I wrote earlier that the Herald-Leader reported a few days ago that Kentucky now requires candidates to produce a high school transcript proving completion of the 12th grade to be shown to county clerks when registering to run for a local school board position. The Herald-Leader says nothing about a high school diploma being acceptable. The article says only a high school transcript will do.

I wondered about that and got into the legislation to see what is actually written there. Sure enough, Senate Bill 101 from the 2018 Regular Legislative Session has a section that says in part:

“No person shall be eligible for[to] membership on a board of education…unless a transcript evidencing completion of the twelfth grade or results of a twelfth grade equivalency examination has been filed with the nominating petition.”

This isn’t the only place such a stipulation is found. In KRS 160.180, “Eligibility for membership on local board of education -- Annual in-service training requirements,” language also indicates that someone will not be eligible as a school board candidate, if filing after April 4, 2018,

“…unless a transcript evidencing completion of the twelfth grade or results of a twelfth grade equivalency examination has been filed with the nominating petition.”

Notice that producing a high school diploma is not sufficient.

So, with slight rewording, I ask questions from my earlier blog again:

• Is it possible this transcript requirement was added because the Kentucky Legislature knows too many hollow diplomas are being handed out?

• With county clerks now getting access to a school board candidate’s high school transcript or equivalency test results, doesn’t this make more data on the candidate’s academic history available to voters?

• Since statute now makes it clear that just showing a high school diploma isn’t even good enough to satisfy the legislature, why are people talking about even more delays in improving the quality of that diploma? Who are we kidding here?