Wednesday, May 5, 2010

EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY: CHARLIE MILLER WHERE ARE YOU?

Kentucky has many problems obviously and one I focus on is education. There are 2 major problems we must correct and work towards. Economic recovery and education. In my opinion both go hand in hand in furthering Kentucky. Yesterday there was an article in the CJ about the State of Education and it is one of many reasons when I was asked to run for House District 28 I agreed. The state of our schools in many areas are in critical shape.

This article outlined 6.

I have major problems with these findings. For starters current District 28 State House Rep Democrat Charlie Miller has the supposed experience to lead us in bettering our education right? Look at his Ky State profile and what he does and his committees:

Interim Committees BR Sub. on Primary & Secondary Education [Liaison Member]; Education; Labor and Industry; Licensing and Occupations; Transportation

Session Committees BR Sub. on Primary & Secondary Education (H) [Liaison Member]; Education (H) [Vice Chair]; Labor & Industry (H) [Vice Chair]; Licensing & Occupations (H) [Vice Chair]; Transportation (H)

Why is this so important?

For starters Mr. Miller is a retired Principal and elected House Rep for the last 12 years. He talks about his experience and one would think that this experience would help better education in Kentucky right? Apparently not.

If these results are any indicator then we are wasting our time with this failed leadership at every level of State Government. The results simply do not add up to success with Mr. Miller's "experience." The alarming thing is that the schools listed are primarily in Southwest Louisville.

One would think Mr. Miller would be well aware of these problems and working diligently to correct them, or maybe, just maybe, should have been working to prevent these problems in the first place right? With the experience Mr. Miller has and his roles on education committees one would expect a different outcome would we not?

According to the CJ, State audit: 6 JCPS schools should replace principal, council or teachers courier-journal.com The Courier-Journal there were six schools listed: Western High School, Western Middle School, Valley High School, Frost Middle School, Fern Creek High School, and JCPS. Notice the names of these schools and most are where?

In the Southwest and Mr. Miller's District.

So how well have the residents of District 28 been represented in one of the most important issues facing the State and Southwest Louisville? Couple this with the fact that even after 12 years in office Mr. Miller is part of those incumbents who still cannot get a budget agreed upon, which in my opinion and many others is a dereliction of the duty of our elected officials, we have serious problems.

This is just one example of why I am running for this seat and asking for your vote on May 18 in my District 28 primary. This is not leadership this is abandonment. Strong word? You bet. But when you do not use your experience to lead, leading to substandard results such as these, then you have abandoned the people you purport to represent.

We must have someone who has proven leadership through the years not someone who shows up for elections or pays attention only during election years. I fight for transparency and better government everyday with success. Where I stand and what I do has been public record for years.

When everyone said I couldn't get it to happen I helped get SB 64 signed into law bringing openness and transparency to the KDFWR in State Government.

When Jim King hired Sheryl Snyder and Amy Cubbage of Frost, Brown, and Todd, considered by many to be the best campaign finance expert attorneys in the State, to defend my charges against him and Judge Katie King I won resulting in the highest known fines in Kentucky State History for campaign finance violations to the tune of $30,000 combined.

This case is still being criminally investigated by Special Prosecutor Hart Megibben and the Kentucky State Police and yep I am still fighting for that as well.

I brought Jerry Abramson to his knees when I outed him for his "poorer, blacker, and older" comments in regards to Downtown's problems.

And I did this without a dime from anyone.

Why? Because it was the right thing to do and we the people deserve better.


My opponent in the Republican State House District 28 race has spent his time as a lobbyist in Frankfort preaching against abortion, against gay marriage, etc which may be a worthy goal for some, but it falls far short of what we need in Frankfort to fix this mess we are in.

I have spent my time working on issues to better our lives by forcing a more open, responsive, and accountable Government.

My successes are public record and have been done pro bono even though I have never held elected office. My opponent has never had a success in Frankfort though he is a paid lobbyist.

Even more importantly?

What has our current State Rep Principal Charlie Miller done lately? The results say not much.

2 comments:

  1. May 6, 2010 12:45 pm
    Quick C-J update:

    See: Berman recommends closing troubled Frost Middle School

    MAP -Jefferson County Middle Schools

    MORE busing is inevitable with this recommendation.

    From the JCPS Data Book, here is the demographic data for 2008-09 for FROST MS:

    White Female - 103
    White Male - 141
    Black Female - 86
    Black Male - 109
    Hispanic Female - 2
    Hispanic Male - 4
    Asian Female - 0
    Asian Male - 0
    American Indian Female - 2
    American Indian Male - 0
    Other Female - 3
    Other Male - 5
    % White - 53.6%
    % Black - 42.9%
    % Other - 3.5%
    Total enrollment - 455

    Looks like busing for racial diversity was achieved at Frost MS. A nice Black/Whitebalance. A nice Female/Male balance as well.

    And all of that didn't help these kids get the education that they rightfully need and deserve.

    So sad.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Charles Miller was a doddering old fool when he was my principal in the eighties; I can't imagine that he's in possession of more competent mental faculties some twenty years on. How he ever got elected, I do not know. But put the man out to pasture, pronto. He couldn't keep one troubled high school in check, so why would we expect him to fare better in a government position? They don't even have ball teams for him to get excited about.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for reading LNP. Open and honest discussions of local politics and relevant issues is important to voter understanding. Please listen to the "Ed Springston Show". We broadcast Monday through Thursday evenings at 7 PM on local media outlets. Please check for the links.
Yours truly,
Ed Springston

9/11 Twenty-One Years later....

This will not be the post you expect from the headline. Fair warning..... Most remember the events of 9/11. How anyone could forget I have n...