FRANKFORT – The seventh week of the 2016 General Assembly marked the halfway point of the 60-day session and saw the passage of an education measure to reevaluate, and possibly change, Kentucky’s academic standards in classrooms and assessments of what public school students should know.
Senate Bill (SB) 1, a designation reserved for what’s considered the Senate President’s top priority of a session, would reexamine Common Core standards that Kentucky led the nation in adopting six years ago.
This fundamental reform would, simply put, allow our teachers to teach. It reduces the bureaucratic burden on teachers, who must regularly spend hours submitting paperwork, reports, and forms to the Kentucky Department of Education. These reports merely focus on the school’s activity and does nothing to measure or contribute to its productivity or educational outcomes. Instead of spending enormous amounts of time and energy reporting to an overreaching state, educators can return their focus to their students’ individual learning needs. With this bill, we reverse years of misguided policy that has been imposed upon us from the federal government and outside entities. It puts student learning ahead of bureaucracy and uniform testing.
Unfortunately, there have been many distortions about the content of this bill circulated in the media by certain interest groups, as well as some honest misunderstandings about the effects of the bill. I want to put these misconceptions to rest. In particular, some constituents have voiced objections to the bill’s original plan to remove social studies from the list of subjects required by state testing. We heard these concerns and amended the bill to restore it. I am confident that our proposed standards and assessments review structures will allow teachers once again to focus on teaching traditional core social studies content that develops civic-minded, critical thinkers who, through the study of history, come to understand the values that built our great nation.
A second misconception that arose in debate over this bill is that it would decimate arts education. Some common sense statutory reforms put forward in the original bill were objected to by those in the field. This led to a constructive dialogue with the arts community. As a result, SB 1 will maintain statutory support, review, and assurance of coverage made by the superintendent and the Site Based Decision Making council of arts and humanities standards in all schools while also allowing more access to foreign language, computer and technical courses to prepare our students for the job market.
In addition, the following proposed laws passed the Senate this week and await action in the House of Representatives:
- SB 5, a bill I co-sponsored, concerns the state’s marriage licenses after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state-level bans on same-sex marriage last year. SB 5 would remove the county clerk’s name from the license, include the sex of the people getting married, and exclude their Social Security numbers. It would also create two forms – only one with a “bride and groom designation.” Couples could request either form.
- SB 126 concerns enclosed three-wheeled vehicles, sometimes referred to as “autocycles,” that have increased in popularity in recent years. It would specify that autocycles be classified as a type of motorcycle under Kentucky law when dealing with the titling, registering, and selling of the vehicles. When autocycles wreck, however, they would be classified as a motor vehicle and not a motorcycle. The legislation also excludes autocycles from a law requiring anti-lock brakes.
- SB 130, another bill I co-sponsored, concerns shielding child pornography from public view when prosecuting the pornographer. It would restrict those who have access to child pornography when it is used as evidence during criminal trials while keeping the proceedings open to the public. The bill’s sponsor said there is a similar federal rule.
- SB 136 concerns controlled substances. It would enhance penalties for the trafficking of synthetic drugs in addition to prohibiting three drugs currently not addressed by law: Kratom and the designer opioid drugs W-15 and W-18. Synthetic drugs continue to be a growing problem in our area, and this bill would ensure that traffickers are charged with felonies.
- SB 137 proposes a state constitutional amendment relating to legislative redistricting. It would remove the state constitutional requirement that counties not be split and replace it with a requirement that the General Assembly divide only the number of counties necessary to achieve substantial population equality. In addition, SB 137 would require the legislature to remain in session – without pay – if they fail to redistrict as required by law.
One important piece of legislation that passed out of committee this week was SB 43, which would allow the survivors of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel killed in the line of duty to receive the state lump-sum benefit. I was very proud to support this bill and to welcome EMS personnel from our area — Mark Harrison, Ricky Driskill, and Brian Cutsinger — to the committee meeting.
One other issue that gained a great deal of attention this week was SB 50. Although the bill was heard in the Education Committee, it was not brought to a vote. This bill would create a mandatory starting date for schools no earlier than the Monday nearest to August 26. The purpose of the bill is to allow for longer summers in hopes of generating additional revenue for struggling state and local economies. Although I am sensitive to the need for additional revenue, I feel that this decision should remain with the local boards of education who already have the ability to alter the starting date of schools within their respective districts.
Finally, I was honored to welcome the following visitors this week:
- Dr. Barbara Veazey and representatives from WKCTC;
- Carlisle County Judge Executive Greg Terry;
- Ballard County School System Superintendent Casey Allen;
- Dr. Matthew Milliner and Dr. Beverly Largent, Orthodontists from Paducah;
- Ms. Debra Puckett, Read to Achieve Program.
While the Senate waits for the House of Representatives – where spending bills must originate – to pass out its budget bills, it has moved ahead with hearing testimony on the budget proposed by the governor. The Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations and Revenue, of which I am a member, has taken testimony on the proposed budgets from cabinets that include Justice as well as Health and Family Services.
If you have any questions or comments about these issues or any other public policy issue, please call me toll-free at 1-800-372-7181 or e-mail me at danny.carroll@lrc.ky.gov. You can also review the legislature’s work online at www.lrc.ky.gov.