You haven't heard anything in the mainstream media about the filthy, rotten behavior of the city of Lexington in their handling of the many scandals at the Fayette County Detention Center. When the media wakes up to this one you will hear about it, though.
Attorneys at Wyatt, Tarrant, and Combs have tried to get United States Army Staff Sgt. Delmar White removed as a plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the city for some illegal pay practices. They base their request on the fact that White hasn't been answering their letters or returning their phone calls in the discovery process.
A highly decorated Marine and National Guardsman, White died Sept. 2, 2007 in combat in Bagdad.
Newberry will lose this request and, hopefully, White's estate will be well compensated by the taxpayers of Lexington, who shouldn't forget Newberry's disgusting tactics in his next election.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Kentucky caught fudging graduation numbers
The new “Graduation Counts 2008” report from Education Week has been issued less than a week after the Kentucky Department of education released its own “Nonacademic Data Report” for Kentucky’s public schools. The new Education Week data exposes some very disturbing holes in what we are being told about the performance of our schools.
For example, the Graduation Counts Web articles include a special Kentucky section that shows us how well Kentucky’s education leaders disseminate high school graduation rates.
The state report claims statewide high school graduation rate for Kentucky’s Class of 2005 was 82.86 percent. Education Week’s Kentucky section has a sort of “lie meter” on Page 7 that shows the real rate was much lower – over 11 points lower – at just 71.5 percent. Nationally, Kentucky ranks below the median in 29th place among the 50 states.
There is more interesting information from Ed Week.
While the national spread between graduation rates for boys and girls is 7.5 points in favor of the ladies, here in Kentucky the spread is notably higher at 9.8 points. Why is KERA less successful with boys than girls?
Hispanics in Kentucky also do much more poorly than the national average with a graduation rate disparity of 49.4 percent versus 57.8 percent.
Kentucky’s whites also graduate at a rate 5.2 points below the national average of 77.6 percent.
Only Kentucky’s blacks do slightly better than their national counterparts, but their graduation rate of just 58.2 percent is hardly a testament to KERA.
Not surprisingly, you won’t find these minority graduation rates in the state’s Nonacademic Data Report. You have to go to more honest sources like Education Week if you want that information. Here in Kentucky, our educators prefer to continue using data that has been officially audited and found unreliable, which is how Kentucky comes up with an inflated 82.86 graduation rate in the first place.
Bluegrass Institute education analyst Richard Innes wrote this post.
For example, the Graduation Counts Web articles include a special Kentucky section that shows us how well Kentucky’s education leaders disseminate high school graduation rates.
The state report claims statewide high school graduation rate for Kentucky’s Class of 2005 was 82.86 percent. Education Week’s Kentucky section has a sort of “lie meter” on Page 7 that shows the real rate was much lower – over 11 points lower – at just 71.5 percent. Nationally, Kentucky ranks below the median in 29th place among the 50 states.
There is more interesting information from Ed Week.
While the national spread between graduation rates for boys and girls is 7.5 points in favor of the ladies, here in Kentucky the spread is notably higher at 9.8 points. Why is KERA less successful with boys than girls?
Hispanics in Kentucky also do much more poorly than the national average with a graduation rate disparity of 49.4 percent versus 57.8 percent.
Kentucky’s whites also graduate at a rate 5.2 points below the national average of 77.6 percent.
Only Kentucky’s blacks do slightly better than their national counterparts, but their graduation rate of just 58.2 percent is hardly a testament to KERA.
Not surprisingly, you won’t find these minority graduation rates in the state’s Nonacademic Data Report. You have to go to more honest sources like Education Week if you want that information. Here in Kentucky, our educators prefer to continue using data that has been officially audited and found unreliable, which is how Kentucky comes up with an inflated 82.86 graduation rate in the first place.
Bluegrass Institute education analyst Richard Innes wrote this post.
A step in the right direction
Senate President David Williams has suspended the Capitol Annex renovation that has gotten so much press recently.
