Future of Education: Exit Interview with Billy Harper: Part Seven

The Bluegrass Institute recently sat down to talk about public education in Kentucky with Billy Harper, who recently completed a four-year term on the Kentucky Board of Education.

In this final segment, he talks about his optimism for the future of Kentucky’s education system while emphasizing that current reform efforts require persistence.

“The worst thing we did with KERA (the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990) is that we passed that and said ‘we fixed schools’ and everybody went off to do other things,” said Harper, who was president of the state Chamber of Commerce when KERA was passed by the Kentucky General Assembly. “The key now is for us to stay at the table and keep getting better.”

Harper also talks about a foundation he is helping to form that will provide research for the state’s K-12 and postsecondary education entities.