My Word

This spring, my wife and I will be replacing the sidewalk abutting our home on Henry Clay Street in Shelbyville. We were among the first 150 residents in a 22-square-block area to receive notice from the Codes Enforcement Office that a 16-year dormant ordinance requiring homeowners to pay for sidewalk repairs was being resurrected and enforced.

The letter directed us to start making arrangements within 30 days and complete the work within 60 days, or the city would make the repairs and file a lien against our home for the cost of the work, plus fees and penalties.

“Grading procedures do not reflect today’s teaching standards,” said Thomas R. Guskey from the University of Kentucky at a recent training session for principals in Shelby County. He could prove his point with a 1917 report card that belonged to his grandmother, which looked pretty much like a report card issued today.

He and Lee Ann Jung, also from UK, shared their expertise in standards-based grading for Shelby County Public Schools because we have completed a study of their book, Grading Exceptional and Struggling Learners.

Usually when I tell someone that I am a Democrat, I get a puzzled look and then they blurt out “WHY?!?,” as if they can’t believe anyone could be a Democrat. 

What I always say is that first of all I am more of a Moderate or Independent but they don’t win elections, and I feel that the Democrats actually look out for the greater good more than the Republican Party does or claims to do.

That statement probably angers some, so let me explain. 

In 2006, the Kentucky Legislature took a major step towards building Kentucky’s economy by overwhelmingly passing the Emerging Technology and Consumer Choice Act. Lawmakers recognized that outdated, monopoly-era regulations were hampering competition and stifling investment in advanced technologies, and took direct action to reduce them.