In a letter to the LRC, Williams said "...I have determined to indefinitely suspend further renovation of the second floor of the Annex..."
Great. Now, let's get rid of pension and health benefits for part-time government workers.
In a letter to the LRC, Williams said "...I have determined to indefinitely suspend further renovation of the second floor of the Annex..."
Great. Now, let's get rid of pension and health benefits for part-time government workers.
McCain and Obama still together on transparency
If you have missed the government transparency movement sweeping America because you live in the corrupt little backwater of a state we lovingly call Kentucky, you won't want to miss this:
Go here for the rest of the story. While most Kentucky politicians have slept through it, Secretary of State Trey Grayson has been moving full-steam-ahead for taxpayers' right to know.
"The fact that even in a presidential election year the two main contenders Sens. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain can set aside their differences to co-sponsor this bill, is testament to the importance of the issue."
Go here for the rest of the story. While most Kentucky politicians have slept through it, Secretary of State Trey Grayson has been moving full-steam-ahead for taxpayers' right to know.
Bluegrass Institute update
Looks like the Bluegrass Institute's main website and blog should be back up tomorrow. The organization's most popular site Kentucky Votes remains unhacked by the sorry malcontents who couldn't fight on the merits, so they paid some hacker to temporarily quiet the opposition.
Ageism is ugly
Martin Luther King Jr. must be rolling over in his grave to see the media this morning yammering about Senator Barack Obama's "historic" effort based not on the content of his character, but the color of his skin.
I'm still waiting for the fawning reports of Sen. John McCain for being the oldest nominee of a major party ever. Or the first Vietnam POW nominee of a major party. Or the first sitting U.S. Senator who supports tax cuts to be the nominee of a major party in half a century (not counting Bob Dole, but he was just an old white guy).
I'm still waiting for the fawning reports of Sen. John McCain for being the oldest nominee of a major party ever. Or the first Vietnam POW nominee of a major party. Or the first sitting U.S. Senator who supports tax cuts to be the nominee of a major party in half a century (not counting Bob Dole, but he was just an old white guy).
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
More legal troubles for Lexington jail
The union representing employees of the Fayette County Detention Center has filed a grievance against jail administration, CWA local 3372 President Mike Garkovich confirmed today. Multiple jail employees who did not wish to be quoted for fear of retribution said the source of the grievance was a sexual harassment complaint filed by Corporal D. Zirbes against Deputy Director Don Leach.
If you are keeping score at home, mismanagement of the jail has resulted, so far, in a two year-long federal investigation, a class action lawsuit, and multiple civil suits. Keep up the great work, guys.
If you are keeping score at home, mismanagement of the jail has resulted, so far, in a two year-long federal investigation, a class action lawsuit, and multiple civil suits. Keep up the great work, guys.
BlogHillary screams "it's not over"
If you really want to see how angry the Hillary Mafia is, you need to read her blog. They are accusing the Associated Press of trying to sway the superdelegates in favor of Barack Obama. Given that AP continues to report she is dropping out tonight hours after she said it's not true, though, it kind of looks like she has a point.
Trey Grayson speaks
Secretary of State Trey Grayson will make a major policy announcement to the monthly meeting of the Center-Right Coalition on Monday, June 9 at 10 AM in Frankfort. As a result, this meeting will be open to the media and the public is invited.
If you want to come, call me on my cell phone (the number is at the top of this page.)
If you want to come, call me on my cell phone (the number is at the top of this page.)
Is Kentucky about to import economic disaster?
Stateline.org points out Kentucky may face a struggle with yet another entitlement burden if unemployment increases much.
Pamela Prah reports Kentucky is among a group of states with underfunded unemployment insurance trust funds.
Given Kentucky's troublesome tendency to import poverty-stricken residents from other states, what might be even more disconcerting is that neighbors to the north Michigan and Ohio (and to the west, Missouri) are even closer to insolvency in their unemployment trust funds than we are. Should they decide to scale back on this or other entitlements to weather the storm, Kentucky may be forced to act.
