Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for March 28, 2009 KENTUCKY KILLS CATS

...and it's a good thing!

Certainly unusual in the NCLB era, the Commonwealth of Kentucky pulls the plug on a unpopular testing program...

Beshear signs bill to end CATS testing

By Gregory A. Hall
ghall@courier-journal.com

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- On the final day of the 2009 legislative session, Gov. Steve Beshear signed a bill that eliminates the state's controversial school testing system.

In one of several ceremonial bill signings yesterday in the Capitol Rotunda, Beshear said the state remains committed to education reform.

But the signing of Senate Bill 1 marks only the second time in two decades that a major change has been made in the landmark 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act.

Beshear said "KERA was never meant to be a one-time fix."

SB 1 provides three years to develop a new accountability system, time that will allow the state to "get it right," Beshear said.

Many legislators -- including key senators who have long sought to eliminate the decade-old Commonwealth Accountability Testing System, better known as CATS -- attended the signing.

The goal of SB 1's supporters was to reduce the amount of time schools spend on testing and find a way to track individual student progress through the years. CATS is intended to track school performance.

The bill requires the Department of Education to devise new educational standards and a new test for the 2011-12 school year.

SB 1 had the support of the Kentucky Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union.

Other bills signed by the governor include:

House Bill 383, which requires high school coaches to receive emergency medical training in courses taught by a doctor or other medical professional. It would include emergency planning, heat and cold illnesses, emergency recognition, head injuries, neck injuries, facial injuries and first aid. Coaches also must pass a test after taking the course. The bill followed the death of football player Max Gilpin, who collapsed during a Pleasure Ridge Park High School team practice last August.

SB 4, which offers some substance abuse offenders an opportunity to get treatment, with the goal of reducing corrections costs. The measure would allow individuals charged with certain drug-related crimes to receive substance abuse treatment -- in a county jail or in the community -- and have the charges against them set aside once it is successfully completed.

HB 372, which credits time served on parole in determining the completion of some inmates' sentences.

HB 315, which makes it a Class D felony to "cyberstalk" and solicit a minor for sexual activity through electronic communication.