In case anyone thought we might make it through this legislative session without another walkout or protest, they were wrong. Today, teachers from across the Bluegrass are flocking to our state capital in droves (again) to rally against another controversial retirement policy. Let me add that I won’t be there. I’ll be teaching about ecosystems to my middle schoolers while…
Tag: #120United
Spilling The Tea With Allison Slone
Hey all! As we approach the first anniversary of Kentucky School Talk’s launch, I’ve decided to start digging deeper into the great work that’s going on in schools and districts across the Bluegrass. Throughout 2019, you’ll see short Q&A sessions like these pop up with fantastic educators, parents, and students from around the state. We like to call it “Spilling…
Yes, Kentucky Teachers Are Still A Political Force. Here’s How They Can Keep It That Way.
Any true child of the ‘90s should have gleeful memories of the sitcom Kenan and Kel. The show centered around the shenanigans of Chicago teen Kenan and his orange soda-loving friend Kel, who would often find himself getting bribed into mischief for a bottle of his favorite drink. Kel had a famous catchphrase that’s still beloved to this day: So…
Pension Reform Bill Struck Down By Kentucky Supreme Court
For those following the pension reform debacle in Kentucky, we finally have the verdict: Senate Bill 151, the controversial “sewage” bill that stood to make major changes to public pensions, has been struck down. In a unanimous decision made Thursday, the Kentucky Supreme Court stated that the bill “did not comply with the three-reading requirement,” and thus ruled that the…
You Can’t Have Your Pension Reform Cake And Eat It, Too
If you live in Kentucky and consume any form of news media at all, you’ll be familiar with the bitter, contentious debate that’s been raging about teachers’ pensions. The road to reform began with an actuarial report recommending deep, structural cuts to our teachers’ retirement system, then took a major bump in the form of teacher protests and walkouts earlier…
Why We Fight
Public education, and more specifically public educators, have increasingly been in the media more this year than in the past several decades. Thousands of teachers in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arizona, and North Carolina have held work stoppages, strikes, and rallies at their respective State Capitols over the severe lack of funding for their students, teacher salaries, and teacher (and…