingly that afternoon to begin the process of raising the high school drop-out age from 16 to 18.

“Race to the Top” is a $4 billion program that Congress authorized last year to reward those states showing a true commitment to education reform. Kentucky and 39 other states, as well as Washington, D.C., submitted applications in January, but Kentucky was one of only 16 states to make it to the next level.

There are hopes that our schools could receive as much as $200 million, but we will not know what we might receive, if anything, until next month. Fortunately, a second round of funding for the states is also planned later this year.

Kentucky gets high marks for taking the lead in establishing new assessment standards and, just a few weeks ago, giving education officials another tool to help continually low-performing schools.

I believe raising the drop-out age will help our case as well. Under House Bill 301, this would be phased in beginning in 2013 and would bring Kentucky in line with more than two dozen other states if it becomes law. It also has the backing of First Lady Jane Beshear, who hosted a summit on the issue last fall.

Those of us who support this change noted that the drop-out age of 16 was set in 1920, when graduating high school was not as critical to getting a job as it is today. A drop-out also earns nearly $7,000 less annually than those who receive a diploma.

Another bill that focuses on children at the beginning of their education passed out of the House last week. House Bill 190 would establish the Strong Start Kentucky Program to develop models of preschool education for underserved 3- and 4-year-old children living at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

The legislation would also require the Early Childhood Development Authority to study the long-term need and projected cost of serving all 3- and 4-year-old children by the 2014-2015 school year. The bill passed by a vote of 99 to 0.

Education was the dominant theme last week, and increasing government accountability was another. House Bill 387, which passed the House 99 to 0, would give us a clearer picture of the true size of the state government work force.

While we generally know how many career employees and political appointees there are, it is unclear how many work for the state as private contractors.

Besides providing more detailed recordkeeping, HB 387 includes an important measure to require much more stringent billing standards so that auditors can make sure that the state gets what it pays for. Too many receipts now are barely itemized, making it impossible to verify what was exactly done.

In other legislation sent to the Senate last week, we would greatly increase the number of contracts that the legislature reviews on a regular basis. We have a permanent committee dedicated to this function, but there are literally thousands of contracts, amounting to billions of dollars, that are not part of this process. As the branch that writes the budget, we feel we should be able to access much of that information as well.

This week, the House voted on our budget proposal. Last Thursday, we took the first step in that direction by voting on legislation that will help us avoid steep cuts in education and human services.

Overall, our plan includes some tough choices, but it provides a realistic way to get through the $1.2 billion deficit state government faces during the next two years. We will incorporate a number of efficiencies throughout state government and Medicaid, limit the number of political appointees, reduce funding slightly for higher education, and suspend but not repeal a law that lets corporations use losses from one year to off-set what they owe to the state over 20 years.

Once the budget makes it through the House, the Senate will spend much of the remainder of March making whatever changes it feels are necessary. We are still on track to have a final compromise ready before April.

As always, if you would like to let me know your thoughts on this legislative session, my address is Room 351, Capitol Annex, 702 Capitol Avenue, Frankfort, KY 40601.

You can also leave a message for me or for any legislator at 800-372-7181.

For those with a hearing impairment, the number is 800-896-0305.

If you would like to know the status of a particular bill, that number is 866-840-2835. All of these are toll-free.

I hope to hear from you soon.

State Rep. Don Pasley, D-Winchester, represents Clark County and part of Madison County in the Kentucky House.

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