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Ed.

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Ed.

A Call for Racial Equity & Justice

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A statement from the Prichard Committee President & CEO Brigitte Blom Ramsey and the Board of Directors 

We can no longer wait for another generation to pass while the slow lever of policy change takes hold. We must insist on a new kind of change now, change that will remedy the injustices that have been waged on Black communities for generations and end deeply embedded and persistent racism. We stand with our communities of color to insist on justice. We have simply not done enough to ensure equitable treatment and opportunity – in education, income, health, and safety.

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought inequities experienced by people with low-incomes and families of color into stark relief, coupled with recent events of police brutality giving rise to state, national, and international protests – we know education is undoubtedly part of the solution. Yet, we have simply failed to deliver on the promise of education for African American students and other students of color. This is unacceptable.

As a citizen-led Committee, we commit to doubling down on our longstanding call for greater equity in education outcomes, for greater systemic and community accountability for the progress of each and every one of our students. We will continue to press policymakers to invest in adequate and equitable education – early childhood through postsecondary – and an accountability system that ensures each Kentucky student has the opportunities and the support to develop, without fear, and to meet and exceed their potential.

As we move out of the immediate and begin to reflect more deeply on the history that has led us, as a state and a nation, to this moment, we call on all of our elected and appointed leaders to require competency in cultural responsiveness and implicit bias for all those working, or training to work, in the public sector. We commit to doing the same with our staff, board, membership, parent leaders and student leaders beginning, with great urgency, this summer.

We cannot bring back Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery or countless others. We can, and will, be part of the solution that helps ensure their deaths and the pain their families and communities are experiencing – the pain of generations come to the fore – are not in vain.

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Ed.

In COVID-19 era, internet access is a basic necessity

Two months have passed since businesses and schools across the Commonwealth began shutting their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As educators and business began adapting, one thing became abundantly clear: the internet is as necessary as electricity and plumbing is for our daily lives. As social distancing becomes a matter of life and death, a connection to the world outside our homes is vital to our economy, our education system, and our way of life.

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Ed.

Council on Postsecondary Education sets tuition policy

The Council on Postsecondary Education set tuition policy for the next academic year, as well as released the 2020 annual progress report for Kentucky’s public colleges and universities at today’s quarterly meeting. Unsurprisingly, the impact of the COVID-19 public health crisis on Kentucky students and our postsecondary institutions colored much of the discussion. As Kentucky institutions have shifted to on-line learning for the remainder of the spring term, uncertainty remains as to how students and campuses will respond through the summer and into the next academic year. This uncertainty will impact Kentucky’s ability to maintain progress toward educational attainment goals and the types of innovative strategies that will be necessary to ensure student success.

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Ed.

An open letter to Kentucky’s education leaders: Use CARES funds to ensure excellence with equity and innovation in education

An open letter to Gov. Beshear, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, Interim Education Commissioner Kevin Brown, members of the Kentucky Board of Education, and Council on Postsecondary Education President Aaron Thompson:

More than six weeks ago Kentucky schools, childcare centers and colleges closed to protect families, educators and administrators during an unprecedented public health crisis. We now find ourselves in unknown educational territory, as parents and educators work tirelessly to provide at-home learning opportunities for the students of the Commonwealth.

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Ed.

The Kentucky Education Reform Act 30 Years Later

Thirty years ago, on April 11, 1990, Governor Wallace Wilkinson signed the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) into law. Those of you who have been longtime members and partners of the Prichard Committee know that our history is grounded in this nationally unprecedented education reform act and the landmark court case that preceded it.

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Ed.

KERA was the foundation; now is the time to build on that start

I moved to Kentucky in 1990, right as KERA was happening, and was thrilled. You see, I lived in one of the New Jersey school districts that sued for fairer funding and won a landmark ruling, and I knew that 17 years later, those districts were still in court. Then I moved here, where the Rose decision was not yet one year old and state leaders had already adopted a comprehensive approach to reform.

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Ed.

Child Care Must Get More Support to Survive Covid-19 – A Call to Action

My wife and I stared blankly at one another last month when Governor Andy Beshear announced that child care providers would close in response to the Covid-10 pandemic. As parents of an infant and preschooler, we had to make quick shifts (like so many families) to handle what has become a daily routine of managing workloads, parenting, diapering, and teaching.

Added to that was a new worry. We love our child care center, the teachers and the staff. It is in the neighborhood in which I grew up. We desperately want it to reopen when this public health crisis wanes.

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Ed.

Analysis: State Budget Dramatically Reshaped by Covid-19 Pandemic – What Does this Mean for Education?

With the state capitol still under restricted access, the Kentucky General Assembly returns to Frankfort today to take final action on House Bill 352, the state budget – a spending plan now reflecting the dramatic (and still unknown) impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the state’s financial resources. Due to these rapidly changing circumstances, House and Senate leaders have agreed to essentially a 1-year continuation budget.

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