Playing Politics With Education Accountability

Steve Beshear's spokeswoman is in full, last days of the campaign "We're ahead in the polls, so we aren't returning calls to anyone who might ask a tough question" mode.

But if she were returning phone calls to people who might challenge her on something, she might provide some needed insight into Beshear's promise to seek a waiver from NCLB testing requirements.

This is probably just politics as usual since such an exemption is not at all likely to be granted, but Beshear's position does need some clarification. Any relief from added No Child Left Behind testing, which would be extremely small, would very certainly not be worth the risk of putting more of the accountability function in the hands of the Kentucky Department of Education.

Friends Don't Give Friends Pass When Wrong

The school voucher debate will certainly return to Kentucky soon as more bills have been promised to address the issue of poor Kentucky children stuck in failing schools.

I'm in favor of bringing competition to the school system and helping our most vulnerable citizens. For that reason, I can't stand by silently when someone on my side of the issue overstates the case for school vouchers.

I'm surprised and disappointed more people didn't jump on this one.

Naked, At The Jail, And Going To Prison?

The crazy scandal at the Fayette County Detention Center took yet another odd turn with an expansion of a sexual harassment investigation turning its focus on one Cpl. T. Roberts.

Cpl. Roberts, a guard at the jail who has passed around at the facility naked pictures of herself and another guard, has been crying on shoulders of co-workers at the jail, telling them she is destined to go to prison in the prisoner abuse scandal. It seems her woes are about to worsen.

Should Have Done Earmark Reform Last Year

Republicans have only themselves to blame for this:

But critics say McConnell is propping up a company that apparently can't compete without him. While it sounds good for a senator to defend jobs, "we should be spending federal money where and as we need to, not to keep the lights on in someone's district," said David Williams, vice president of Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington watchdog group.

"I want to know when Sen. McConnell became the secretary of defense," Williams said. "The Pentagon has to sit down every year, draw up its priorities and budget its money accordingly. Who is Mitch McConnell to insist that we fund these projects?"

I hate to say I told you so...

Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks

In the last few weeks, I have made a concerted effort to tone down my use of political name-calling. I've done far more than my share of it in the past, I know, but my arguments are much sharper when I focus on what an opponent is saying or doing that I disagree with and not on what kind of name I can call him.

I'm not saying anyone else should do the same (flaming people can, after all, be fun) but I'm officially out of the name-calling business.

I hadn't really thought about this that much, until I saw my friend Jacob Payne post a comment about Jerry Abramson being called a liberal. Slapping the L-word on Mayor Abramson really isn't as effective as pointing out how funny he will look walking down the street with $16.5 million bulging out of his pockets after his Library Tax goes into effect.

Blue Christmas Coming For Jail Cover-Uppers

Indictments in the prisoner abuse scandal at the Lexington jail are widely expected to start coming down next Thursday.

Deep-fried Louisville Mayor

Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson eats his way through the City Hall pork and buries his snout right in the Library Tax trans fats.

Put Up Versus Shut Up

The Courier Journal and Lexington Herald Leader have, in the past week, touted the Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center's October 12 report on the progress of KERA reforms in our schools.

On November 13 at 10:30 am at the Lexington Convention Center, the author of the KLTPRC's controversial report will defend her findings.

And the Bluegrass Institute will be there to call her on it.

Hillary: Depends On What Your Definition of "Straight Answer" Is

Hillary Clinton doesn't lie as well as husband Bill does.

If Jonathan Miller Were A Republican...

Today is the third day since the story came out on the Bluegrass Policy Blog that the money-losing college aid program called KAPT, championed at taxpayer expense by the state Democratic party chairman, has sprung another $14 million leak.

Where is the mainstream media on this?

Linda Greenwell On YouTube

Next KY Governor Gets No Honeymoon

Let's say the polls hold up and Steve Beshear wins next Tuesday. Almost immediately upon taking office, he will be forced to deal with the public employee benefits mess that has been festering for decades. Beshear has said on the campaign trail that he doesn't have a clue how to deal with this problem. By December, that answer would no longer be sufficient.

And Kentucky's legislators just aren't going to put casino gambling up for a vote. I'm not talking about on the ballot for the people to decide on. They won't vote on it themselves. Any casino bill will die quietly in some committee without lawmakers having to take a position.

It may not be long after the inauguration galas that the talk starts to turn toward what is now cooking in Illinois, where the people are taking to the notion of getting rid of their governor.

Dividing The Spoils Of War

While continuing to talk about not counting their chickens before they hatch, Beshear-o-crats in Frankfort are measuring the back yard of the Lieutenant Governor's Mansion for a chicken coop.

