There’s been a lot of consternation over a “War on Louisville” that’s been waged by Frankfort lawmakers for years, if not decades.
The 2024 resolution directing the Legislative Resource Commission to establish an “Efficient and Effective School District Governance Task Force” is the latest example. But is it really an assault on Louisville? Or couldn’t the majority of misguided, micromanaging solutions and unfunded mandates coming out of Frankfort really be considered a “War on JCPS?”
We think so. And what is it about JCPS that makes a bunch of mostly old, tired, white men with kids in rural or private schools, think THEY know what it takes to run a district with our challenges, personalities and history? Simply put, they don’t!
But maybe this time it’s different. Maybe this task force, established to take a look at considering how to help JCPS best serve its community by considering numerous options, including splitting the distict into smaller parts, or expanding the board, among other things. Could this exercise finally be an opportunity for justice? Or another political witch hunt? The answers to these questions could depend on us! First, we must make sure we have interest and applicants.
The Kentucky Legislature recently passed a law to create an “Efficient and Effective School District Governance Task Force,” which is clearly directed at putting the state’s largest school district, JCPS, under a microscope. This is in addition to passing a $1.5 Million audit to look for examples of waste, fraud and abuse in the same district during the same session. The committee’s purpose is to examine whether JCPS is too large to be managed efficiently and to possibly recommend splitting it up.
According to an article appearing in the Courier Journal, the task force will have a total of 13 members, four at-large members, and nine that have been appointed from state, local and district leadership. With the task force appointments from House and Senate Leadership taking up the first eight seats, what does that leave for us?
Here’s what we think that task force should look like after the first sets of appointments are placed, in accordance with the LRC’s carefully worded language in the resolution. It’s complicated, so we made a 5-minute video and you can pause each slide until you’re comfortable with what’s being presented. But whatever you do, don’t miss the deadline to apply this Sunday before midnight!
The Math Ain’t Mathin’