As a constitutionally created position, the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction could not be abolished by legislative
action. But the General Assembly did transfer the superintendent’s duties, powers and operations to a newly designated
commissioner of education. The 1990 legislation also directed that
the education commissioner be hired by the Kentucky Board of
Education, the members of which are appointed by the governor
and confirmed by the legislature to serve staggered terms.
The elective office of superintendent was eliminated in 1992
with voter approval of a constitutional amendment that also allowed the governor and other statewide officeholders to serve two
terms and made other changes.
Nepotism was a critical concern at the local level, where school
districts were – and remain – among the largest employers in
some communities. In 1989, for instance, all but two of the 174
Kentucky school districts that responded to a state Department
of Education survey had some incidence of “kinship hiring.”
Then-state Senator John Rogers, R-Somerset, who pushed for
legislation to curb nepotism, said that, on average, there was a
relative hired for almost every school superintendent and board
member in the state.
This reality had negative ramifications for teachers, students
and families whose efforts to ensure a quality education in every
school could be thwarted by personnel considerations that did not
share that goal. “The feeling that family relationships, nepotism,
hiring practices, and partisan politics are so influential in local
schools has been an obstacle to public confidence for many years,”
Robert Sexton, then-executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, told a newspaper reporter.
The 1990 law enacted specific prohibitions against the hiring
of relatives of school board members, superintendents, principals
and other school district employees – prohibitions that have been
3
upheld by the courts although there has been some weakening by
legislative action.
In addition to the nepotism and governance reforms, here, in
brief, are the key principles and elements of the Kentucky Education Reform act:
• Academic expectations reflecting high standards were created
by teachers, parents, business leaders and other citizens to
define what students should know and be able to do.
• An assessment and accountability system (that included specific consequences such as financial rewards and sanctions)
was created to measure schools’ progress and ensure public
awareness of performance.
• School-based councils were created to ensure local decision-making about how individual schools were organized
and operated, what curriculum was used and how teachers
delivered instruction in their classrooms.
• Professional development funding was increased to help
teachers improve their skills and knowledge.
• With the focus on equalizing funding among poor and
wealthy districts, a new system of distributing public money
was developed. This was the SEEK formula, which remains
in place today.
• A legislative oversight agency, the Office of Education
Accountability, was created and the state Department of
Education was reorganized.
• Family resource and youth services centers were developed to
help students and their families connect with health, social
and community services.
• Major technology investments gave students more high-tech
experiences.
• Preschool programs were created for at-risk 4-year-olds and
3- and 4-year-olds with disabilities.
1998-1999
The Kentucky Preschool Program became the foundation of
continuing efforts to improve children’s personal and educational
outcomes by giving them a strong start. The Governor’s Early
Childhood Task Force, created in 1999, led to the unanimous
passage by the 2000 General Assembly of the KIDS NOW
initiative. At the time the most comprehensive package of early
childhood legislation in the nation, KIDS NOW addressed
health care, family assistance, quality education and community
involvement issues relating to early childhood.
Subsequent efforts have promoted quality and accountability
for early childhood programs, collaboration among providers and
improving children’s kindergarten readiness.
Academic standards provided the foundation of the 1990
reforms, established in the law as learning goals identifying what
students should know and be able to do. High standards were
A Citizen’s Guide to Kentucky Education — June 2016