Of course we did have a couple of bills in the last General Assembly (HB 190 and HB 221) that could have started us in that direction.
Pamela Prah reports Kentucky is among a group of states with underfunded unemployment insurance trust funds.
"States that are also well below the recommended level with only about six months of money in their reserves are: Arkansas, California, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin."
Given Kentucky's troublesome tendency to import poverty-stricken residents from other states, what might be even more disconcerting is that neighbors to the north Michigan and Ohio (and to the west, Missouri) are even closer to insolvency in their unemployment trust funds than we are. Should they decide to scale back on this or other entitlements to weather the storm, Kentucky may be forced to act.
Of course we did have a couple of bills in the last General Assembly (HB 190 and HB 221) that could have started us in that direction.
Monday, June 02, 2008
When you think pension scandal, think JR Gray
While Frankfort officials talk about how to tweak the public employee fringe benefit program to delay Kentucky's inevitable fiscal calamity, don't expect many legislators to say anything about former legislator and newly-minted Labor Secretary JR Gray.
Thanks to a provision in HB 299 from 2005, Gray will get a ridiculous pension boost as his time in the legislature is converted to benefit him as if he were Labor Secretary for the last quarter century.
Nice scam if you can slip it past taxpayers.
Thanks to a provision in HB 299 from 2005, Gray will get a ridiculous pension boost as his time in the legislature is converted to benefit him as if he were Labor Secretary for the last quarter century.
Nice scam if you can slip it past taxpayers.
Over her dead body, perhaps?
Many people are counting out Hillary Clinton in her bid for the presidency and it is being widely reported that she is ready to quit.
She just sent out the following campaign email this afternoon. Looks like she is not quite ready to bow out gracefully.
Or could it be she is just trying to squeeze a few dollars out of her most rabid supporters to pay her back some of the millions she loaned her campaign?
She just sent out the following campaign email this afternoon. Looks like she is not quite ready to bow out gracefully.
Or could it be she is just trying to squeeze a few dollars out of her most rabid supporters to pay her back some of the millions she loaned her campaign?
Government transparency steps up big in Kentucky
Secretary of State Trey Grayson will speak next Monday morning to the Center-Right Coalition in Frankfort. Grayson recently announced publicly his efforts to make spending in his office transparent to taxpayers and has agreed to encourage other officials to do the same (facebook account required to read this link).
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Shortening the "oil shortage"
Newt Gingrich has nearly 300,000 signatures on a petition to require Congress to let us go get our own oil.
Much barking, no biting on fringe benefit reform
If you were just reading editorial headlines Sunday, you might think Kentucky was ready to demand action from Frankfort on the $26 billion public pension disaster. The Louisville Courier Journal bellowed "Pension reform, now" and the Paducah Sun screamed, simply, "NOW." The Lexington Herald Leader said "Light a fire under legislature," but they were talking about raising taxes.
We are never going to get anywhere on fixing the mess caused by decades of overpaying our government employees at the rate we are going.
The Sun said "Beshear is less likely than his ineffective predecessor to let the legislature dictate the terms of a special session. Something tells us he’s going to finally bring about long-overdue pension reform."
Their optimism is misplaced. We need to join 12-step recovering addicts by first admitting that we have been overpaying public employees for a long time. Otherwise, cutting benefits slightly today probably just means they will go back up later. That's just kicking the can down the road.
Now that more people are starting to pay attention to this, we need to shift the discussion to consideration of phasing out pensions for legislators. Eliminating this conflict of interest might help lawmakers keep clear heads about driving us out of the benefits ditch and inspire them to stay out.
Allowing legislators to take executive branch jobs and pick up a huge pension boost should be an easy mistake to reverse. Repealing the expensive part of HB 299 from 2005 would show significant good will.
Color me skeptical.
