My Word

State Rep. Brad Montell (R-Shelbyville) has introduced two bills to the Kentucky legislature that put forth very specific agendas concerning our public schools. One bill, BR116, has the catchy title of “The Great Schools Tax Credit Bill” and the other is BR117, a bill creating charter schools.

I departed Dec. 26 for London, England, for an advertising class that lasted two weeks, but would also count as college credit for a course at UK.  As I knew absolutely no one else going on this trip, to say I was nervous would be an understatement.
I woke up every morning at 7 a.m., which would be 2 am here.  I had a complimentary breakfast provided by one of London’s finest hotels.  I would then attend a 30-minute class with around 30 other students from 12 different other universities in the U.S.

There is a new bandwagon to support public education. Seven organizations representing the full spectrum of elementary and secondary education in Kentucky have banded together to urge Gov. Steve Beshear and the General Assembly to reverse four years of state funding reductions to key services that support teaching and learning in the state’s public schools.

Thank goodness. Public school officials cannot make the demand alone. Our voices for help need to be heard loud and clear, and the more people screaming the message, the more likely we will be heard.

We’ve complained in recent years about the single-digit temperatures we've seen from time to time during the winter months here in central Kentucky. So far this season, the 10-15-degree range is about as cold as we've gotten, but even at that you can hear grumblings from folks about how spring can't show up fast enough.

I thought I'd do a quick little write-up about the January we experienced here 18 years ago, just to jog our memories and remind us that it could be worse — a lot worse.