LOUISVILLE, Ky. — They did not endorse a candidate but Thursday, the group representing your child's school superintendent outlined what they want Kentucky lawmakers to address after the Nov 5. election.
The Kentucky Association of School Superintendents described their priorities which includes teacher pay, school funding and more hiring power for superintendents.
The panel of Louisville area Superintendents was just one of several that held news conferences on this, the one week mark before the gubernatorial election.
While they did not endorse a candidate, however, it was clear by the timing and insistence that Kentuckians vote Nov. 5 that they want education to be a front-of-the mind issue.
"The top two priorities are; we have a teacher deficit in Kentucky and so retaining and recruiting qualified teachers is Priority One”, said Eminence Independent Schools Superintendent, Dr. Buddy Berry. “Priority Two is making sure we have equitable and adequate funding for the initiatives that we are faced with.”
Priority One, they explained, includes educator salaries, benefits and retirements.
They support talking about pension reform and are even open to discussing changes to a 401k style system, but they insist upon keeping defined benefits. They also called for “competitive salaries," funding for ongoing training and letting teachers focus on instruction.
They described Priority Two as a call for adequate and equitable funding which includes a concern about using public dollars for private or charter schools, shifting from state to local tax dollars for funding and fully funding the School Safety Bill, SB1.
It's clear they're pushing for an active legislative session. But as these topics are addressed they'll certainly draw the attention of educators who have been involved in sickouts in the past two years. We asked whether they've begun to talk about how to address burdens put on parents when a sick-out takes place.
“We have had quite a bit of conversation about the sick-out topic and, as an organization, we are not in favor of the sick-out response”, said Dr. James Neihof, Superintendent of Shelby County Schools.
KASS also said that they plan to push for a law allowing more superintendents to have more control in the hiring process of principals which is similar to the so-called "Marty Pollio Bill" which passed this year.
JCPS superintendent Dr. Pollio voiced a willingness to advocate for something similar to SB250 which he says has given him greater control in hiring approximately 12 school principals since it passed.
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