Waiting for the big one
Governor's task force stops short of groundshaking changes, but the real earthquake could come during the current General Assembly session
From Kentucky Citizen Digest, Jan, 1998

Battle lines over the course of education reform in Kentucky became a little clearer in early December when Gov. Paul Patton’s task force on public education ended its deliberations on the state’s 1990 education reforms by stopping short of recommending major changes to testing, school management and the primary program.

But while the task force stopped short of groundshaking changes, the tremor it did cause made the fault lines clear. Bigger changes could come in the current General Assembly session.

The 18-member task force, made up of equal numbers of state senators, state representatives and members of the governor’s staff, met on December 9 to hear reports from several citizen subgroups. In several cases, minority reports were filed that would have resulted in major overhauls to programs integral to the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990.

The most sweeping changes were proposed in a minority report on school testing. Filed by two legislators and a citizen member of the testing subgroup, the report called for a moratorium on the state’s controversial testing program as well as other changes, including replacing the state tests with a nationally standardized test, taking portfolios out of the index used to judge schools and holding state school officials accountable.

After a motion was made by Rep. Stan Cave, R-Lexington, to pass the minority recommendations, a heated discussion ensued about how much change should be made to the reforms. Republican Gex Williams, R-Verona, led the charge by arguing that state policymakers were sticking their heads in the sand and ignoring serious problems in the state’s testing system.

Democrats on the committee, however, expressed their opposition to major changes in the tests. Joe Barrows, D-Versailles, responded to Williams by arguing that it didn’t really matter what the task force did, since it would ultimately be up to the General Assembly to make changes. Lawmakers, he contended, would do what they wanted to do no matter what the task force did.

The minority report was eventually defeated along a mostly party line vote, with the one representative of the governor present voting with the Democrats against the recommendations. Sen. David Karem, D-Louisville, Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, Rep. Joe Barrows, as well as Lindy Casebier, R-Louisville, voted against the measure. Voting for the measure were Rep. Stan Cave, Rep. Katie Stine, R-Ft. Thomas and Sen. Gex Williams.

The defection of Casebier could indicate rough sailing for those seeking major changes since he is the Republican co-chair of the senate education committee. The committee was reshaped in the wake of last year’s conservative coup in the Senate to consist of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. But although Casebier’s opposition to major changes could weaken Republican efforts to refashion the reforms, there could still be bipartisan support of many of the minority proposals on the floor of the Senate.

In any case, the split vote on the task force places the issue squarely in the laps of state lawmakers, who are expected to consider some kind of legislation before the end of March. The proposal, which was supported and co-authored by Family Foundation staff, could help shape the General Assembly debate over changes to KERA, which promises to be heated.
 

Key Family Foundation Contacts: Kent Ostrander, Executive Director Martin Cothran, Senior Associate Policy Analyst