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People Are Talking

People Are Talking

Kentucky School Advocate
November 2017 
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg (Photo courtesy of KVEC)
“They told me they were learning much faster with personalized learning now that they could move at their own pace, and their parents and teachers could help them out more now that they have better info on how they’re doing in each topic.” – Mark Zuckerberg (left), Facebook chief in a post on his Facebook page about his visit to the Hazard-based Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative, where he met with students and teachers about technology that is transforming student learning. Click here for full story
Hal Heiner, Workforce and Education Cabinet Secretary “It is time for Kentucky to end the continued self-congratulations about how much progress we have made educationally since the days of KERA. We must acknowledge that student learning and performance across our state is far from what it needs to be if our children are to have a chance at success in the 21st-century economy, and to compete in future job markets with students frheineom other states.” – Hal Heiner, Workforce and Education Cabinet Secretary in an op-ed piece. Kentucky Today, Louisville. Click here for full story
“We make phone calls to parents, schedule parent meetings, make home visits, and engage our family resource centers to determine what needs can be met to help the parents get their students to school.” – Steve Evans, Madison County Schools assistant director of pupil personnel on how filing truancy charges is the system’s step of last resort as the state faces rising truancy rates. From the Lexington Herald-Leader. Click here for full story

“We want to be compassionate, but we want the best for the students too.” – Brenda DePriest, Jenkins Independent school board vice chairwoman as the board raised its tax rate, but still to a level considerably lower than the compensating rate. From the Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg. Click here for full story

“Our tax structure is not only complicated, it is antiquated. And it must be modernized.” – Jeff Hoover, Kentucky House Speaker on the tax reform debate he expects the legislature to have following a resolution of the pension crisis. From the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s Bottom Line. Click here for full story
Dr. Rachel Yarbrough   Webster County Schools superintendent “We are losing quality teachers (throughout Kentucky) because of this uncertainty.” – Dr. Rachel Yarbrough, Webster County Schools superintendent on the uncertainty over pension reform. From the Sebree Banner. Click here for full story
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

“We’re saying, we don’t really want you to compare schools. Schools should stand on their own, and you look at the big picture.” – Rebecca Blessing, Communications director for the Kentucky Department of Education after the release of 2016-17 state test scores in this transitional year. From the Kentucky Enquirer, Fort Mitchell. Click here for full story

“The PFM report shows it will also provide a generous retirement benefit for future teachers and state workers.” – John Chilton, State budget director on a proposed switch to 401(k)-style defined contribution plans as part of pension reform. From the Courier Journal, Louisville. Click here for full story

“These proposals shift that risk from the state and its public employers and taxpayers and put it all on the workers. In fact, there’s going to be more risk because they are no longer in a group that can manage the risk much better.” – Keith Brainard, research director for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, on a possible state pension switch to a defined contribution plan. From the Courier Journal, Louisville. Click here for full story

“People would really like their kids in that new high school. If I could bribe somebody to get that boundary out quicker, I would.”  – Bret Halverson, Scott County real estate agent, joking about the Scott County district’s pending new attendance zone lines taking into account a new high school. From the News Graphic, Georgetown. Click here for full story

“We’re not panicking.” – Rob Clayton, Warren County Schools superintendent saying there is no cause for alarm, despite uncertainty over state cuts in Flex Focus funding and other budget strains. From the Daily News, Bowling Green. Click here for full story

“Living in poverty literally permeates every aspect of a child’s life, including their health, reading levels, and workforce prospects.” – Dr. Terry Brooks, Kentucky Youth Advocates’ executive director on U.S. Census Bureau figures showing one in four Kentucky children still live in poverty, unchanged from the 2015 estimate. From Spectrum News, Louisville. Click here for full story

“It gives the victims and the victims’ families the respect that I think they’re due based on what they went through. This needed to be out in the open.” – Jon Hayden, McCracken sheriff on the new, more visible memorial recognizing the deadly 1997 Heath High School shooting. From the Paducah Sun. Click here for full story

“When you don’t cut from one area but you cut from another, then you have to use these monies to cover those monies and it is a trickle-down effect.” – Tres Settle, Calloway County superintendent, emphasizing that any cuts to education affect the bottom line, even though SEEK may be spared. From the Murray Ledger & Times. Click here for full story

“I don’t believe that’s the answer. The answer is positively feeding our cycle of improvement.” – Dennis Maines, Silver Grove Independent superintendent on the idea of closing down the PS-12 district’s high school – this year’s senior class has four students – in response to the community’s sustainability struggles. From the River City News, Covington. Click here for full story
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