Northern Kentucky Education Action Team

http://nkyeducationactionteam.com

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2010 Advocacy Plan

Northern Kentucky Education Action Team (NKEAT)

 

The Northern Kentucky Education Action Team was formed in January 2009 by a group of concerned citizens to help keep Northern Kentucky school districts, colleges, and universities abreast of local political issues that impact their school districts.

 

What We Do:

  • Provide resources for concerned citizens, parents, PTSA, SBDM Councils, businesses, and educators to learn how to become involved in legislation that benefits education in Northern Kentucky.
  • Share ideas/techniques/strategies on legislation to enhance education in Northern Kentucky.
  • Create a one-stop-site for a listing of your elected officials.

For General Information,
Please Contact NKEAT at:

 nkeat@nkyeducationactionteam.com

 

How You Can Make a Difference

  • Look up your representatives by street address, zip code, or by school district at
    www.nkyeducationactionteam.com/legislation
  • Call TOLL FREE - 1-800-372-7181     
  • Leave a message for your representative that is short and to the point.

 

What Do I Say When I Call?

Calling your legislator is easy with the Toll-free Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181.  When you call and leave a message for your legislator, you should ask to leave a message for them by name, then immediately identify yourself and indicate that you are a resident of their district.  

Then, state something very general such as:

Please support the Governor’s budget (or something strong in regards to funding for education) because.....

Or 

State specific agenda items from the NKEAT 2010 Legislative Priorities:

  • Support maintaining current SEEK allocations to all school districts.  

  • Support equitable funding for our public postsecondary institutions, Northern Kentucky University and Gateway Community and Technical College, and urges the General Assembly to bring their operational funding up to the average per student funding of their respective sister institutions.  For NKU, this means a recurring increase of $17 million.  The Kentucky Community and Technical College system’s top priority is to retain their base funding and restore $8.1 million for maintenance and operations funding for new buildings of which Gateway has two buildings.

  • Support quality early learning experiences for every child, including expansion of the state home visitation program, improving the STARS quality child care rating system, public funding; including funding for facility costs for growth districts, for preschool and all day kindergarten and require that all children entering kindergarten be assessed for their readiness for school.

  • Support providing quality affordable health insurance for public school employees, their dependents, retirees and retirees’ dependents.

  • Support changing base school facility funding formula for the Facilities Support Program of Kentucky (FSPK) from the current $.05 to $.10 cents (which will be non-recallable and fully equalized by the state) to help eliminate our most out-dated school facilities.

  • Support The Council on Postsecondary Education’s capital priority list which designates NKU’s Center for Health Innovations as their #1 new construction priority and Gateway Community and Technical College’s Urban Campus as their #14 priority.

  • Support allowing Kentuckians to vote on the expanded gaming constitutional amendment with a revenue enhancement package dedicated to public education.

  • Support a change in the current tax system that allows donor regions to recoup more of their investment to create a higher return for all of Kentucky.

  • Support School Boards controlling school calendars to make decisions that will positively impact student achievement.

  • Support School Boards/School Based Decision Making (SBDM) councils, composed of administrators, teachers and parents, deciding specific issues regarding curriculum, instruction and assessment.

  • Support ensuring that governing boards can meet in Executive Session to discuss the superintendent’s/president’s evaluation.

  • Oppose unfunded mandates, including tuition waivers at postsecondary institutions, imposed by legislative or executive action.

  • Oppose any attempts to sweep or confiscate local school district end-of-year fund balances.