Education

Jefferson County Schools could be the first in the state to act to raise the dropout age from 16 to 18.  School board member Chris Brady says he'll bring the issue up for discussion Monday night and could pursue a vote.

"I think it's in our best interest to set the expectation that everyone graduates by at least age 18 and to say it's not okay to dropout before that time," Brady adds.

Brady says it's important for JCPS to act quickly to send a message to the state and the community that the district wants to do everything it can to reach all students.  JCPS is the state's largest district.  
 
Governor Beshear just signed the bill last week. It leaves the decision up to individual districts. Once 55% of districts raise the age, it will become mandatory for all four years later. Over 6,000 Kentucky students drop out each year. Over 1,000 JCPS students are dropping out each year.

A Lexington-based attorney with a history representing former Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher has sent a complaint to Murray State’s Board of Regents Chair alleging a violation of Kentucky’s Open Meeting law.

Jim Deckard sent the complaint to Dr. Constantine Curris Thursday. Deckard, referencing media reports, says a quorum of regents gathered at regent Sharon Green’s home and discussed board business the night before the board’s quarterly meeting.

At that meeting Curris entertained a motion to vote on whether or not to extend President Randy Dunn’s contract. The discussion wasn’t listed on the board meeting agenda. It was brought up under the guise of “other business.”  The motion to extend Dunn a new four year contract failed by a margin of 7 to 4.

Deckard made the following request in his letter:

The sponsor of legislation that was competing with Gov. Bill Haslam's to create a school voucher program withdrew her bill on Wednesday after proponents of a broader program decided they want to focus on the governor's plan.

The measure withdrawn by Sen. Dolores Gresham from the Senate Education Committee sought to increase the income limit for eligibility to about $75,000 for a family of four, up quite a bit from the $42,643 envisioned by the Republican governor.

The bill also had no limitation on growth, where Haslam proposes to limit the program to 5,000 students in failing schools in the academic year that begins in August, and grow to 20,000 by 2016.

Gresham, a Somerville Republican and chair of the committee, didn't give a reason for withdrawing the bill but told reporters after the hearing that she may bring it up again before the end of the session.