Quick Notes From Today's Board of Ed Meeting

Aside from Education Commissioner Jon Draud’s admission that he made a mistake with his now famous (infamous) state-supplied automobile (well-discussed in David’s blog below and in Courier-Journal news releases from reporter Toni Konz, who gets a tip of the hat for uncovering this mess), there are other comments of note from today’s meeting of the Kentucky Board of Education.

Jim Applegate from the Council on Postsecondary Education said that African-Americans entering Kentucky’s public postsecondary institutions had an incredibly high 80 percent requirement for remedial course work in at least one subject. Overall, the remedial rate for all entering freshmen is around 50 percent.

Applegate also says that Kentucky’s public school teachers still are not up to snuff on what kids need for college. Imagine that, after more than 18 years of education reform. That leads to the next item.

During a presentation on a new program called the “New Cities Institute,” the presenters pointed out that Kentucky’s education community isn’t talking to workforce and other leaders about what is needed for success in life, either.

Wow! How can teachers claim they are preparing kids for the real world when those same teachers are not talking to people working in the “real world?” No wonder college remediation is so extensive and the Bluegrass Institute continues to hear complaints from business that recent graduates are not ready for the workforce.

Clearly, some very big gaps remain between promises made when KERA was enacted in 1990 and the limited success we have seen to date.