Kentucky School Advocate
May 2024
In Conversation With features an interview between a leader or figure involved in public education and a representative of the Kentucky School Advocate.
Kevin Dailey, a middle school social studies teacher at Ballyshannon Middle School in Boone County, was named Kentucky Teacher of Year in September. Dailey has taught in Boone County Schools since 2019 and has been in education for the past 10 years.
Q. You became a teacher after a career in aerospace and architectural design. What made you decide to change career paths?
A. My parents dropped out of high school and, while education was important to them, there weren’t high expectations for me. Mechanical drafting was my favorite class at Holmes High School in Covington, and when I graduated at 16, I took the one class needed to get my associate’s degree and started working at GE Aerospace. Then I chased my girlfriend (now my wife) to the University of Kentucky and got a job in mechanical and architectural design. Everyone around me was a UK student, and I wanted to be involved in what they were doing. I applied to UK and did not get accepted but wrote to the dean and was accepted provisionally. I liked history and social studies because they were different from my boring engineering job, and I wanted to be in front of people because I didn’t like sitting in front of a computer all day. I graduated summa cum laude and got into a master’s program when someone else dropped out. This spring I spoke at that same master’s program commencement.
Q. In the past five Teacher of the Year awards, at least one Boone County teacher has been a semifinalist. What is it about Boone County teachers that makes them exceptional?
A. In many schools, excellence is contagious. Hallie Booth, Middle School Teacher of the Year two years ago, was on my four-person team at Ballyshannon. When I was named Middle School Teacher of the Year, math teacher Maegan Tepe, who is on my team, was one of the top 20 Teachers of Excellence. It helps to be around amazing people and learn from them. And, because Boone County is a large district, we have more opportunities.
Q. This isn’t your first teaching honor. You received the Milken Educator Award in 2021. Can you tell us about that experience?
A. You are part of a network of Milken Award winners from across the country, and meet them at a summer conference and learn about all that Milken offers. There is a $25,000 award as well, which is awesome.
Because this is not an award you apply for, a lot of winners naturally ask, ’Why me?’ Milken helps you find the answer. To be happy as a teacher, I need to feel valued. And Milken gave me that gift. Teacher of the Year has also reinforced it, but Milken came first.
Q. You created a guest speaker series for your class. Tell us about why it is valuable to have outside speakers in the classroom.
A. Ballyshannon is a predominantly white, upper middle-class school. We do have Black and brown students but they don’t always get to see themselves at higher levels. To have a strong democracy, we need diversity, and all young people need to know they are part of this country’s story. Our first speaker was David Childs from Northern Kentucky University. Childs gave a lecture on how spirituals preserved African-American culture during slavery. He looks like an academic, so when he started belting out beautiful hymns, the kids were like ’whoa!’ It was so valuable for Black and brown students to see someone who looked like them at that level, talking about a culture they share. That’s something I can’t give them no matter how hard I try. After he spoke, a group of students of color met with him. Because of that experience, students created a POC (person of color) group to meet with administrators and talk about their experience as students of color. That’s civic engagement at its highest level.
We hear so much about having to stick to the curriculum and standards, but that’s not always what our kids need. That’s just the starting point.
Q. You grew up economically disadvantaged in Covington, an urban part of northern Kentucky, and a teacher there changed your life. Tell us about how she affected you?
A. Linda Foxx taught in the computer program in vocational school. When I entered the program, I was younger than everybody, kind of nerdy. My grades were fine, not as good as they could have been. Every day, Ms. Foxx came in, said ‘Hi’ and asked how I was doing, not how school was going. The last week of school she asked if I would be her student aide the next year. For the first time in my life, I knew that somebody appreciated and cared about me and saw the potential in me. She believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. That changes a person.
Q. You are coming to the close of a six-month ambassadorship with KDE. Tell us about the project you are working on there.
A. It’s called the Imperfect Classroom. When I became a teacher, I was on a quest for perfection.
But I’ve come to realize that a perfect classroom is not what makes a classroom great. What makes it great is that students want to be in my class because it is a reflection of who I am. Kids realize that whatever they’re into is acceptable because they see me with my weird outside-the-box thinking, and they know it’s OK. My hypothesis is that every great classroom is a reflection of that teacher. I’ve gone around the state to visit classrooms that reflect the teacher who leads them. I interview teachers, talk to their students, and see them in action. I write a feature and KDE publishes it. I post it on my website and Instagram (@ktoy2024). I send it to the principal and superintendent. I find at least one local newspaper to publish it.
Q. Teacher retention has become a problem in Kentucky. Why have you chosen to stay in teaching, and do you have any ideas that would help keep teachers in the classroom?
A. Teachers are being pink slipped because they have four years’ experience and a district doesn’t want them to be tenured or because of budgets. Recently, I found out that my position at Ballyshannon was cut because I have the least amount of tenure, regardless of my proficiency as a teacher, my voice and my Teacher of the Year award. Ballyshannon has made an effort to keep me in a different role and I plan to be there in the fall, but I’ll be teaching a different class. The same thing happened to me five years ago at Gallatin County High School. I was a tenured teacher with glowing reviews. Tenure is designed to protect veteran teachers, and I still think it’s a good system, but it has put me in that situation.
I could drive a short distance to Ohio and make $30,000 more than I do here. So why stay if your retirement’s consistently threatened, if you might get pink slipped, whether you’re tenured or not, whether you’re a Teacher of the Year or not. People don’t want to stay in a profession when they don’t feel valued, when they don’t feel seen. We can talk about a teacher shortage, but there’s not a shortage of qualified teachers. There’s a shortage of teachers being paid, teachers being valued, teachers being respected, and teachers feeling secure in their employment. It is a big difference.
Q. We celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week each May. What are some ways board members can celebrate teachers in their district?
A. One answer is to find a way to pay them more money. But also, every Teacher Appreciation Week, I send an email to Ms. Foxx and other teachers who made an impact on me. I also write a letter to each person on my teaching team to tell them that what they do matters, and I give specifics. Board members have many teachers they could write to, so pick some and make it personal.
And consider teachers’ voices valid. People say teachers just want to be heard, and while that is true, you must also trust that their experience is valid and find a way to act upon it.
Q. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
A. Public education literally saved my life. I would’ve never had the tools or skills or belief in myself if it weren’t for public schools and public school teachers. The amendment (on funding non-public schools) that will be on the ballot this November threatens that. And there are many other threats. My recommendation is for everyone to reflect on the importance public schools have on kids who don’t have any other choice and to support them.