Expect when they go behind the armed guards to slip their illegal and unconstitutional provisions in the budget this spring for someone to write in big bucks to revamp the LG's house.

Meanwhile, rumors abound of several Republican Senators bolting for cushy jobs in the Beshear administration. The rumors appear to be just that, but for good measure we might use the scuttlebutt as an excuse to repeal the law that allows long-time legislators to gain a huge pension boost by taking a three year tour in the executive branch.

Jimmy Carter Humor

Actually, this IS funny:

A high-profile documentary, Sony Pictures Classics' "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains," had a poor debut, taking in just $10,573 at seven theaters. The film from director Jonathan Demme ("The Silence of the Lambs") follows the former president during a tour to promote his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."

Found it in the bottom of this report. Thanks to Instapundit.

A Quick Political Quiz

Who said it? (Answers at the end.)

1. "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common
good."

A. Karl Marx
B. Adolph Hitler
C. Joseph Stalin
D. None of the above

2. "It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the
few, by the few, and for the few ... and to replace it with shared
responsibility for shared prosperity."


A. Lenin
B. Mussolini
C. Idi Amin
D. None of the Above

3. "(We) ...can't just let business as usual go on, and that
means something has to be taken away from some people."

A. Nikita Khrushev
B. Josef Goebbels
C. Boris Yeltsin
D. None of the above

4. "We have to build a political consensus and that requires people
to give up a little bit of their own ... in order to create this common
ground."

A. Mao Tse Dung
B. Hugo Chavez
C. Kim Jong Il
D. None of the above

5. "I certainly think the free-market has failed."

A. Karl Marx
B. Lenin
C. Molotov
D. None of the above

6. "I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the
most profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being
watched."

A. Pinochet
B. Milosevic
C. Saddam Hussein
D. None of the above




Scroll down for answers.




Answers

(1) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton,
6/29/2004.

(2) D. None of the above. Statement was m ade by Hillary Clinton,
5/29/2007.

(3) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton,
6/4/2007.

(4) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton,
6/4/2007.

(5) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton,
6/4/2007.

(6) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton,
9/2/2005.

Another Old Media Versus New Media Story

A Louisville television station seems a little threatened by a Louisville-based blogger's youtube usage.

Kentucky Education Blogger Misses Point

Former Lexington principal Richard Day read another Louisville Courier Journal hit piece on the Bluegrass Institute this weekend, then read an Institute response, and followed up with posting his thoughts on his blog.

His conclusion misses the key issue.

Day says:

What makes the C-J's point is BGI's criticism that "cheerleading for the education establishment when it is undeserving is what undermines our public school system." In BGI's hands, it can seem that the public schools are always undeserving. That's just not a true and accurate picture.

I've never seen anything from the Bluegrass Institute suggesting or even implying in any way that "public schools are always undeserving." In fact, the cited quote speaks of the "education establishment," not students or schools. The Bluegrass Institute has spent years pointing out problems that were improperly addressed or even created by the administrators of Kentucky's public school system. Protecting current taxpayers and future taxpayers (yes, the children) by pointing out where those "leaders" fall short is an effort worthy of appreciation, not attacks from those who should be fighting the same fight.

(And yes, I work for the Bluegrass Institute. But as a father of four public school students, I wouldn't cast my lot with them if they were doing anything but showing the way for Kentucky to have world-class public schools.)

Trouble in Socialized Medicine Paradise

It's late October and time to ration healthcare in England. One question: if Rolling Stone Keith Richards wasn't involved in the protest, would most Americans ever hear about this?

Meanwhile, in America, most of us have no idea that three-fourths of uninsured children are already eligible for Medicaid or S-CHIP. That's before the Democrats' $35 billion expansion.

Expect the next effort to advance socialized medicine to involve changing the paperwork to force people onto government health plans.

Time For A Movie Theater Boycott

An anti-Christian movie coming to theaters in December deserves a full-court-press Kentucky boycott.

The movie is called The Golden Compass and is due out in theaters December 7. It stars Nicole Kidman. In the end of the movie (it is based on a book, so we already know) two kids kill God and then are "free" to do whatever they want.

This is the kind of thing internet activism is all about. Should be pretty easy to persuade Kentucky theater owners that carrying this movie wouldn't be good for their business.

Eating For A Good Cause

I'll be having lunch Monday at Surf's Up Grill in Lexington. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Bluegrass Domestic Violence Program.

Come on by if you can.