http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com Covering Kentucky politics and government Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:44:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/02/house-senate-appear-close-on-congressional-redistricting-plan/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/02/house-senate-appear-close-on-congressional-redistricting-plan/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:28:04 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=20370 By Beth Musgrave and Jack Brammer jbrammer@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT — House and Senate negotiators appear close to an agreement on new boundaries for Kentucky’s six congressional districts. “We have a map that shows great promise,” House Speaker Greg Stumbo said late Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said the Senate has had “little time to analyze anything” from the House, but “hope springs eternal.” Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said the staff of U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, has been instrumental in helping the Democratic-controlled House and Republican-led Senate come to a consensus after weeks of negotiations. Senate leaders were looking at a proposed map after the chamber adjourned Thursday evening. If the Senate agrees to the new map, it’s possible for the legislature to approve the plan before the Feb. 7 filing deadline for congressional candidates.]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/02/house-senate-appear-close-on-congressional-redistricting-plan/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/02/senate-panel-approves-bill-to-let-local-school-districts-decide-whether-to-keep-students-until-18/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/02/senate-panel-approves-bill-to-let-local-school-districts-decide-whether-to-keep-students-until-18/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:23:15 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=20364 By Jack Brammer jbrammer@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT – The Senate Education Committee unanimously approved a bill Thursday that would let each local school board on the recommendation of the superintendent and approval of the state Department of Education require children to attend school until their 18th birthday. The sponsor of Senate Bill 109, Sen. Jack Westwood, R-Erlanger, said he favors local control over Gov. Steve Beshear’s support of a House Bill that would raise the school dropout age from 16 to 18 statewide, beginning in 2017. That measure, House Bill 216, has been approved by a House committee and is awaiting action in the full House. ]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/02/senate-panel-approves-bill-to-let-local-school-districts-decide-whether-to-keep-students-until-18/feed/ 1 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/01/budget-cuts-will-delay-implementation-of-new-core-education-standards/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/01/budget-cuts-will-delay-implementation-of-new-core-education-standards/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:19:04 +0000 Beth Musgrave http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=20349 By Beth Musgrave bmusgrave@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT — The state’s top education leaders told a legislative panel Wednesday that proposed budget cuts to the Department of Education will delay implementation of new standards called for in a 2009 overhaul of Kentucky’s education system. Terry Holliday, commissioner of the Department of Education, told a House budget subcommittee that cuts proposed under Gov. Steve Besehar’s two-year budget will also mean less money for teacher professional development and less money for technology assistance for local school districts. There also will be no new state money to help some schools that have been deemed low-performing schools. Beshear’s proposed budget does not include cuts to the main funding formula for Kentucky schools, commonly called SEEK, or Support Educational Excellence in Kentucky. However, other parts of the education budget would be cut, including an 8.4 percent cut to administration and technology and a 4.5 percent cut to instruction, assessment and curriculum programs and to the Kentucky School for the Blind and the Kentucky School for the Deaf.]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/01/budget-cuts-will-delay-implementation-of-new-core-education-standards/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/01/house-panel-votes-down-lexington-playhouse-bill/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/01/house-panel-votes-down-lexington-playhouse-bill/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:30:57 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=20346 By Jack Brammer jbrammer@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT — A House panel rejected a proposal Wednesday that grew out of a Lexington mother’s fight with a homeowners association over an outdoor playhouse used by her 3-year-old son with cerebral palsy. Only six members of the House Local Government Committee voted for House Bill 160, which would do away with deed restrictions that limit structures deemed medically necessary for children 12 and younger. Six members did not vote and two voted no. The measure needed nine votes to clear the committee. Opponents of the bill said it would have needlessly involved the legislature in a “local turf battle.” House Local Government Chairman Steve Riggs, D-Louisville, said it’s hard to predict whether the bill is dead for this year’s legislative session. “I think it’s on hold for awhile,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s dead. That depends on whether the local people can get together. If they don’t get together, it’s probably not dead because we don’t have a set of statewide rules in place to deal with this.”]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/01/house-panel-votes-down-lexington-playhouse-bill/feed/ 1 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/01/for-profit-college-regulatory-bill-proceeds-to-house/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/01/for-profit-college-regulatory-bill-proceeds-to-house/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:57:22 +0000 Accountability Editor http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=20306 By John Cheves -- jcheves@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT -- The private, for-profit college industry would stop regulating itself at the state level under a bill that a Kentucky House committee approved Wednesday. "This is not everything that we probably all would like to see in the bill, but it is doable and it is a start," said Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway, the bill's sponsor. A stronger bill last year was passed by the House but died in the Senate in the face of aggressive industry lobbying. House Bill 308, which proceeds to the full House, would abolish the controversial Kentucky Board for Proprietary Education, which licenses scores of for-profit schools offering two-year associate's degrees, technical certificates and other diplomas in different career fields. Industry representatives hold six of the board's 11 seats and frequently serve as chairman. A state audit last year sharply criticized the board, calling it an inattentive watchdog that fails to protect the interests of students. At the same time, student lawsuits and investigations in Kentucky and elsewhere have raised questions about deceptive marketing and the quality of educations sold by the schools.]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/02/01/for-profit-college-regulatory-bill-proceeds-to-house/feed/ 0