EKB News

KENTUCKY....
Based on factors including low scores in reading and math, missing adequate yearly progress goals for at least three straight years and having a high school graduation rate of less than 60 percent for three consecutive years, the Kentucky state Department of Education recently identified 10 such schools statewide. Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday told the General Assembly's Interim Joint Committee on Education this week that the state is moving ahead with efforts to turn around persistently low-achieving schools. Holliday says schools could receive up to about $500,000 a year for three years to spend on turnaround efforts. The state will establish three Centers for Learning Excellence based at the University of Louisville, Western Kentucky University and Eastern Kentucky University to provide technical assistance to the struggling schools in their respective areas. Kentucky hopes to get up to $175 million in the second round of the Race to the Top when it's announced in August or September, but Holliday has said the state is at a distinct disadvantage because it lacks legislation allowing charter schools. An effort to push a charter bill through the recent special legislative session fell short.