We are never going to get anywhere on fixing the mess caused by decades of overpaying our government employees at the rate we are going.
The Sun said "Beshear is less likely than his ineffective predecessor to let the legislature dictate the terms of a special session. Something tells us he’s going to finally bring about long-overdue pension reform."
Their optimism is misplaced. We need to join 12-step recovering addicts by first admitting that we have been overpaying public employees for a long time. Otherwise, cutting benefits slightly today probably just means they will go back up later. That's just kicking the can down the road.
Now that more people are starting to pay attention to this, we need to shift the discussion to consideration of phasing out pensions for legislators. Eliminating this conflict of interest might help lawmakers keep clear heads about driving us out of the benefits ditch and inspire them to stay out.
Allowing legislators to take executive branch jobs and pick up a huge pension boost should be an easy mistake to reverse. Repealing the expensive part of HB 299 from 2005 would show significant good will.
Color me skeptical.
That didn't take very long
Speaking to Bill Bryant on WKYT's Newsmakers program, U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford wasted no time in playing the class warfare game and redistributing wealth with the best of them:
What he meant to say was "yes"
In an interview on WKYT's Newsmakers program in Lexington, Bill Bryant got an earful when he asked U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford if he supports a universal health insurance scheme:
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Bluegrass Institute hacked, sites down for days
If you can't beat them, hack them.
That's seems to be the philosophy of whoever hacked the Bluegrass Institute's websites Saturday and stifled much of the organization's public communications until at least Monday.
The Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky's free market think tank, has raised the ire of Frankfort politicians and bureaucrats with its non-partisan advocacy of open and honest government spending practices and public education statistics reporting.
An early Institute victory forced the legislature to post floor votes onto the internet each day the General Assembly is in session. The website that came about as a result, Kentucky Votes, managed to escape the hack which brought down The Bluegrass Institute's main site (www.bipps.org) and the group's blog, Bluegrass Policy Blog (www.bluegrassblog.org).
Current initiatives, which have rankled many, include an effort to place government expenditures on a searchable website, pushing for a serious discussion of public employee fringe benefit reform to avert bankruptcy of state and local governments, creating more meaningful oversight of the Kentucky Department of Education, and reducing corporate taxes across-the-board to bring more jobs to Kentucky.
"Clearly, more than a few people have us in their cross-hairs," said Institute founder and President Chris Derry. "But this temporary setback doesn't slow the need to operate government under correct principles. We shall return and double our efforts."
That's seems to be the philosophy of whoever hacked the Bluegrass Institute's websites Saturday and stifled much of the organization's public communications until at least Monday.
The Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky's free market think tank, has raised the ire of Frankfort politicians and bureaucrats with its non-partisan advocacy of open and honest government spending practices and public education statistics reporting.
An early Institute victory forced the legislature to post floor votes onto the internet each day the General Assembly is in session. The website that came about as a result, Kentucky Votes, managed to escape the hack which brought down The Bluegrass Institute's main site (www.bipps.org) and the group's blog, Bluegrass Policy Blog (www.bluegrassblog.org).
Current initiatives, which have rankled many, include an effort to place government expenditures on a searchable website, pushing for a serious discussion of public employee fringe benefit reform to avert bankruptcy of state and local governments, creating more meaningful oversight of the Kentucky Department of Education, and reducing corporate taxes across-the-board to bring more jobs to Kentucky.
"Clearly, more than a few people have us in their cross-hairs," said Institute founder and President Chris Derry. "But this temporary setback doesn't slow the need to operate government under correct principles. We shall return and double our efforts."
Is Don Leach the lone gunman or just a patsy?
Fayette County Detention Center Deputy Director Don Leach is currently trying to dig himself out of trouble for a contraband violation in the intake area of the Lexington jail. An internal incident report has been filed and it has been a hot topic of discussion among rank-and-file employees who are watching the jail administration implode under federal investigations and lawsuits.
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